Henry never intended to stay in Kingsport. Like most young men in the foothills of the Appalachians, he had one foot out the door, dreaming of Detroit’s assembly lines or the jazz clubs of Chicago. But his father, a foreman at the new “Eastman” plant, had given him a piece of advice: “Son, don’t chase smoke. Learn to make something solid from it.”
Henry pointed to a distant smokestack. “That’s Unit 91. We’re trying to turn wood waste into textile fiber. If it works, we stop cutting down forests for clothes.” eastman chemical company
“Not yet,” Henry said. “But Eastman doesn’t walk away from a puzzle. We just find a new angle.” Henry never intended to stay in Kingsport