“Made a book…”

Most of Reece’s mountain friends knew nothing of his recognition [after publication of Ballad of the Bones] …When he handed the mechanic, a long time friend of his, the endorsed check on a New York bank, his friend asked, “What’s this for?” When he responded it was a royalty check on a book, the mechanic asked, “Did you make a book?

Dr. Raymond Cook in Mountain Singer
Cherokee Publishing, Atlanta, Ga. 1980