In a photo taken three years ago at a celebration at his Kayford Mountain home, the late Larry Gibson dances with his wife Carol.
CHARLESTON, WV — “Gibson was honored during an Oct. 14 memorial service by the many friends, family and fellow activists who came to know him over the years. Gibson, a resident of Raleigh County, died of a heart attack at the age of 66 on Sept. 9.
The Keepers of the Mountain Foundation, an organization formed by Gibson in 2004, hosted the memorial. Gibson frequently appeared in new media, books, movies and other communication deriding the practice of mountaintop mining, particularly at his 50-acre property on Kayford Mountain.
…Another nationally known figure in the fight against surface mining, former U.S. Rep. Ken Hechler, 98, said he and Larry knew when they first met they stood for the mutual principles of love, devotion, truth and justice. Hechler was behind the Coal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1969 and has been a vocal opponent of mountaintop mining.
“We knew instinctively that we both stood for the same principles of truth and justice” Hechler said. “We did not call it anti-mountaintop removal. We could just feel in our hearts that we were both fighting for truth and justice. … Larry Gibson will live forever in our hearts.”
— Taylor Kuykendall, State Journal
Community remembers ‘keeper of the mountains’ Larry Gibson
— Lori Kersey, Charleston Gazette
