““The interface between the natural and the supernatural is death. In Harlan, the culture is imbued with the awareness that “death could come at any time” … Because death is always at hand, the culture centers on the struggle to stay alive: survival, indeed, is not just a word. I have always admired the way in which people fight back under great odds and survive, especially in the United States, where one is not supposed to up against impossible odds. Harlan County does not display much pursuit of happiness. But you see there the persistence of life in the face of danger and death.””
