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Mike Mullins:A Tribute George Brosi When Mike Mullins, the Executive Director of the Hindman Settlement School, died of a sudden heart attach on February 19, 2012, at the age of 63, our region lost one of its finest advocates. Mike had led the school continuously since 1977, not only providing it with a relevant mission at a time when other settlement schools were being abandoned, but making it a national leader in education in three vital fields: dyslexia, folk arts, and creative writing. Mike Mullins is also the one who rescued Appalachian Heritage when it seemed doomed to disband. This magazine was founded by Albert Stewart, a poet who was raised and who lived most of his life at the base of Yellow Mountain near the Knott County, Kentucky, seat of Hindman. He founded this magazine while on the faculty at nearby Alice Lloyd College, but after only three years of exemplary service to the region, involving an amazing array of the region's finest writers, funding could no longer be sustained. Mike immediately stepped in and sponsored the magazine at the Settlement School and secured financial support so that it could continue. Three years later, when Albert Stewart decided to retire, Mike found a place for the magazine at his alma mater, Berea College, and it has been here ever since. Every year Mike Mullins presided over the Appalachian Writers Workshop, a gathering of writers that Albert Stewart had also founded, and that Mike had sustained. This has become one of the premier writers' conferences of the region and beyond. Mike masterfully combined a few repeat leaders—Harriette Arnow, Jim Wayne Miller, George Ella Lyon and Silas House—with an ever revolving group of new writing teachers to give the workshop an artful combination of continuity and excitement. Not only have many contributors to Appalachian Heritage been workshop participants and faculty, but many of our featured authors have been as well. Mike did something else deeply appreciated by the regional literary community. He provided a home for one of our region's most distinguished writers, James Still. As Mr. Still advanced to a remarkable old age, very alert way up into his nineties, Mike Mullins arranged for virtually all of his needs including rides to conduct readings or go to the dentist or have [End Page 8] his car serviced, not to mention providing his room and board. James Still was the featured author for the Fall 2010 issue of Appalachian Heritage, and Mike Mullins provided us with a transcript of a speech he gave at the Mountain Heritage Literary Festival over at Lincoln Memorial University, entitled "My Friend, Mr. Still." Mike also spoke at our celebration of that issue in 2010. Mike Mullins grew up in a coal camp named Hi Hat situated about twenty-five miles east of Hindman. He graduated from Berea College, received a master's from the University of Cincinnati in history, and returned home to teach at Alice Lloyd College, located between Hi Hat and Hindman. When he was recruited to lead the Hindman Settlement School, he was still in his twenties. Within a few years, he had proven his mettle. To run the school he had to deal with virtually everybody in the county, from the Bank President to the neediest of families, from church leaders to drug addicts. He had to know who to compromise with, who to cajole and who needed a firm hand. Although he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Kentucky in 2003 and received many other accolades, the award he valued the most was his selection by his peers as Knott Countian of the Year in 1992. Mike Mullins was active in the Methodist church where, at the time of his death, he taught an adult Sunday School class and chaired the administrative team. He was also very active in civic improvement efforts in Knott County. Perhaps most dramatically, he was instrumental in Knott County's securing over twenty million dollars in government grants in the 1990s as part of an innovative Community Development Initiative. Yet, despite his close relationships with the most powerful leaders of the coal county where he worked, Mike...
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