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The Forsyth County News
Opinion
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Signed columns and cartoons are the opinions of the
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Writing builds a bridge between kindred spirits
1 suspe»J Celestine Sibley would
have smiled and nodded had I told
her how I feel about writing.
Today, I read some of her earli
est columns and recognized a kin
dred spirit. Not, perhaps, in the
topics she chose or the experi
ences she described. She began
telling her stories in the early
‘4os, decades before I sucked in
my first breath and my lung col
lapsed. Her tales of gardening and
log cabins and mending quilts
spoke of a world 1 have never
known.
But I can feel it in the cadence
of her tales that we share a com
mon love: language. Crafting a
sentence well and breathing
renewed life into a memory, sim
ply through the telling, invigorates
me. As does reading those who do
it well. I confess the simple beau-
On your payroll
CITY COUNCIL
Mayor, H. Ford Gravitt, 212 Kelly Mill Road,
Cumming, Ga. 30040. (770) 887-2352.
Mayor Pro-Tern, Lewis Ledbetter, 205
Mountain Brook Drive, Cumming, Ga.
30040. (770)887-3019.
Ralph Perry, 1420 Pilgrim Road, Cumming,
Ga. 30040. (770) 887-7474.
Quincy Holton, 103 Hickory Ridge Drive,
Cumming, Ga. 30040. (770) 887-5279.
Rupert Sexton, 705 Pine Lake Drive,
Cumming, Ga. 30040. (770) 887-4332.
John Pugh, 108 13th St, Cumming, Ga.
30040. (770)887-3342.
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Chairman Bill Jenkins, 430 Oakleaf Trail,
Suwanee, Ga. 30174. (770) 887-0935;
office, (770) 886-2809.
William “Andy” Anderson, 9740 Misty Cove
Lane, Gainesville, Ga. 30506. (770) 889-
1829; office, (770) 886-2806.
John Kieffer, 4403 Pine Tree Close,
Cumming, Ga. 30040. 889-3255; office,
(770)886-2810.
Julian Bowen, 5035 Pilgrim Point Road,
Cumming, Ga. 30041. (770) 887-0784;
office, (770) 886-2802.
Michael Bennett, 4301 Post Road, Cumming,
Ga. 30040. (770) 889-4515; office, (770) ”
781-2101.
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Chairman Ben Benson, 1265 Dahlonega
Highway, Cumming, Ga. 30040. (770) 889-
9892.
Vice-Chairman Paul Kreager, 9810 Kings
Road, Gainesville, Ga. 30506. (770) 889-
9971.
Don Hendricks, 5985 Polo Drive,
Cumming, Ga. 30040. (770) 889-2909.
Sherry Sagemiller, 1460 Squire Lane,
Cumming, Ga. 30040. (770) 887-8388.
Eddie Taylor, 4195 Morningside Drive,
Cumming, Ga. 30040. (770) 887-4405.
ty of her mastery is daunting.
I know now why Naomi
Williams bothered to show up
each day in my high school to
teach us, by the dozens but by the
ones, that grammar made sense
and would serve us well if we
would only take the time to
absorb its wisdom. That in the
intricate network of rules and
structure was a freedom which
our learning must first unleash,
and then our nature explore. Rules
which could be broken, but only
with due respect and astute intent.
It is evident from the lyrical
beauty of her prose that Ms.
Sibley embraced the same soulful
friend, this flame hungering to
tame the mysteries of translation,
to reach the fluid telling.
But there is more.
Writing means risk, as does any
NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. Senator Paul Coverdell
200 Russell Senate Office Building,
Washington, D.C. 20510
Atlanta: 100 Colony Square, Suite 300,
1175 Peachtree St.,
Atlanta, Ga. 30361.
Telephone: (202) 224-3643;
Atlanta (404) 347-2202
Washington, (202) 224-3643.
U.S. Senator Max Cleland
75 Spring Street, Suite 1700
Atlanta, Ga. 30303.
