A Coalfield Legend - Dink Shackleford

Dink Shackleford passed away Wednesday. He was the Director of the Virginia Mining Association.

“My first impression of Dink Shackleford is, we found an advocate for the mining industry who believed in his heart and soul of what this industry could do. He could see opportunities where the rest of us saw challenges,” he said.

“Personally, I’ve lost a really good friend and the industry has lost a jewel. There was only one Dink. He was as knowledgeable on environmental issues as anyone we’ve ever had in that position. He was active in so many different facets of the industry, and he would do anything to promote the industry that really put him in a wheelchair. Yet, I never heard a word of animosity out of Dink about what happened to him when he was 15, 16 years old in his father’s coal mine.”(LINK)

Dink was a strong voice for coal and many other things in the coalfields. That voice will be missed.

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