Evince Magazine June 2022

Kitt Mayo Destination Danville p5

Page 2 June 2022

Evince Magazine Page 3

Editor’s Note

D

o you ever think about what’s inside of you, waiting to be uncovered?

I worked for several years in leadership development. I learned not to use the word “empower.”

Why? It seems like a natural fit. You can imagine the slogan: “We empower people to be leaders who make a difference.”

That phrasing misses where

power resides. Power is already inside of people.

They may need help getting in touch with their power or encouragement to use it.

People don’t need to be empowered. The power they already have needs to be cultivated, focused, and unleashed.

In a grief counseling class, I learned that we as counselors (or pastors, hospice workers, friends who ask, “How are you, really?”), “do not make people cry. We release the tears that are already there.”

Unleash. Release.

CEO / Publisher / Andrew Scott Brooks

There is something inside all of us, thrumming beneath the surface, waiting to be heard.

That’s what I love about Kitt Mayo’s story. She listened to that sound inside of her, and in the process her power has been unleashed.

Kendall Ratliffe is the editor of Evince Magazine and a results coach at www.tryonething.co

Advertising For ad information contact a marketing consultant listed below.

Lee Vogler Director of Sales and Marketing (434.548.5335) lee@evincemagazine.com Kendall Ratliffe Account Executive kendall@evincemagazine.com

Content to 9 Close Danville

Kim Demont Graphic Design, Marketing (434.792.0612) demontdesign@verizon.net

to Home 13 Letters

by Barbara Lashley and Kendall Ratliffe

10 Thought-Trip into a ReverseUniverse 5

by Linda Lemery

Kitt Mayo Destination Danville

by Kendall Ratliffe

7 Culture?

Came 11Which First, the

Chicken or the Wine?

What is

by Kendall Ratliffe and contributors

8 June Calender

by Dave Slayton

12

Movies You Missed from 20 years ago

by Josh Lucia

Art & Production Director Demont Design (Kim Demont) Finance Manager Cindy Yeatts (1.434.709.7349)

June 2022

by Berkley Pritchett

Contributing Writers Barbara Norman Lashley, Berkley Pritchett Danville Public Library Book Clubs Dave Slayton, Felice McWilliams Josh Lucia, Kitt Mayo, Linda Lemery Mack Williams, Mary Ann Shelton

What inside of you needs to be unleashed or released?

On the Cover: Photo of Kitt Mayo by Jameel Austin Photography.

3 Editor’s Note

Editor / Kendall Ratliffe kendall@evincemagazine.com

So 14 Not One-sided

by Mack Williams

15

The 3-Sentence Book Review The Silent Patient

by Alex Michaelides reviewed by Danville Public Library

A Raisin in the Sun

by Lorraine Hansberry reviewed by Unrequired Reading – Classics Book Club

evince\i-’vin(t)s\ 1: to constitute outward evidence of 2: to display clearly; reveal syn see SHOW

What is the most important food you make all year? Send your writeup of no more than 150 words (pictures encouraged!) to kendall@evincemagazine. com. Deadline for this and all other stories, articles, and calendar items is Monday, June 13 at 5:00pm for the May issue.

Editorial Policies

Evince is a free monthly magazine about Arts and Culture in Danville and the surrounding area. We reserve the right to accept, reject and edit all submissions and advertisements.

EVINCE MAGAZINE 753 Main St. Suite 3 Danville, VA 24541 www.evincemagazine.com 434.709.7349 © 2022 All rights reserved. Reproduction or use in whole or in part in any medium without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited.

Page 4 June 2022

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Evince Magazine Page 5

Kitt Mayo

Destination Danville

by Kendall Ratliffe photo by Jameel Austin Photography

K

itt Mayo had lived in Danville most of her life and was ready to leave.

As a child she learned to play clarinet, and in her teens, Mayo traveled the East Coast for jazz band and orchestra competitions. She attended college at Norfolk State University and vacationed around and beyond the United States as an adult. Her adventures had shown Mayo how much lay past the borders of Danville.

Mayo was ready to leave Danville, and yet she didn’t.

“Instead of complaining, I thought I’d make a change,” Mayo says. She had already spent several years facilitating table conversations about pressing community issues at America’s Sunday Suppers. After deciding to stay in Danville, Mayo started showing up more.

