.jpg)
On Monday, Nov. 13, at 7:30 p.m., the Sounder Community Circle will commence in the parish hall of Grace Episcopal Church at 121 W. Washington St. in Lexington.
This will be the first in an ongoing series based on the award-winning book “Sounder” written by Collierstown native William Howard Armstrong.
The November session will focus on introducing the story and its local connections to participants. According to organizer Susan Virginia Mead, “Folks who come don’t have to have read the book; they just need to be curious about how the story of Sounder was born right here in Rockbridge County!”
The Sounder Community Circle arose from a successful event last April, where a diverse audience of more than 100 people heard the author’s son, Kip Armstrong, talk about how Charlie Jones, a Black educator in Rockbridge County, inspired his father to write “Sounder,” and its sequel “Sour Land,” Mead explained.
“People kept asking me when the next ‘Sounder Circle’ event would take place. Now I can say, ‘Every second Monday of the month at 7:30 p.m.!’” When asked about why the name of the series expanded to include “community,” Mead reflected: “A co-organizer who loves puns said that our ultimate goal is to build a ‘Sounder Community.’ And indeed, it is! The idea is to learn lessons offered by local literature and history so together we in the Rockbridge area can create a more promising future for all.”
Mead said the first session will end with brainstorming about topics that participants want to explore from Armstrong’s books. “After the introduction on November 13, we are planning a very special program for December 11, which will feature images from the town of Lexington found in ‘Sounder,’” Mead said. “Beyond that, community members will help shape the direction of our discussion topics, because ‘Sounder’ belongs to us all.”
Every Sounder Community Circle event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Mead at svm@diversityserves. org.
