About the Author

Nancy’s Bio

An avid traveler who has visited every continent, Nancy Brown Diggs has lived in France, participated in language immersion/homestay programs in Japan and Mexico, and volunteered in Ecuador, Romania, and Haiti. Her long interest in other cultures is reflected by her PhD in East Asian Studies, by her language skills, and by the books she has written, which include: Breaking the Cycle: How Schools Can Overcome Urban Challenges (Rowman and Littlefield), Hidden in the Heartland: The New Wave of Immigrants and the Challenge to America (Michigan State University Press), Looking Beyond the Mask: When American Women Marry Japanese Men (State University of New York Press), and Steel Butterflies: Japanese Women and the American Experience (State University of New York Press). Most recently, having authored books on other cultures, she decided to write about one closer to her own: the Appalachian, never dreaming that it was her own, and that the roots of those long-forgotten ways could run so deep. The result: In Search of Appalachia (Hamilton/Rowman and Littlefield).

In the Media