Growing Up in Coalwood: A Town Built on Coal and Community
In this conversation, Homer Hickam takes us back to Coalwood, West Virginia, a real company town where the mine literally shaped daily life. The company owned the houses, the store, and even the church, and most families were tied to the mine through a tight-knit routine: three shifts a day, lunch buckets clanking as men headed off to work, and a landscape dusted by coal.
“The coal company owned every house, every street, every fence.”
It wasn’t all grim, though: there was a real sense of pride and community, with people looking out for each other and keeping the yards tidy, even as the town faced its eventual decline after the mine’s fortunes waned in the 60s and 70s. Hickam also shares the pivotal role of teachers and leaders in keeping kids curious and hopeful, even as the industrial rooftop began to crumble.
Miss Riley, the Science Fair, and the Making of a Rocketman
“There was nothing in here for kids that were not athletes.”
Miss Riley enters the story as a catalyst who sees beyond the trophies in Coalwood’s hall of fame. She’s the teacher who pushes the Rocket Boys (Sunny, Quinton, and their friends) to channel their curiosity into science fairs and rocket design. It wasn’t a quick flip from hobby to rocket science; it was a years-long journey, including after-hours calculus tutoring and a borrowed rocket design book that changed everything. The book opened doors to advanced mathematics and calculus, while local machinists and shop teachers quietly helped build the complex components the boys needed. Hickam emphasizes that the film’s depiction of Miss Riley as a lone visionary who pulls a town toward science mirrors the real, patient work that goes into turning a passionate kid into a future engineer or scientist. Virginia Tech eventually became the gateway, with the Virginia Tech era at the center of his early professional identity, thanks to a family push toward engineering and stability.
Vietnam, NASA, and a Career Built with Appalachian Grit
“You have advantages that you don’t even know. You come from a real place, real people that have real values.”
The path from Coalwood to NASA wasn’t a straight line, but it was unmistakably powered by a West Virginia spirit. After Virginia Tech and a stint in the Army, Hickam found his way to Huntsville, Alabama, through the Army Missile Command, then onto NASA’s Space Lab training programs. He describes a life shaped by both engineering prowess and a love of writing, which he nurtured as a freelancer while building a career in rocketry. His work with the Space Shuttle era, the Challenger tragedy, and the redesign of the solid rocket motors all underscore a career about resilience, persistence, and learning by doing: values he attributes to his Appalachian roots. He also reflects on the bigger picture: war, peace, and the moral complexities of national projects, while highlighting the importance of pride in one’s origins and the practical, hands-on problem solving that Appalachia has long taught its people. The message is clear and uplifting: stand up for what you believe, but do it with respect and substance, no matter where you’re from.
Hickam’s tale isn’t just a nostalgia trip for a coal town. It’s a blueprint for finding opportunity in a place that may be overlooked by the rest of the world. He reminds us that Appalachia has produced big minds, stubborn perseverance, and a work ethic that can carry you from a hillside holler to the frontiers of space. It’s a testament to the power of mentorship, the value of education, and the courage to chase a dream even when the odds look long.
