“Carla Rising will lure many readers into imagining what it would have been like to have been part of the struggles (for change)….likely to engage both your thoughts about history and your emotions about this intense conflict.”
— Paul Nyden, Charleston (WV) Gazette-Mail
“Novelizing the Battle of Blair Mountain” (Audio interview with Topper Sherwood by Doug Imbrogno, Mountain State of Mind podcast of the Charleston, WV Gazette-Mail.)
Novel ‘Carla Rising’ animated by the Battle of Blair Mountain (By Douglas Imbrogno, Charleston, WV Gazette-Mail)
“Carla Rising left me entertained and curious — so curious, in fact, that I did a lot more research into the U.S. mine wars; the book captured the time period very well.”
— Ken Silverstein (Mention of Carla Rising in Silverstein’s article, Coal Industry Has Wounded Itself Much Worse Than Obama’s Policies Ever Could, in Forbes magazine)
Praise for other work
by Topper Sherwood
“Topper Sherwood’s sensitive and generally adroit treatment of (Raymond) Chafin’s oral memoir is praiseworthy. Sherwood rarely injects himself into the narrative, and then only in the form of brief footnotes. In fact, I believe Sherwood is too unobtrusive by half. A seasoned journalist with a keen understanding of the state’s political economy, Sherwood would have served this work well with a more lengthy…introduction….”
— John Hennon (1995 review in Western Pennsylvania History Journal of Just Good Politics: The Life of Raymond Chafin, Appalachian Boss by Raymond Chafin and Topper Sherwood. University of Pittsburgh Press, 1994) Download PDF
FBI’s Sham Candidate Crawled under West Virginia’s Political Rock By Michael E. Ruane, Washington Post (2005 article quoting Topper Sherwood as author of nonfiction about politics in West Virginia.)
Press Materials
Download SherwoodBio (pdf)
Download Carla_Rising_Q&A (pdf)
Download Carla Rising One-Page Description (pdf)
For Carla Rising Film Treatment, contact the author.
Download Carla Rising Launch Press Release (pdf)
Topper Sherwood