Mary Jo Stanley was born and raised in southern WV by the daughter of Hungarian immigrants and the son of a coal miner. She attended public schools and college in southern WV and knows the coal miner family's way of life. At one time, McDowell County, where she was raised, was known as the "Nation's Coal Bin" since it provided so much high grade coal to make steel needed by the US. She has written this family saga so that others may know the hardships and pains that families endured while their loved ones mined the coal. As with all communities, there were always intrigue and drama. She has re-created some of the drama via mine disasters, deaths, and the vastness of the disparity between classes in a mining camp.