At HomeROOM in Mitford PIEDMONT

One of my oldest grand kids, Ed, is in the 9th grade this year. That's kinda hard to believe, because it seems like it wasn't that long ago when this 74 year old Ed was in the 9th grade at Piedmont Junior High.  Heck, I can still name almost everybody in my homeroom.

Well, the girls anyway.

I'm sure psychologists have an explanation for that, but every psychologist I ever met was nuts; besides, you and I already know why 9th grade "men to be" think like they do.

Coach Edelman was my homeroom teacher and as you can see there were a number of real good looking "women to be" in that class. In my opinion, one of the prettiest was Janice Wilson, the last girl on the right in the second row. Unfortunately, I was too shy to try and get to know her better.

That was too bad because Janice Wilson, writing under the name of Jan Karon, became my wife's (and millions of other American's) favorite author! She has written almost 25 best selling novels, the most popular of which is her "Mitford Series." Jan moved from Charlotte after her Piedmont years but had she stayed she would have been a member of our class.

I feel sure that Warren Sparrow, Billy Mason, Neil Jones and the other CHS54 lawyers will agree with me that a mere technicality will not deter us from bragging about "our" famous writer!

This is what Jan said in a recent interview:

"What a journey it’s been! Many years ago, I stepped out on faith, walked away from a hard-won, very successful career, and followed my heart—and a calling I’d felt since age ten—to become an Author. Did I sit down and write a novel that became an overnight bestseller? No, it didn’t happen that way. There were many tests along the way, and, in all honesty, some moments of despair—but also a lot of prayer. 

One night as I lay in bed, I had an image of an Episcopal priest walking down the street. Then a local newspaper publisher said he’d run a weekly column of Mitford vignettes. Those columns grew slowly into a novel, At Home in Mitford. After a lot of “no’s” elsewhere, one day my publisher, Penguin, said “yes.” And then something truly humbling started happening: readers started recommending my books. So do you think I love my readers? You bet I do! "

So now that we've claimed her, maybe she'll show up at one of our monthly LDL luncheons!

But, if not, she'll be on a book tour soon in connection with her latest novel, IN THE COMPANY OF OTHERS and maybe she'll come to our area.......and we can get an autograph!


-Ed