And then, when she joined the Middle Border Forward Fellowship, Mayo’s leadership skyrocketed. “I was never one of those people who wanted to be out front. I’d be in the background, asking, ‘Do you need anything,’ and that was good with me,” Mayo says.

“But destiny had its say, and I got pushed out of my comfort zone.”

Mayo has stayed out of her comfort zone and has “kept adding titles” she says. Titles like 6th District Vice President and Western Zone Vice President of the American Legion Auxiliary, the Danville Chapter chair of The Health Collaborative and the Walk to End Alzheimer’s®, board of directors of Collidescope, member of the Social Equity Network, and logistical support for Danville Fashion Week and Stay Hood Productions. Mayo laughs and adds, “I hope I’m not forgetting anything.”

Recently, Mayo’s love of the arts and her community service have begun to converge. “Getting involved in so many things has been great. I opened my eyes, and now I see Danville in a different way,” Mayo says.

Mayo sees Danville’s potential as an arts destination. She notes that many residents go out of town when they want arts and culture. As a creative and musician, herself, she used to be the same way. “But now I know

that we have enormous amount of talents right here,” Mayo says.

“It deserves to be spotlighted and cultivated.”

says. “I get people together. For any project, you need all sorts of people. I know who you need, and I can get them on board.”

Mayo has started attending informal artists’ gatherings in Danville, now calling themselves We Create. She is on fire about the talent there and is convinced that “everybody needs to know about Danville’s creatives,” she says.

This skill she uses now pulls on threads of her earlier life.

Facilitating America’s Sunday Suppers meant guiding hard conversations among diverse strangers. Her orchestra experience gave Mayo early lessons in collaboration, vision, and persistence. The groups Mayo works with benefit from her ability to communicate across cultures.

Ever the one to do instead of say, Mayo has gotten moving. She has sponsored a spoken word open mic, promoted an artist showcase, and hosted a speaker series. Mayo is figuring out how to fund arts through a nascent organization she is calling the Danville Phoenix Foundation.

Mayo is thinking in terms of a foundation because she sees the possibility for more than individual events. She wants Danville to be a hub for artists and performances.

If anyone has the skills to build this, it’s Mayo. There is a gap in most collaboratives that she fills naturally. “I’m a connector,” Mayo

Between Mayo’s vision and skillset, Destination Danville could well be her destiny in Danville.

“I’m excited to see what’s to come to this city, and I’m just hoping to play a little part to see us shine.” Like one instrument in an orchestra, a crucial role that shines when joined by community.

Inspired by Mayo’s story? Email her at kitteriamayo75@gmail. com about how you can get involved!

Page 6 June 2022

Evince Magazine Page 7

What is

Culture?

by Kendall Ratliffe with Mary Ann Shelton, Felice McWilliams, and Kitt Mayo

Photo by Felice McWilliams

B

eing an arts and culture magazine has Evince wondering: what is culture?

Here are some definitions: “All the ways of life including manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, arts, beliefs and institutions of a population that are passed down from generation to generation.”—Boston University School of Public Health “The knowledge system, experience, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, notions of time, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and objects acquired by a group of people that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next.”—Texas A & M University “The characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time, ex. popular culture, Southern culture.”—Merriam Webster But perhaps culture is better described than defined. So, we’re asking readers to share about their cultures.

Each month, Evince will post a

question in the table of contents about an aspect of culture, and we will share reader responses in later editions.

As this project unfolds, we hope you will feel surprise, delight, and kinship with the tapestry of cultures that surround you in our little corner of Southside Virginia.

To kick us off, we’re asking about tea. Tea is important to cultures in the southern United States and around the world, as well as to history (ask an elementary schooler about the Boston Tea Party if you need a reminder!).

Felice McWilliams I had no idea how much SWEET TEA was a Southern culture thing... until I got hooked on it!

I went back to California for a visit, sitting in a restaurant... I “try” to order sweet tea... the waiter looked at me with a blank stare, “We have unsweetened tea, sugar is on the table. Will that do?”

He was so serious! I chuckled and said, “Bring me a Pepsi!” Lol! Love me some sweet tea, but you can’t get it on the West Coast unless you make it yourself. Southern culture!

Here’s three takes from our readers on the Southern tea culture.

Mary Ann Shelton To brew tea, I use a small pot filled with cold water, about 3 cups, brought to a rolling boil with 4 Great Value family-size tea bags. I let it set for a few minutes while I fill a pitcher with 5 cups of cold water plus 3 and 1/3 cups of sugar, stirring until dissolved.

