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The Courage To Be Me is a wild ride from
learning to ride two-wheelers in Los Angeles to coming over
the Grapevine in 1942 heading to their new home in Lindsay, to
author John C. Kimber learning to drive a truck at age 10 on his
grandparents farm in Pennsylvania.
Readers of a certain age will recall canvas water
bags attached to car bumpers, 10 cents Royal Crown Colas and
nickel packs of gum.
Kimber recalls that "The Friendly City" had that
motto back in the '40s, when it was officially the Olive Capital
of the World but not all that friendly, not to citizens of color
who were "not allowed to stay overnight in the city limits"
according to city ordinance.
In turn, as a town resident, the Washington
School third grader and his brother felt it appropriate to pick
on the "Okie" kids who were the migrant workers of that era
until his Quaker grandmother taught him to see the world
"through other people's eyes" and experiences. The books
is a fun trip down memory lane as well as being uplifting and
inspirational.
Quakers are, as part of their religion,
pacifists and conscientious objectors, believing in the sanctity
of all life. The Kimber family arranged to sponsor several
Japanese families from the area by having them work on the
Pennsylvania farm rather than idle away the time in internment
camps as was done with other Japanese families on the West Coast.
The large type and extra spacing between the
lines may not be to every reader's liking, but Kimber, a science
teacher for more that 35 years in the classrooms of Lindsay,
Woodlake and Poplar, hope children will want to read the book, or
that their teachers will read them a chapter after the lunch
break. In fact in his press release he states, "The
Courage To Be Me" is a series of true stories written for all
ages, but specifically suited for a classroom setting of middle
school students, their teachers and parents."
But be advised that the pranks of yesteryear
could be considered assault in today's climate, such as
when he writes about the pain in the fifth grade of being
declared the boyfriend of a girl named Bobbi (that was a boy's
name after all). And then she beat him up in front of his
friends, using a big rock and drawing blood, ouch.
Also, being a preacher's kid, Kimber wrestles
with his conscious, whether to follow the world and become rich
and famous (hopefully) or to "Become an agent of change. It
would mean that I could not be afraid to challenge the status
quo. I could not be too concerned abut being popular or accepted
among some groups of people."
That one powerful concept made the book work for
this reader and well worth the time invested. Finding the
courage and the pathway to being who we truly are is a
tremendous accomplishment.
C.J. Barbre
with the Sun Gazette
December 7, 2005
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