The Laurel Spur is about Appalachian family life, 1800s to present, filtered through the philosophy, psychology, political and religious viewpoint of Kentucky educator, corporate executive, and politician Roland Mullins. It is an exploration of the land and the people who have shaped his life. It is an examination of a seventy year old family secret. It is a meditation on religion and a desire to know and to be. It is a soliloquy on thought and a search for higher meaning.