Next, I pour in the hot tea with the tea bags, then I remove the tea bags with tongs, squeezing out the water of each bag. Using a tablespoon, I taste the tea to see if it is sweet enough and if it is, just pour over ice in a glass and enjoy!

Photo by Mary Ann Shelton

Kitt Mayo Tea is a big deal for AfricanAmericans in the South. It’s not just a beverage enjoyed on a sunny day. It can also have medicinal use, such as sassafras, chamomile, or just adding honey and/or lemon. Tea is and will always be King in the South.

What does tea mean to you culturally? How do you drink it?

Send your response to kendall@ evincemagazine.com. Check out the next prompt in the table of contents!

Page 8 June 2022

June

Calendar of Evince

River Walk trai clean-up.

Abbreviation Key

• CP = Carrington Pavilion, 629 Craghead Street • DMFAH = Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History, 975 Main St. 434.793.5644 www.danvillemuseum.org • GML = Gunn Memorial Library, 161 Main St, Yanceyville, NC, 336.694.6241 • MSAC = Main Street Art Collective, 326 Main Street, 434.602.2017 MainStreetArtCollective.com • RBA = Ruby B. Archie Public Library, 511 Patton Street, www.readdanvilleva.org

Weave a Tote Basket: 11 am. $45. MSAC

Thru October 31

Danville Farmers’ Market: Fruits and Vegetables, Beef, Chicken, Lamb, Jams and Jellies, Eggs, Honey, Baked Goods, Crafts, and more. Saturdays, 7:30am12:00pm. 434.797.8961.

Community Market, 629 Craghead Street.

Mini Barn Quilt Painting: 6-8 pm. $45-$65. MSAC.

Upcoming July 1

June 3

Movies at the Crossing-Cars: Games, food, and activities at 7pm. Film on bigscreen at 8:30 p.m. 7-8:30pm. Free. CP.

June 21

River Walk Trail Clean-up with Library Scouts. Ages 7 and up.

4:30-6:30pm. Registration is required: 434.799.5195. RBA.

Independence Day Fireworks and Festival: Live Music, food for purchase. 3:00pm-dark. Free.

Yanceyville Pavilion, Cole & Main Street, Yanceyville, NC.

June 22 June 4

Barn Quilt Painting: Come paint a 2’x2’ board $70 or a 3’x3’ board for $90. From 1-5 pm, MSAC

June 9

Summer Reading Kickoff: Balloon animals, face painting, special guests from the Danville Police and Fire department, and a variety of other activities. Free.

5-6:30pm. RBA.

June 15

Overbooked: Teen Book Club.

“The Inheritance Games” by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Grades 9-12. 4-5pm. Register at 434.799.5195. RBA.

Summer Tween Movie Night: Hang out with your friends, eat pizza, and watch the camp classic “The Parent Trap.” Grades 6-12. 4:30-7pm. Registration is required: 434.799.5195. RBA.

June 23

Stuffed Animal Campout: Bring stuffed animal friends for a fun night of “campfire” games and stories. Ages 2-6.

5-6pm. Registration required: 434.799.5195. RBA. Doodles and Things: Drawing 101 - Landscapes. Ages 10 and up. 5-6pm. Registration required: 434.799.5195. RBA.

June 25

Mixed Media Painting: 11am. $35. MSAC.

June 28

June 2-September 22

Caswell Farmers’ Market: Presented by the Caswell Local Foods Council. Thursdays, 4:006:30pm. Bright Leaf Square (by Goodwill) 2246 NC Hwy 86 N, Yanceyville. More info at CaswellLocalFoods@gmail.com or Facebook.

Page Turners: Elementary Book Club “Song for a Whale” by Lynne Kelly. Grades 2-4. 4-5pm. Register 434.799.5195. RBA.

June 30

Ongoing

Museum Attic Sale Donation Drop Off: DMFAH TuesdayFriday 10am-5pm; Sat-12-5pm; Sun 2-5pm no clothes, no electronics, furniture accepted with appointment davidc522@ comcast.net 305.766.2979.

Teen Club: Thursdays at 3:15pm.

GML Tween Club: Fridays at 3:30pm.

GML

June 29

June 18

Danville Children’s Festival: Lots of fun activities for children of all ages. CP.

