Tuesday, August 24, 2021

August 28th Revisited

 This Saturday is August 28, 2021! Summer is almost over, and I am getting ready to go back to work on Monday (which happens to be my 80th birthday!).

I can always tell when summer ends and my birthday is approaching because we get so much rain here from the hurricanes moving up the coast from Florida. And, although I worked most of this summer, I did as usual get to read a lot of books. 

My favorite was Tayari Jones' novel Leaving Atlanta, a story about how the 1979 - 1981 child murders affected the lives of other children and teenagers living in Atlanta at that time. 

In addition to Ms. Jones' book, I reread an old favorite of mine, Behind the Dream, although this time, instead of reading it, I listened to it on audible read by the author Clarence B. Jones (who like me, was born in Philadelphia.) It's a book I encourage everyone to read for a look behind the scenes of the 1963 March on Washington.

In this book, Jones tells some little-known stories about events that occurred on this date fifty-three years ago. For instance, Jones reveals the amazing story of how he happened to find himself inside a bank vault in New York City on a Saturday in 1963 - when the bank was closed; how Martin Luther King Jr. managed to convince Jones, a wealthy Hollywood lawyer, to join the civil rights movement; why John Lewis changed the speech he wrote for this occasion; and who wrote the headline for the New York Times which read: Today Washington was invaded by a Gentle Army.  

And finally even though - or rather - despite the fact that I am turning 80 in a couple of days, I am determined to continue reading, writing, and learning all I can during the rest of my time here on Planet Earth.

Be safe Everyone!


1 comment:

  1. Happy Birthday to you and best wishes for a fabulous day and a blessed year!

    ReplyDelete