The Ditchdigger's Daughters

As resonant now as it ever was, this inspiring portrait by a loving daughter of a father whose pervasive common sense, folk wisdom, and untutored but right-on insights gave his children their road map to a better life is ready for a new generation of readers.

“I LOVE YOU BETTER THAN I LOVE LIFE . . .”

“But I’m not always gonna be around to look after you, and no man’s gonna come along and offer to take care of you because you ain’t light-skinned. That’s why you gotta be able to look after yourselves. And for that you gotta be smart.”

It was the 1950s, and Donald Thornton’s words to his six daughters weren’t spoken out of despair, but out… Keep Reading