One Book Holyoke

2010

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One Book Holyoke 2009

"A Lesson Before Dying" is a powerful novel set in rural 1950's Louisiana. Jefferson, a young black man, is sentenced to death for his role in a botched robbery. Jefferson's godmother coerces Grant, the local plantation schoolteacher, to help Jefferson become a man before he dies. The book explores powerful themes--education, the death penalty, race, justice, and famil--that transcend the novel's historic setting. Written with eloquence and compassion, "A Lesson Before Dying" has much to teach contemporary readers.

From: Francesca Rheannon, Producer and Host
Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, www.writersvoice.net

What Do We Learn About History From Novels?
Listen to this show with the audio stream below, download it, or better yet, become a regular listener and get the free podcast. Here's why.

Thad Carhart
We hear excerpts from a dramatic reading ofErnest J. Gaines’ novel, A LESSON BEFORE DYING by Enchanted Circle Theater actors. It’s about a young black man in Jim Crow Louisiana who is condemned to death. And we interview Thad Carhart about his new historical novel, ACROSS THE ENDLESS RIVER. It’s about Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, the son of Sacagawea who was a guide on the Lewis and Clark expedition and who lived both in the United States and Europe.

A Dramatic Reading
One in seven people sentenced to die are later proven innocent, according to studies cited by the ACLU. This terrible injustice is one of the themes of Ernest J. Gaines powerful novel, A LESSON BEFORE DYING. Another is the dignity of all human beings, no matter what their situation is. Gaines, who is probably best known as the author of DRIVING MISS DAISY, explores these themes through the story of Jefferson, a young black man who is sentenced to death for his role in a botched robbery, even though he is not the killer. The action takes place in rural Louisiana during the 1950’s, when Jim Crow was still alive and well.

Published in 1997–and an Oprah favorite–”A Lesson Before Dying” was chosen as this year’s selection for One Book Holyoke, a community project based on the idea of the Big Read, a program by the National Endowment for the Arts to encourage reading. When I interviewed the founder of the Big Read, Dana Gioia, back in 2005, he asked me why there were no Big Read programs in Massachusetts. There are some now, and One Book Holyoke has gotten support from the Big Read. The idea is simple, Holyoke residents read a selected book during a set period of time. They then get together for a variety of activities planned around the book.

One activity was a dramatic reading by the Holyoke based company, Enchanted Circle Theater. They compressed the action of the book into a dramatic script of about an hour and a half. Writers Voice went to a reading at Holyoke City Hall for an audience of local high school students.

The actors are Gilbert McCauley as Jefferson, James Lightfoot as Grant Wiggins, L’Kuicha Parks as Jefferson’s godmother Miss Emma, and James Emery in the roles of the book’s white characters, the defense lawyer and Mr. Henri Pichot.