I'm a Professional Piddler

aka "Multi-hyphenate Appalachian Professional"

Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash

I went to a reading by Appalachian author Robert Gipe several weeks ago, when he referred to himself as an "Appalachian Professional." Knowing he wears many hats in his Kentucky and writing/creative community, I thought, "How perfect. That covers it."

In a time when folks get to choose their pronouns for identification, th…