Adopt an Author!

   "To really understand a book, you need to know the author." 
   Any student who ever studied literature with Steve Richardson has memorized that mantra.
   Richardson, a Language Arts teacher at Parkview High School, has always gone to extra lengths to increase depth of understanding for his students.
   "It's called biographical criticism," said Richardson. "To me it makes it more interesting to the student to understand a writer's life."
   I had firsthand experience with Richardson's method a few weeks ago when I met Rick Bragg, author of the 2003 Gwinnett Reads selection, All Over But the Shoutin'. Getting to know the author did indeed make his book more interesting.
While I was researching my column about Bragg, Cindy Murphy, Marketing and Development Director for Gwinnett County Public Library sent me a list of favorite books by local authors. Topping the list was Simon Says, which I reserved at the Mountain Park branch. When I checked it out, the librarians raved about it.
   Simon Says contains myriad musings of a Siamese cat as interpreted by a former psychotherapist turned business consultant-and fellow cat lover, Vally Sharpe.
   I e-mailed Vally and we met at O'Charlie's on Pleasant Hill Road. She ordered a cup of tea; I had an orange frothy concoction. She filled me in on the background behind Simon Says, which is a collection of true stories, couched in metaphors.
   "People are more open to pets and are able to take the message better than by having other people tell them what to do," she said. But beneath the cute cat compositions lies the real message Vally wants to get across.
   After adopting Simon-and his strange ways, like fetching a ball like a dog-she reflected on our ever-changing and unpredictable world. We seldom fit into classic stereotypes or any contemporary mold society makes for us. We are always evolving and must continually "adopt" people and ideas that are new and different. 
   "In business, hiring is like adopting adults and in education, a new manager takes over every August. We're constantly having to get to know and adopt new people."
   Her next book, What Simon Said, will elaborate on her idea of adopting and help people apply it to their lives. She's also writing two more books that specifically apply her adoption philosophy to business and education.
   We were total strangers when we met, but after three hours at O'Charlie's I felt I'd not only gotten to know the author as Steve Richardson recommends, but I'd adopted her as well.
   Vally's other writings include a story in the anthology Lessons Learned, the culmination of a contest sponsored by Chapter 11, Georgia Writers and The Knowledge Shop. She will be signing books at Chapter 11 this Saturday at 2:00 p.m. 
   Why not take Richardson's advice and get to know the author? And while you're at it, you might even want to adopt her like I did.

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