| Author | Message | ||
     Jane Gold Unregistered guest Rating: N/A |
Co-Author of the Ditchdigger's Daughters to speak at the Washington Twp. Public Library, 37 E. Springtown Road, Long Valley, NJ 07853 on March 29, 2006 at 7 p.m. The 2006 One Book New Jersey adult selection is “The Ditchdigger’s Daughters” by Yvonne Thornton and Jo Coudert. Donald Thornton, a ditchdigger in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, has the perfect comeback for all the people that tease him about having five daughters and no sons: “You won’t be laughin’ when my little girls grow up to be doctors.” Against stiff odds of growing up black and in poverty in the 1950’s, two of Thorton’s daughters did grow up to be doctors. Determination, involvement in the arts, and a family emphasis on education created a home environment in which the girls could succeed. "The Ditchdigger's Daughters" appeared first in the Reader's Digest as an article and then a condensed book, and was made into a TV movie by the Family Channel. Now, ten years after its first publication, it is a OneBook New Jersey and Mid-South Reads choice; Tennessee has bought a thousand copies of the book to distribute to schools and has scheduled a number of forums on it. This memoir provides readers not only with the Thorntons’ story, but a high-interest look at New Jersey’s Black history. The library is pleased to have Ms. Coudert here on March 29th at 7 p.m. to discuss her involvement with this book. Besides “The Ditchdigger’s Daughters” Ms. Coudert has written several other books, including I Never Cooked Before Cookbook, Advice from a Failure, Gowell – The Story of a House and Woman to Woman. Two other books written by Coudert examine the role of pets in people's lives beyond the animals' function as basic companions to humans. In the first of these, Seven Cats and the Art of Living, which she also illustrated, Coudert imparts moral lessons learned and insights gained from seven separate pet cats that she observed closely through the years. The second animal-based book is also based on a true story. The Good Shepherd: A Special Dog's Gift of Healing is Coudert's inspiring book about a remarkable German shepherd, Grizzly, and the impact this dog had on the lives of his two owners as well as on many additional physically and emotionally ill children. Ms. Coudert grew up in Radburn, NJ, was educated at Dean Academy and Smith College, and worked as an editor of psychological and medical books and was formerly the managing editor of the International Journal of Group Psychotherapy until she quit to become a free-lance writer, first a playwright, then a writer of books and articles, the latter mostly for Reader's Digest and Woman's Day, McCall's, Ladies Home Journal and Parents Magazine. She just finished work on a novel. To sign up for the March 29th program call the Reference Desk at 908-876-3596 or sign-up on the Library's website, www.wtpl.org, under Adult activties. |
