Alice's true adventures (cont.)
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STONE: What were some challenges in writing this biography?WHITE: I felt a special pressure to be worthy of Alice Walker. If she could write Third Life of Grange Copeland in Meridian while dealing with the Klan in Mississippi and being married and having a child, and I'm sitting up here in Granola land--Northern California--and walking around a lake every morning not having to worry about finances, how could I not get it together? This book has changed my life. I learned how ferocious and fierce this sister has been. And now I understand where it comes from: the influence of her parents and the ancestors.
STONE: Are you interested in writing another biography on another writer or
celebrity?
WHITE: You never say never, but I'm not going to do
a biography of anybody or any descendants of people who are going to make
warrior work for me. With Alice, it was clear to me that there was a place
for me to enter, so I wasn't going to have to do battle and warfare with
her to do my job. Most biographies fail because of a mismatch of subject
and biographer.
STONE: Many people think she's become too New Agey.
Why should people care about what Alice Walker has to say?
WHITE: What her life exemplifies more than anything
else is freedom. She lives in full possession of her life. When you're clear
about your decision making, you can be free. Alice is not one to coddle
people and massage them into freedom. She says, "This is what freedom
looks like, and this is the hard work you have to do to achieve it." She
would argue that we do need a new age. She has a wide-open vision; she has
always been ten to 15 years ahead of everybody. With a vision like that,
you leave a lot of people behind.
Robin B. Stone is author of No Secrets, No Lies: How Black Families Can Heal
From Sexual Abuse (Broadway Books).
COPYRIGHT 2004 Essence Communications, Inc.
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