The Thacker Mountain Radio show, which is based out of Oxford, kicked off its new season to a packed house on Sept. 1 featuring local residents.

Sheila Pantin, her daughter Kristi Pantin Smith and members of the Patrick Smith Band were all part of the event that highlighted “Trials of the Earth,” a memoir written by Mary Hamilton, from whom  Pantin and Pantin Smith directly descend.

Thacker Mountain Radio is a free radio show that is taped and broadcast every Thursday during the fall and spring and rebroadcast on Mississippi Public Radio.

The show features weekly author readings, a variety of musical performances and for the third time, excerpts from Hamilton’s book will be the featured readings, airing on MPR Saturday at 7 p.m.

Pantin Smith said non- family members had originally published her great-great grandmother’s book years ago, but now that it is back in the hands of the family, it is being distributed nationally for the first time by Little, Brown and Company.

As part of the recent promotions for its re-release, Pantin Smith said she along with her mother and the Patrick Smith Band took part in the live radio show.

“Most recently in Oxford we did the reading for the radio show, and my husband Patrick wrote the original song for it and performed it live for Thacker Mountain Radio along with the New York City Slickers,” Pantin Smith said.

During the show, Hamilton’s book was broken down in three sections representing the elements of fire, water and earth, Patin Smith said.

“I did a reading from the water portion and Patrick sang two songs about water. My mom did a reading about earth,” Patin Smith said and then two songs were sung referencing the land.

In addition to the local participation and the New York City Slickers, The Yalobushwackers and Jamison Hollister also performed during the show.

Hamilton’s story is reflective of her life as an early pioneer woman in the Mississippi Delta and includes the grueling work, deep sorrows and joys she experienced. The story begins with her meeting and marrying her husband, Frank Hamilton, an Englishman who was manager of a lumber camp charged with clearing the forests of the Delta. She tells of cooking for large groups of lumberjacks, the birth and death of her children and the loneliness she experienced.

The book, which was edited by Helen Dick Davis, also includes holograph pages from the original manuscript, a preface by Davis and an introduction by Morgan Freeman.

“Trials of the Earth” is available for sale at Peterson’s on Washington Street.

There are also talks of an up and coming film to be made on Hamilton’s memoirs, Pantin said.

To view the live show, visit hottytoddy.com.