Tales of a Small-Town King

From an accomplished lawyer, judge, coach, and community servant comes a fast-moving tale of colorful characters in a small, blue-collar, coal mining town deep in the hills of Kentucky. Tales of a Small-Town King traces the struggles to find upward mobility in Appalachia, all while navigating the unique culture smothered by isolation, expansive poverty, drugs, crime, and political corruption.

The product of a hard-working band of Greek immigrants, with mentoring from his Uncle Miklos, Takis Tsegellis rises as the town’s favorite son – hopscotching through varied career and community projects along the way – only to ultimately leave in disgrace, however, rejected by the town he spent 40 years trying to help.

Now, as he returns to town to give the eulogy at his Uncle Miklos’s funeral, he must confront his unresolved love and hate for his hometown, and his ambition to topple it, all while discovering that his family and career were never the American dream he hoped them to be. He may finally reach the mountaintop he’s always sought, just not as the person he’s always been.

Antony Takis Tsegellis grew up in coal towns nestled throughout the Appalachian Mountains in southeastern Kentucky. After more than twenty years working as a smalltown attorney, he now serves as a judge with the federal government. Along the way, he earned national acclaim coaching thousands of kids on various high school and middle school football, basketball, and baseball teams, and aside from his own wonderful children, he is most proud of founding a Boys & Girls Club in his hometown. When not working, writing, or traveling, Antony resides on Whitemarsh Island, Georgia.