U.S. G.I.R.L.S were greeted with Christmas serenades from Patti Labelle, Yolanda Adams, and Saxophonist, Kirk Whalum permeating the air as we entered the Private Dining Room of Maggiano's Little Italy to discuss The Healing, by Jonathan Odell.
The hostess, Jennie "JayBee" staged the room in a Christmas theme with golden "glittering" reindeer and an abundance of poinsettias throughout the venue. In each chair was a gift bag holding a Lenox Charm Ornament and matching ornament hanger. Additionally each guest received a copy of the 2012 Southern Living Christmas Cookbook.
JayBee began the meeting by welcoming everyone and asking the members to introduce their guests. Next, it was time for some Superlatives!
Perfect Attendance for 2012: Valerie, Karen, Celeste and JayBee
1st Member to utilize the R.S.V.P Tab: Ardee "Dee"
1st Guest to "EVER" sign our guest book: Lisa
JayBee offered up a prayer; and the buffet commenced!! The appetizers were crusted shrimp and stuffed mushrooms prepared to perfection; the 2nd course consisted of grilled chicken with basil, Eggplant with whole wheat penne and Maggiano's famous "Mom's" Lasagna! For the final course we dined on delicious cheesecake and seasonal fruit. Of course there was the famous Italian salad and freshly baked breads...Yummie!!
JayBee began the discussion with a question that she did not have on the list. She asked if The Healing were to become a movie, who would you like to see "cast" in various roles? Of course Cicely Tyson's name was mentioned for Polly Shine as well as Maya Angelou. We all agreed with Dee's suggestion of Sissy Spacek for the role of Amanda Satterfield. Celestial brought up a very interesting point that several of us had not thought of; why did Jonathan Odell elect not to use the term "Doula" when referring to Polly Shine or Granada as midwives? This was the first of many ahhhhhh moments. Celeste brought up some very strong points regarding Ella's maternal feelings as it relates to her having her new born baby torn away from her. Celeste spoke from a Mother's vantage point: How far would you go to keep your child? Would you risk your own life? Celeste feels she might!
Everyone had a favorite profound statement or riddle from the book and it was interesting to hear everyone read their selected passage. Violet's head ticking was seen as symbolic in many ways. Roz offered the symbolism of a comforting mechanism; similar to a child sucking his thumb. She indicated that as a child she can remember "rocking" back and forth, and this was comforting to her. JayBee offered another symbolic explanation to go along with Roz' analogy: Going through The Healing, Jonathan Odell used the word "cadence" over 5 times when referring to rhythm; below are 2 examples: 1) With reference to Polly Shine singing and swaying to the "cadence" of a beat (pg 140) 2) Violet's unconscious ticking of the head to the "cadence" of a secret verse (pg 310). Summarized, JayBee felt that Violet was hearing the cadence of the calling; a cadence of the healing being born within her...now, that was deep!!
The theory of how Becky contracted Cholera was reason for banter. Val suggested that the disease could have been airborne, and Ben Satterfield himself could have been the carrier - bringing it back to his child after one of his many night visits to the slave quarters - yet another deep Ahhhhhhh moment. There were many insightful moments during the discussion; particularly the topic of shades /tones of skin color and the "internal" prejudicial attitudes among the Slaves. There were several several side bars regarding the Satterfield Slaves impression/perception of freedom and Ben Satterfield's strategy of "inbreeding"
Now, it was time for the "BIG" surprise!! At 1:00 Eastern, JayBee arranged for Jonathan Odell to be skyped in. She solicited the assistance of her niece; Celestial to make sure it would come together without a hitch. Needless to say, everyone was surprised to see Jonathan appear on the screen in the middle of our discussion. As the room erupted in gasps, laughter, and applause, JayBee introduced Jonathon Odell and welcomed him to the meeting. Jonathan asked Celestial (who he met earlier when She and JayBee tested connectivity) to turn the IPad around so he could see everyone. JayBee began the dialogue with a discussion of writing "The Healing" as it relates to his own spirituality.
Val was up first with her question about the character (and I use that term loosely), Daniel Webster. Jon explained that animals are given to people who are broken be it physically or mentally. Daniel Webster seemed to bring comfort to Amanda Satterfield as she grieved the loss of her daughter. Karen was next to address Jonathan, commending him on his research that showed his commitment to getting the facts with regards to culture and dialect. She expounded upon this by comparing holistic medicines and topicals that her family used when she was growing up to Polly Shine’'s methods. Jon explained how the medical community "shunned" these efforts even though some have proven to work well.
Both Maria and Shryle presented Jon with some thought provoking questions. He also complimented both women on their color choices for their ensembles for this holiday meeting - Amazingly, they both were wearing red.
Jonathan indicated that the book started out with over 700 pages!! The original draft included information about Ella, Violet's Mom, Becky as a child...etc. He indicated that he had to do some major editing to get the book down to a marketable read. Lisa asked a question about Violet's future, and Jon confirmed that "yes," Violet has the "gift" and goes on to become the storyteller for the descendants of the Satterfield Plantation. Lisa also elaborated on how much she enjoyed the ending of the book.
Celeste broached the "million dollar" question: Why is there a comparison between The Help and The Healing on the book jacket cover? Needless to say, Jon seemed to struggle with this question as much as we did; therefore, I will leave it at that. I will say that I too, enjoy the works of Author, Playwright, and Entrepreneur, Pat Conroy, who is the originator of this comparison. Some of us have visited the two room school house (subject of the movie "Conrack") where he taught on Dufaskie Island, SC. I'm sure we have all heard the stories of Pat Conroy discovering and lobbying to educate a group of "forgotten" Geechee/Gullah Slave descendants on this barrier island in the late 60s. With ALL that said, my struggle with this comparison only intensifies because I have the upmost admiration for his contributions to Civil and Human Rights. If presented with the opportunity I would be inclined to ask Mr. Conroy; respectively of course..."Huh???"
There was an eerie similarity to the town Polly Shine and the Slaves from Satterfield Plantation developed and the factual town near Tulsa, Oklahoma known as "Black Wall Street" that was bombed from the sky and burned to the ground in 1921. When asked, Jonathan said he did in fact draw inspiration for several towns like this, including Rosewood, FL.
Before leaving the meeting, Jonathan indicated that he enjoyed the questions used in the meeting, and asked JayBee if he could use some of them on his website!! U.S. G.I.R.L.S. and guests thanked Jonathan Odell for giving us a hour of his "valuable" time to discuss his work. His enthusiasm during the meeting and responses to our questions were authentic and genuine. We were all impressed by his appreciation for his core readers. One of the guest made the comment that she could have discussed this book all day and hated to see the meeting "wrap up!" 2012 will be a Christmas season to remember...it is the season U.S. G.I.R.L.S. and guest were touched by Johnathon Odell and "The Healing."