Alert (March 11, 2026): Our TV translator in Flatwoods is experiencing technical issues. Our engineers are troubleshooting the problem and expect it to be down for a couple days.
Thank you for your patience.
Kathleen Driskell is Kentucky’s current poet laureate. Driskell has authored six poetry collections, and her work has appeared in The New Yorker and Rattle, among others. Her most recent is Goat-Footed Gods. Inside Appalachia producer Bill Lynch spoke with Driskell about living next to the dead and America’s most lethal cryptid.
JD Pauley and his beloved Hobby III.Jim Lange/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Listen
Share this Article
This past July, my friend and I were walking around during Charleston’s newly returned Sternwheel Regatta. After making the rounds that hot day, we needed some refreshment and shade. Seated riverside, cold water in hand, she looked over and saw a sternwheeler that friends of hers owned. Soon we were aboard the Hobby III.
My old pal, and WVPB News Director Eric Douglas, was there and we all started chatting amiably about all sorts of things. Then I was introduced to the owner, JD Pauley, and his friend Brian Carr.
JD has a laid-back, engaging personality with a very funny dry wit. Sensing that my question would not be perceived as odd or crazy, I asked JD whether he had any personal experiences with ghosts. After all, boats and water seem to be a frequent paranormal setting.
To my utter surprise, he said that the Hobby III was being visited by the former owner, Harry Wilson.
Well, knock me over with a feather.
Harry Wilson Photo credit: UnknownHobby III owner JD Pauley with the wheel that Harry Wilson was holding when he passed. Photo credit: Jim Lange/WVPBClose-up of the boat log, in Louise Wilson’s handwriting, with a newspaper clipping of Harry’s passing. Photo credit: Jim Lange/WVPBJD shows the sconce light that mysteriously comes on. Photos of Harry Wilson are hung below that light. Photo credit: Jim Lange/WVPB
Add WVPB as a preferred source on Google to see more from our team
Kathleen Driskell is Kentucky’s current poet laureate. Driskell has authored six poetry collections, and her work has appeared in The New Yorker and Rattle, among others. Her most recent is Goat-Footed Gods. Inside Appalachia producer Bill Lynch spoke with Driskell about living next to the dead and America’s most lethal cryptid.
This week, we meet the woman behind the popular TikTok account “Appalachian Forager.” She makes jam from pawpaws and jewelry from coyote teeth. Also, we sit in on a master class in foraging for wild mushrooms. And, when a West Virginia pastor got assigned to a new church, folks tried to warn him.
Two films shot and produced on location in West Virginia are at and near the top of this week's list of most popular films on the streaming service Netflix.
Around this time of the year, some area churches get into the business of selling chocolate Easter eggs. These are the kind of eggs that have some weight to them. But one West Virginia church has become known far and wide for its chocolate eggs.