Start-Up Slam: NEW quarterly event. Share a meal and business idea (no formal plan needed). Audience favorite wins cash prize. Must reserve seat to watch or participate: 434.791.0210 or alyssa@ riverdistrictassociation.com. 6 pm. $10. 616 N. Main Street

July 4

July 4 Celebration: Free entertainment, music, fireworks, and activities. Food for purchase.

6-10:00pm. CP.

July 19

Connecting Caswell Networking Breakfast: Beetoobi IT Solutions at CoSquare (new shared workspace facility) 8:00am9:30am. Free. 106 Court Square, Yanceyville, NC 27379.

July 20 Overbooked: Teen Book Club.

A free copy of the book will be given out to the first newcomer to register a month before the meeting. July 20 - “The Librarian of Auschwitz” by Antonio Iturbe.

Grades 9-12. 4-5pm. Register 434.799.5195.

Evince Magazine Page 9 but you are competing against hundreds of other shows that night and the crowds can be more apathetic.”

Positive No came to an end in 2020 with the release of their last record, Kyanite. Close said it felt time to end that chapter and move on to other projects.

He now plays with his wife in the band Outer World. An aboutface from the punk rock of Positive No, Outer World’s music is steeped in the avant-garde baroque pop-rock of the ’60s.

Kenny Close on guitar in teen band Juniper.

Close to Danville

by Berkeley Pritchett photo by Kenny Close

D

anville has a musical heritage, with notable contributions like the opera singer Camilla Williams and the ballad “Wreck of the Old 97.”

On the other side of the country, music was forever changed by the Pacific Northwest’s grunge rock export, Nirvana.

In this milieu Kenny Close started his musical journey. Like Ms. Williams and “the Old 97,” music has led Close beyond Danville.

For years he played guitar for the Richmond-based rock band Positive No, which released three albums, an EP, and several singles before dissolving.

The band enjoyed attention from the national stage when NPR reviewed their music video “Pedal Through.” The video is a gentle lambasting of the routine indignities experienced by a band trying to make it big. In the video, a standing ovation is delivered by an audience of one, likely a highschool student (if his backpack is anything to go by). Solicited tips for the traveling band amount to seven dollars in change, a stick of cherry ChapStick, and a bag of oranges.

Kenny Close on drums

One of Positive No’s songs ended up on the playlist of Matador Records, a lauded hipster label behind critically acclaimed bands such as Pavement, Belle and Sebastian, and Interpol.

“I know being featured in a Spotify playlist doesn’t mean much in the long run,” Close said in a Facebook post, “but I’d be lying if I didn’t think it was SUPER COOL seeing Positive No placed in ‘Matador Records Recommends.’”

While garnering positive reviews, the band also played with highprofile acts like The Lemonheads, Archers of Loaf, Pavement, Jawbox, and Bratmobile.

Close remembers growing up in Danville and thinking only cities held opportunities. But he has found that being an artist in a small community is not such a bad thing. “The last few tours Positive No did, we always tried to find smaller markets to play in between the larger cities,” he said. “People generally seemed excited you came to their town and often bought records and merchandise. Playing places like New York City seems glamorous,

Close feels he was lucky to grow up in Danville when he did.

In the ’90s there was a small underground music scene, much of it congregated around Playground Pizza and Suite 6 downtown.

While things look different now, Close is encouraged by the changes he sees in Danville when he visits. “Once or twice a year I’ll come down to go shopping at Downtown Records for the day,” Close said. “The last of which was August of 2021.

I love seeing how much has happened.”

Page 10 June 2021

ThoughtTrip into a ReverseUniverse

(A Mamie and Solly Story)

by Linda Lemery

Arizona Dawn by John Thomas

M

amie, as long as I’ve known and loved your blue eyes, gently graying hair, and rounded body, I still have no idea how your mind works,” said her husband Solly, shaking his head. “It’s not linear.

You were cleaning, and then suddenly you were going on about a thought-trip into a reverse-universe.”

“

“Solly, as much as I love your laughing eyes and all the rest of you, I’ll ask you again: Why would I want to keep brainlessly cleaning up clutter?” said Mamie.

“Isn’t it more interesting to think about puzzling possibilities? For example, if I am in a reverse

universe, odd things could happen. What if I open the refrigerator door and all the food vanishes?”

“What if I type on the computer and not only are all the letters reversed, but the sentences run backward?”

“Is your brain misfiring?” asked Solly. “Who are you?”

