Remembering 'Salvation on Sand Mountain's Dennis Covington

Remembering ‘Salvation on Sand Mountain’s Dennis Covington June 1, 2025 I was sad to discover the passing of Dennis Covington, just over a year ago in April 2024. He was 75, and died of complications from Lewy Body Dementia. Sometime during my graduate studies in Tennessee (1992-1996), I was driving in my car en route to or away from Knoxville, and listened with intense interest to an interview on NPR with him about the book he had recently written, "Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia." It was thoroughly engrossing, as was the book, which I read soon after experiencing that interview. I still remember him describing how he was sent to write about a case involving Glenn Summerford, a snake handling preacher in Scottsboro, Alabama, who had been convicted in 1992 of attempted murder after he forced his wife to put her hands into a snake cage after beating it with a stick to anger them, according to the victim's account. She was bitten a couple of times but was rushed to the hospital by her sister after her husband passed out drunk, according to a 2013 article by Stacy Green. Until today, I didn't know that Covington had become and remained a member of the snake handling church (called The Church of Jesus With Signs Following) and actually practiced snake handling himself. Just prior to Covington's passing, in February 2024, the snake handling preacher was denied parole, and I just read in a May 2025 article that he has been denied parole three times now. In any case, Summerford has only served a third of his 99-year prison sentence plus another 30 year sentence (not served concurrently) for an attempted escape. In any case, he is likely to die in prison. He's already 80, and unless the courts have mercy on him, he cannot possibly survive the completion of his sentence. If his wife is still alive, I doubt if he will ever be granted parole. He is a pretty scary dude. I notice that there are several somewhat sketchy accounts of this case, with some discrepancies and, unfortunately, Covington isn't alive to follow up on the story/stories of Summerford's attempts to obtain parole. I watched quite a bit of true crime on TV this afternoon, but I can't remember exactly what led me to look up Dennis Covington and find out he had died. I think it was the resurgence in my interest in reading "Salvation on Sand Mountain" again. I don't often read books again that I have read once, with one exception. I have read "An American Tragedy" by Theodore Dreiser twice, and could conceivably read it a third time. I read it first in high school and second time a few years ago. It was based on an actual murder case and was made into the 1951 film "A Place in the Sun" starring Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor and Shelly Winters, which I have also viewed more than once. I am saddened to hear that Dennis Covington has died. He was very interesting and a very good writer. He wrote both fiction and non-fiction. He was a really good writer. I am not particularly interested in reading any of his other books, but it's a shame he is no longer here to write more. So, I guess Summerford was the "last preacher" of that church, so it does not appear that church exists anymore. Another book, "The Serpent and the Sprit: Glenn Summerford's Story" by Thomas G. Burton was published by the University of Tennessee Press in 2004. Snake handling churches still exist, especially in Appalachia, but are dwindling in number, and I read that they typically meet in stores, which I find fascinating. In my favorite juvenile fiction book "Because of Winn-Dixie" by Kate DiCamillo, the father of her young protagonist is a preacher who conducts services in a store. There is also a movie based on the book, which is worth seeing, while the book is better, as books usually are. I would never have had more than a passing curiosity about snake handling churches if it hadn't been for reading "Salvation on Sand Mountain." Covington was such a good writer and got so involved with the people, making them live and breathe, as I recall, it was actually a very moving account. I remember it seems like he really connected with a lady in that church, but I'll have to read it again to recall the details.