.jpg)
Can you name an educator who has made such an impact on your life that it changed its course forever?
“Oh, yes,” says Lexington native Susan Mead, “That’s easy: Christine Warren, when she read us William Howard Armstrong’s ‘Sounder’ in the fourth grade at Waddell Elementary School, the very year it won the Newbery Medal.”
Mead credits Warren’s simple act of sharing a story with stirring in her a spirit of social justice, eventually leading to a career in sociology.
Mead only recently learned the full story of how the novel “Sounder” came to be, with its deep connection to Rockbridge County. That connection, and its impact today, will be explored when “Sounder” author’s son, Dr. Kip Armstrong, speaks about the beloved young-adult classic in an event at 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 27, at the Virginia Horse Center. The event is free and open to the public.
It was Charles Jones, an educator of color born 100 years before “Sounder” was published, who inspired William Howard Armstrong to write “Sounder” and its sequel, “Sour Land.”
“I don’t know how much my teacher knew about the local connection, beyond the uncanny description of Lexington’s courthouse square that shows up in the novel,” said Mead. “All I know is that it is time for us all to learn about the legacy of educator Charlie Jones — who inspired educator William Howard Armstrong, who in turn inspired generations of teachers and school kids, so many of us. And now it comes full circle, as Kip Armstrong returns to tell us how it all began.”
“Sounder’s” roots in Collierstown will be at the center of the evening’s event, “Enduring Wisdom from a Rockbridge Educator for the Ages: Celebrating Charlie Jones, Inspiration for Sounder and Sour Land,” starting as the community gathers in the mezzanine of Anderson Coliseum for refreshments prepared by several graduates of the Walker Entrepreneurship Program.
At 5:30 p.m., Armstrong will speak, recalling the influence Charlie Jones had on his father as a young boy, and ways that influence shows up in his father’s earliest works. The novel “Sounder,” his father’s first, sparked hundreds of letters of appreciation from school children around the nation, and went on to become a critically acclaimed film, garnering four Oscar nominations, in 1972.
Kip Armstrong grew up in Connecticut, where his father taught at the prestigious Kent School. He is a 1967 graduate of Washington and Lee University, where he enrolled because of his childhood visits to his grandparents’ farm in Collierstown. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in sociology at the University of Pennsylvania and recently retired after 47 years teaching sociology at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania.
The event, which will include a preview of the 10 original paintings by James Barkley that illustrated “Sounder,” is being organized by the local nonprofit Diversity Serves, working with the Community Connections Dream Team and other local volunteers, with additional support from the Grace Episcopal Church Beloved Community fund.
Mead explained this is the first event of many planned to highlight how deeply William Howard Armstrong’s Rockbridge roots were reflected in his four young-adult novels born of this county.
“What we are calling ‘The Sounder Circle’ will be a series of events to bring local residents together to build a stronger sense of community,” said Mead. “We are building a ‘sounder community,’ as one of The Community Connections Dream Team partners turns the phrase!”
Mead learned last week that “For the Love of Books,” a local program which for a decade has given every area first-, second- and third-grader a book to build their own personal libraries, decided that “Sounder” will be the first book ever given to fourth-graders, as soon as community contributions make that possible.
“Wouldn’t Mrs. Warren be thrilled that the book she read to us over 50 years ago will be in the hands of every fourth grader in the area?” said Mead. “This ensures that the 150-year-long legacy of educator Charlie Jones, whose love for books inspired William Howard Armstrong, continues today.”
Although both are sociologists with similar interests, Mead said that she had never crossed paths with Kip Armstrong until Collierstown community member Geoff Goodbar connected them after Goodbar had a conversation with Mead at the Palmer Ice Cream Supper last fall.
“I am thrilled that Kip is coming to town to share all he knows about Charlie Jones, this remarkable educator for the ages,” she said. “There is so much more to learn, and starting with this April 27 evening, I hope the community will be able to help us to discover all there is to know.”
For more information, contact Mead at [email protected].