“That’s a reversal for sure, Solly. It’s just like me entering the grocery store being pushed backward by my shopping cart.”

“What if I open the pantry and the writing on the food labels turns into the language used at the opposite side of the world? And since on the opposite side of the world is an ocean, the kitchen floods?”

Solly blinked. “Maybe whatever you’ve got is catching. I’m beginning to think you’re making sense.”

“What if I open a book and the print converts to Braille, but in Cyrillic?”

“I don’t know if Braille can be in Cyrillic,” said Solly.

“Hair-splitting as usual. We’re talking about reverse-universes!”

“You’re sounding crazier than a backwater loon, but I’m beginning to get into the spirit of this,” said Solly. “What if I turn on my electric toothbrush and it applies a new layer of plaque to my teeth?”

My Space by Felice McWilliams

“Attaboy,” said Mamie. “What if the blender turns my smoothie into colorful concrete strong enough to hold back a nuclear blast?”

Solly started. “What if I uncork a bottle of wine and its particles compact, refusing to be poured?”

“That qualifies, Solly.”

“Luckily, Mamie, you never opened the door to a reverseuniverse,” said Solly. “Who knows what would have really happened if you had?”

“That poses another question, Solly. During thought-travel, is proximity to a thought-destination enough to erase my big left-toe, leaving my foot look as if that toe was never there?”

We both looked down at my sockand-sandal-clad feet. “Maybe it’s good that you’re wearing socks.

Please don’t take them off. I don’t want to know,” said Solly.

About the Author: Linda Lemery llemery@ gmail.com likes writing and travel, even thought-travel, more than cleaning her house. Maybe she has that in common with Evince readers. She welcomes reader comments.

Evince Magazine Page 11

Which Came First, the

Chicken or the Wine?

by Dave Slayton photo by Dave Slayton

Table setting with art by Norme Harding Martin

F

or me, the chicken came first, then the wine.

There is an ongoing debate about winemaking being an art or a craft.

I believe wine and food pairing is an art form. One person’s caviar and champagne are another person’s organic compost. One person’s Mona Lisa is another person’s doodling in the margin.

Consider the grilled chicken entrée as our canvas and its various sauces or marinades as the colors on our artist’s palette.

Kristin Donnelly, writing for Food and Wine magazine, cites five

grilled chicken variations to show the importance of sauce and marinade in selecting a wine. She says, “Because of the char and smoky flavors that infuse the meat, you can go for wines that have seen some new oak, including Chardonnays and some Pinot Noirs. If the chicken is rubbed with lots of herbs—like rosemary and thyme—rosé or lightly chilled Spanish Garnacha is a good bet.”

What if you are preparing grilled barbecue chicken? Donnelly says, “Go for fruity, low-tannin reds, like Zinfandel. These wines have deep berry flavors and an almost sweet

fruit quality that’s great with these sauces. If you lean toward white wines, try a full-bodied dry rosé, which also tends to have ripe, almost sweet fruit but enough body for this style of chicken.”

Whether your sauce is sweet, mustardy, or spicy, go with an off-dry Riesling. “The heat of the marinade will make the wine taste less sweet,” Donnelly says. Keep in mind that increased alcohol amplifies spiciness. However, the low alcohol content of most Rieslings makes them a good drink on a hot summer’s day.

For tangy sauce, pair a dry Riesling or an unoaked Chardonnay. A red wine option could be a slightly chilled Beaujolais.

Got yogurt in your marinade?

Try a full-bodied white wine, like Chardonnay. It will complement the brown crust on the chicken.

Here’s hoping that all your culinary works of art will be masterpieces.

Cheers!

BECAUSE BUILDING A BETTER WORLD STARTS WITH LITERACY.

Ruby B. Archie Public Library 511 Paaon Street · readdanvilleva.org OPEN SIX DAYS A WEEK Featuring over 64,000 tles including new releases, best sellers, graphic novels, old favorites, DVDs, books on CD, and more!

Services include children and adult programming, genealogy and newspaper databases, reference services, prinnng, copying, fax, notary, and more!

Home delivery coming soon.

Call 434-799-5195 to see if you qualify.

MON - THUR 10 AM to 7 PM | FRIDAYS 10 AM to 5 PM SATURDAYS 10 AM to 2 PM

Page 12 June 2022

Movies You Missed from 20 years ago

by Josh Lucia @jlucia85 artwork: “The Bourne Identity” by Tamara Lovelace Lucia

The Bourne Identity (8/10 Rating)

Released June 14, 2002 Streaming on HBO Max & Hulu. For rent/purchase on all major platforms.

