CBC Report: Jonathan Richardson's visit to MS, Day One

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Conversations Book Club is pleased to give you the review of our first day with author Jonathan Richardson, the man who brought us THE COMPLICATED LIFE OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN MAN.

He arrived in Jackson, MS on Thursday, October 18, 2007 and after a long flight we took him over to Pearl Public Library for the first meeting of our new "Teen Conversations" that meets every 3rd Thursday at 6p.m. After introducing him to the staff of the library we sat down for an hour discussion about his book and what he hopes it accomplishes.

On Friday we started off with a surprise visit to Crystal Springs Elementary School in Copiah County. Thanks to the support of our book club member and friend, Cheryl Haynes, we were able to visit each classroom of the school and then settle down in the library for a nice chat with the 3rd grade males.

Heading back to Hinds County we went to see our friends at the Jackson Advocate Newspaper downtown. Ms. Alice Tisdale and the entire staff stopped for pictures, and even one of the staff writers got a copy of the book to do a review for the paper.

After a short break it was off to Richard Wright Library for a meet and greet with patrons and book lovers. Members of the Savvy Book Club and Q.U.E.E.N.S. of Mississippi joined us for a sitdown with the author---and even some young ones came in to shake his hand and say hello.

The final stop of the day was at Waldenbooks in Metrocenter where our friends Lisa and Pam saw to it that we were comfortable for our book discussion. During the hour we touched on Richardson's personal life and how his own experiences shaped a great deal of the values that he holds today.

"I just want us to talk," he said before the final session ended, talking about the purpose of the book. And talk is something that is inevitable with a book as powerful as THE COMPLICATED LIFE OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN MAN.