A gripping and deeply moving account of a tragedy and how it has lingered in song and memory On May 2, 1929, a devastating tornado struck Rye Cove in Scott County, Virginia, destroying a rural school and claiming the lives of twelve children and one teacher. Among those who rushed to the scene was A. P. Carter of the famed Carter Family, whose experience of the tragedy inspired the writing and recording of "The Cyclone of Rye Cove" later that year. A century after the storm, Amy Clark reconstructs the tornado's path through the eyes of survivors and their descendants. Drawing on historical records, family memories, news stories, and local oral histories, she follows farmers caught in the storm's fury, parents desperately searching for their children, and the students and teachers trapped inside the collapsed school. The story also explores the lives of A. P., Sara, and Maybelle Carter, their rise to fame following the legendary 1927 Bristol Sessions, A. P.'s role in the disaster recovery, and the ballad that transformed local tragedy into enduring folk history that resonates across generations.
