Scholar from the Holler

Scholar from the Holler chronicles the college years of a boy from northern Arkansas who had never lived in a city even as large as Batesville, the home of Arkansas College, or even imagined any career choice other than military service. He links his college years to his childhood, and with his own poetry, his return to his roots. He tells about learning to measure up to rigorous academic requirements, college cultural clashes with students from the North, being a student in the turbulent 60s, a time of political intrigue and assassinations, when blacks were struggling to integrate into a white-dominated society. He tells about joining the work force every summer to earn money for college. These lessons learned were more than academic. He tells about how the microcosm of this little struggling Presbyterian institution helped to shape the lives of lifelong friends who built families and made a difference in their communities.