In the 1950s, young business students were taught to hire on with a large corporation, climb from entry level up the ladder one step at a time until one reached their career goal. Though author Gary P. Perkins lacked an advanced degree from a prestigious institution of higher education, he had a great advantage. He hailed from a long line of hard-rock miners who had pounded through granite in Britain and later, soft limestone when they harvested the precious minerals of America in the nineteenth century. He knew, firsthand, the value and rewards of hard work.

In "Above the Grass," he...