“...it reveals the legacy of an environmental catastrophe, its human tolls and triumphs, its corporate greed and indifference, its governmental lapses and neglect. In its historic sweep, it stands as a cautionary tale -- timeless and time-bound -- in a country divided by class and religion, buffeted by corporate misconduct, and dismantling its environmental protection laws. This is the story of a dying coal town ensnared in the Reagan Revolution's afterbirth, of a small community rent by one of the mining industry's worst disasters, and of the irreplaceable bond of home.”

“At Tom's back, receding from view, lay State Street's Victorian brick facades, where lobbyists and trade associations housed their offices, like a Mount Everest base camp for professional influence peddlers.”

“But any religion would be found lacking if judged solely by its human servants.”

“Beware the religion that turns you against another one. It's unlikely that it's really religion at all.”

“One of the chief paradoxes of our culture [is] that the welfare of its children, its _future_, is placed almost exclusively in the hands of people of low status, a class it holds in contempt.”

“Compassion doesn't have to be learned. It's part of our fabric. We have just been programmed to neglect it over time, and THAT is what we have to unlearn.”

“Fear's a box we grow used to, convince ourselves it's all the space we need, that we like its color, its smell, its protection. Comes a time to stop hiding, stop being afraid. If we don't break free of our boxes, our spirits' shrink, we shrink in every way imaginable. Oh, Grace, my friend, don't let fear, especially someone else's fear, prevent you from living your life.”