Five Questions From A Stranger

Katy Thompson, is one of a family of seven living in Thomasville, GA.  Katy is the homemaker of the bunch and chose homeschooling with her husband when their first-born was about five years old.  Fifteen years and four children later, they still opt-out of public school.  The Thompson's alternative education shows in their children who think critically and exhibit high aptitudes, deep self-awareness and confidence as well as an intelligence beyond their years.

Helen moved to Thomasville in 1979 after decades of living in Philadelphia.  Helen, originally Хелен, but officially changed to Helen upon arrival into the United States, she was born in an Ukrainian Displaced Prisoners Camp in Germany.  She immigrated to the USA with her parents following their abduction and imprisonment during WW2.  Helen was graciously willing to share pieces of her late mother’s story of what it was like living in such a reality. 

Suggestions for further reading:

White Guard, by Mikhail Bulgakov

Lucky Breaks, by Yevgenia Belorusets

Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine, by Anne Applebaum

An arts teacher in the Thomasville City Schools District, Jessica Dell has been teaching for over a decade in both private and public schools.  She speaks toward her experience of what being a teacher to secondary school students is today.

Additionally reading:

It Won't Be Easy, by Tom Rademacher

Teach Like Your Hair is on Fire, by Rafe Esquith

Today I Made a Difference, edited by Joseph Underwood

The Teacher Wars, by Dana Goldstein

Confessions of a Bad Teacher, by John Owens

Atlanta-based artists, Tracy Murrell and Ren Dillard, speak on their living experience turning their art into their career.

Please note that the piece, “untitled”, 2022, recited on this podcast belongs solely to Ren Dillard and is copyrighted as such.  Any use of this piece without permission is infringement.

Generation Z-er, Ransom Young, speaks on his living experience being a 16-year old, openly gay male in The South with a fashion sense as equally outside what is deemed "normal".

Local author, Sandra Abbitt-Parker, once again embraces vulnerability and discusses her life and the consequences of the sexual violence inflicted upon her.    This is a heavy topic and while her story is not explicit, it may trigger a significant emotional reaction to some.  Please, bear that in mind. 

Open your mind further on this topic with these books:

The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold

A False Report, by T. Christian Miller & Ken Armstrong

Asking For It, by Kate Harding

What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape, by Sohaila Abdulali

Owner and operator of Grassroots Coffee in Thomasville, Georgia, Spencer Young, talks about his ongoing journey in entrepreneurship and shares nuggets of wisdom from his past 12 years in making his coffee a regional name.

Stay inspired with these books -

-Let My People Go Surfing, by Yvon Chouinard

-Zero To One, by Peter Thiel

-When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, by Daniel H. Pink

We sit down with Thomas County resident, Phillip Green, to chat about his past experience enmeshed with addiction and what life is on the other side.

We sit down with Thomasvillian, Howard Floyd, to ask five questions toward his experience during the Vietnam War.  Howard served two tours during the War: first in the delta, second in Saigon - both in an advisory position to the Vietnamese troops. 

*Interesting in exploring more?  Here are some suggestions for further reading: 

-The Making of a Quagmire, by David Halberstam

-Dereliction of Duty, by H.R. McMaster

-A Rumor of War, by Philip Caputo

-Dispatches, by Michael Herr

-One Very Hot Day, by David Halberstam

This month, we were happy to sit down with a beloved library patron, Erika Wyatt.  Erika is not only a language teacher within the county school system, but she also teaches a free language class at the main library.  She also happens to be born and raised in Bogota, Columbia - immigrating here with her immediate family on the cusp of her 20s.  She graciously accepted our request to be a "living library book" and shared her experience of immigration through our five questions.