THE TWO VIRGINIAS – Words which speak to you are worth re-reading, we revisit the literary works of these local authors.

To some in our community — Jim Owen is a childhood friend and others a local businessman, realtor and auctioneer who spent many years acquiring and selling properties in his hometown of Princeton, West Virginia.

‘In Search of A River’ In 2022, Owen stopped by to discuss a spiritual memoir chronicling Owen’s life leading up to and after the day he died–four times.

Purchase Owen’s memoir by clicking here.

In 2023, Bill Archer a savant of history in our region, visited with us to discuss his latest ‘Images of America’ release on ‘the West Virginia Turnpike.’

Archer noting the construction of this transportation artery is paramount to our region in present-day.

Purchase Archer’s book by clicking here.

In 2024, author, actress, producer, Mercer County native and known to Bob Denver fans around the world as “Mrs. Gilligan” visited our studios.

She’s taken extensive knowledge on the the latter title and topic and poured it into a fifth book telling the tale of Denver’s husband Bob and his journey from “Island to Icon.”

Purchase Denver’s recently released book by clicking here.

Also in 2024, Greenbrier County native turned Mercer County educator, Dr. Brittany Anderson came to our studios in Bluefield to discuss the publishing of her first children’s book, ‘Pippi’s Unforgettable First Day of School.’

Anderson telling our Joshua Bolden in 2024 one of the catalyst for penning the book was so others could see themselves.

“This story goes all the way back, when I was growing up there were not a of books with characters that looked like me,” said Anderson.

“Even in the book there is a little boy who has a hearing-aid, there’s another little boy who has noise-cancelling headphones, and a little girl who’s in a wheelchair. It was important for me to not only have a book where the main character looked like me, but for other students when they open the book say, ‘hey I’m a part of that too, those illustrations look like me.’”

Purchase Anderson’s children’s book by clicking here.

Wayne Pelts joined us in 2024 to discuss the area he loves in detail– in his recently released ‘Bluefield Details.’

This literary work captures cropped details of the area alongside memories written by community members who have either lived, worked or have some connection to the region — including Larry Hypes, Julie Hurley, Dreama Denver and two of WVVA’s own Clayton McChesney & Joshua Bolden.

Purchase Pelts book by clicking here.

Copyright 2025 WVVA. All rights reserved.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts


This will close in 0 seconds