Nolen Rollins: Boy from Piney

By D. K. Christi

 

Formerly an Estero civic leader, Nolen Rollins came full circle to finish his boyhood memoir, “Boy from Piney.”

Rollins grew up among Tennessee sharecroppers in a home so full of love and faith that he only knew he lived like his neighbors, not that he was poor. When the crop came in, the family took it to market and paid off the grocer who’d provided credit all year.

Tobacco was king – hard, physical and dirty labor on small family farms and sharecropping – and no one knew then that smoking caused lung cancer as everyone smoked. Parents wanted a better life for their children, but to the boy from Piney, his life and those of his friends was much the same: playing outside, doing chores, attending school and church, having hopes and dreams.

Rollins started writing short stories about his Tennessee childhood experiences during COVID, when his in-person appointments as a minister and community-engaged citizen were canceled. He wrote a few stories, but it wasn’t until he retired — after 40 years living and working in multiple states and taking extensive missions to the neediest of foreign nations — that he returned to the city of his family home and proximity to his siblings. In Tennessee, he finished his stories where they began — coming full circle.

“I’ve never made a move in my life without God’s guidance,” said Rollins.  “My wife and I had pretty well settled on living in Estero the rest of our lives until I heard God telling me that I needed to move back to Piney. It may sound a little strange to some, but that’s just how it happened. Additionally, I was shown in five different ways that moving back to Piney was required. 

“When God tells me what to do, I find that following that guidance works out well for me,” Rollins said.

It’s now been three years since Rollins left Estero, and friends ask him if he misses it.

“I don’t miss the traffic, but I sure miss the friends and neighbors,” he said. “The years on the Estero Forever Foundation, community organizations and as the founding minister of Legacy Church led me to considerable, wonderful people across Southwest Florida.”

Rollins wrote several books over the years, mostly for family and friends, some handwritten. He writes a story for each grandchild about their family history on their 10^th birthday – and he has a birthday book coming up. He wrote a faith curriculum called GPS Life Journey that has been popular among mission organizations across the globe, and he continues to update the popular workbooks.

As a former pillar of the Estero community, Rollins still visits with his friends from afar, and now they can get a personal glimpse of his growing up years in Tennessee. “Readers of my generation will recognize their own coming of age in small, rural towns or even city neighborhoods,” he said.

Poverty may or may not be the same, or the drudgery of the love-hate relationship with tobacco, but children simply find joy in each other, a game of hide-and-seek, a good prank and a family meal.

“Life was hard, but life was good,” said Rollins. The 25 stories are universal in their appeal though originally intended for a small audience. 

Rollins doesn’t write for income but rather for the pure enjoyment of sharing with others his own experiences. Proceeds beyond publishing costs are donated to faith organizations and missions.

“I also write for the younger generation today to know about the older generation’s youthful activities that were mostly outside in nature and without today’s technology,” Rollins said.

Every story of the ’50s and ’60s is illustrated with local photographs, including new photos of the same creeks and bridges that Rollins sees today and remembers from his youth. Perhaps the drive to return to his hometown, where he and his wife of 50 years still have friends and relatives, was partly to finish his childhood stories surrounded by their nostalgia and the importance of place.

“This is not a book of the pain of poverty or the trauma and sadness of the time, but rather these are stories that are uplifting, humorous and full of love, kindness and faith,” Rollins said. “Church was a central figure of my life and family from my childhood to the present and faith a source of guidance for my life choices.”

He said he was called by God to work and preach in several states and to work with missions in developing countries where the challenges were many.  “I was recently planning a trip to Kenya that was changed — a return visit.”

Six hundred years of family history is recorded in an earlier book, “On Granny’s Porch,” the gathering spot for family generations that can be traced back to Suffolk, England in 1425. Rollinsford, New Hampshire is named after an ancestor, and a great-great grandfather was a full-blooded Cherokee Indian. Rollins’ ancestry bursts with historic markers from England to the Smokey Mountains.

His books are a historical and personal treasure of stories and photographs that are a testament to the importance of family and faith in his life well-lived — perfect for sharing over a cup of coffee. Some copies of the book are available for purchase at reception at Summit Church in Estero. To obtain a copy online or learn more, visit boyfrompineymissions.org.