Telephone: (404) 331-4811
Washington: (202) 224-3521
U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, 9th District
2437 Rayburn House Office Building,
Washington, D.C. 20515
Gainesville: P.O. Box 1015,
Gainesville, Ga. 30503.
Gainesville, (770) 535-2592
Washington: (202) 225-5211
STATE REPRESENTATIVES
Senator Billy Ray, 48th District
State Capitol, Suite 327, Legislative Office
Building, Atlanta, Ga. 30334. (fax) (404)
656-6581
Telephone: (404) 656-0048 (office)
or (770) 822-0900.
e-mail: bray@legis.state.ga.us
Senator Casey Cagle, 49th District
325-B Legislative Office Building, Atlanta,
Ga. 30334. (fax) (404) 657-1424
Telephone: (404) 656-6578.
Rep. Mike Evans, 28th District
18 Capitol Square,
Legislative Office Building, Room 604
Atlanta, Ga. 30334.
Telephone: (404) 656-0265
(fax) (404) 463-7652.
e-mail: mevans2B@mindspring.com
Rep. Bobby Reese, 85th District
State Capitol, Suite 511,
Legislative Office Building
18 Captiol Square, Atlanta, Ga. 30334.
Telephone: (404) 656-6372.
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exchange of humanity. Put pen to
paper (or keystroke to screen)
and, if you have been true, you
will shed your shield, one stitch at
a time, until your wardrobe has
been peeled from your staunchly
protesting frame.
You will, at times, war with
yourself, balking at the discomfort
of exposure. Walking out on that
limb oft slows to a tentative tip
toe. Though at times your words
may please those around you and.
in time, perhaps even yourself,
there will be other moments. Your
flaws will glare, the rough edges
of your reasoning grate, the
audacity of your ideals incense.
Therein lies the beauty. The
scrutiny and excavating the
courage to invite it is freeing.
There is a story to tell: sometimes
it is your own, sometimes it
belongs to another. Perhaps the
kernel of thought which you initi
ate will generate discussion,
inspire communication all its own,
sometimes heated, sometimes kin
dred. To illuminate the plight of
one is to invite the compassion
or wrath —of many. Yes, there is
risk.
Or perhaps, as Ms. Sibley so
ably proved, writing's greatest gift
is simply in the giving. She gave
to all who came to her feast the
stories and through them her
spirit that made us laugh and
cry and relate and respond. And
we did for one reason: her obvi
ous love for the task at hand
PIGSKIN PREVIEW
"This popular keepsake edition
carries the 1999 football sched
ules & rosters of all three high
schools as well as team photos,
varsity cheerleaders, band mem
bers and coaching plans for the
year!
Support your local football teams
as they embark on a new season! 1 1
This feature supplies in depth . \1
coverage of your home team!
& » wt
, Tab Insert
Ik Publishes August 29,1999
| \ Deadline August 19, 1999
Call your Account Representative
AV To Reserve Space 770-887-3126
\ v Forsyth County News
Pkl IrM wx: W Wk * Y our "Hometown Paper" Sincel9oß J
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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Thursday. August 19, 1999
flowed into her craft and from her
subjects straight into our living
room.
In her remarkable 55 years of
writing for all willing to plop
down the spare change it took to
buy a newspaper, she contributed
more than 10.000 columns. I’ve
amassed 75. It is humbling.
Perhaps she would have smiled
and nodded when I told her how' I
feel about writing, or maybe she
would just be amused at my
assumption that my feelings about
our shared craft have anything at
all to do with being able to tackle
the nitty gritty of producing such
a prodigious collection of orga-
Cheryl
Vaughn
Mm
nized thought.
One thing is certain.
Celestine Sibley wrapped her
life around her writing and her
writing around her life and chose
her words well so that the rest of
us could breathe in and out right
alongside her. Someone said we
should all live the life she led.
And, thanks to her, we did.
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