Genre: Action, Mystery, Thriller Rated PG-13: Violence and Some Language 1h 59m

Before John Wick there was Jason Bourne… and before him there were a hundred others. There will be hundreds more, but this film will always stand out as one of the best in the spy genre.

Director Doug Liman brings a believability to the double-agent character we have seen before, but still gives us a fun thrill ride.

This movie has style and moves along with great pacing. It settles in just enough to make you care about the protagonist as it moves between action scenes. It also adds some depth to the mindset of an assassin, rather than ignoring those inner turmoils. We even get a minor love story that pays off in the sequel. The fight-choreography is excellent, and this film has some of the best car chases you will

see on screen. Matt Damon is completely believable as Bourne and a blast to watch as an action star. The supporting cast is entertaining, with Julia Stiles being the only exception. Stiles feels a bit miscast, but Brian Cox, Clive Owen, and Chris Cooper are all great opposite Damon. Franka Potente as Marie, Bourne’s love interest and occasional savior, gives the story some grounding and relatability. This is a fun film if you enjoy the spy genre. Whether you ride out the four sequels to follow, this one is worth a watch or rewatch.

Based on Robert Ludlum’s 1980 novel of the same name, this was first adapted into a 1988 made-for-television movie starring Richard Chamberlain.

Also check out The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, The Emperor’s New Clothes, Gangster No. 1, Scooby-Doo, Dahmer, Lilo & Stitch, Minority Report (follow @jlucia85 for these reviews and more)

Evince Magazine Page 13

Barbara Norman Lashley and daughter Kim

Letters to Home

by Barbara Lashley and Kendall Ratliffe photos by Barbara Norman Lashley

L

etters to Home connects readers with our friends who have moved away, while spotlighting what they took with them. This column is a celebration of hometown heritage and new possibilities.

Barbara Lashley was a founding member of the Danville Art League.

Kendall Ratliffe: What’s something you learned here?

Barbara Lashley: We had a

Charleston Garden

vibrant art community, with a lot of painters, and we created the Danville Art League. Sovran Bank, which was at the end of Main Street, hosted several shows. Later we had shows at the Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History (DMFAH). We organized juried shows that pulled artists from a 300-mile radius around Danville. One judge was a gallery owner all the way from Chapel Hill! We got to see not only what people inside Danville are doing but people from outside. I used

everything I learned in Danville when I helped start the Market Gallery, which is an artist-owned gallery in Roanoke.

KR: What makes Danville special?

BL: As an adult student, I saw how Averett supported the arts.

Averett cooperated with DMFAH to feature student work. Worldrenowned artist Maude Gatewood hailed from Yanceyville and taught part-time at Averett. I took several DMFAH classes with Linda Gourley, an Averett graduate and very successful artist. Robert Marsh, still an art professor at Averett, would tell his students when a bank wanted art. And I did in fact get my work purchased by a bank!

KR: What should we try here?

BL: Two things. One, make an artists’ cooperative so you have

Palm Beach 1

a permanent exhibition space.

Market Gallery is sustained with low membership dues and commission. Members pay $70 a month and work in the gallery.

Every six weeks we rotate the artwork, so customers always see something new. Two, get corporate support. In Roanoke, Carilion Clinic purchases art for their clinics. They’ve even created a coffee-table book of their collection. Get a bank or business to host a show so new people find you.

Do you want to try this? Barbara would love to talk to you! Email kendall@evincemagazine.com and we’ll get you in touch with her.

Submit your own LTH interview with picture and up to 350 words to kendall@evincemagazine. com!

Page 14 June 2022

Not So One-sided

by Mack Williams photo by Tyisha Hicks, @tyishahicks22 I’m Home Everyone

H

ere in Danville, there is a house with a yard occupied year-round by many plastic, wooden, and metal lawn chairs.

In warmer months, these seats are taken, not by people, but by potted plants!

There is a method in the placement of this “plant-pedestal” lawn furniture.

Sun-worshipping geraniums bask in the yard’s bright-sky section, while some feet away, “dappled-light”loving ferns take their seats beneath a great oak’s shade.

The chairs are all simple and straightbacked, so there are no recumbent plants (after all, our grade-school teachers always admonished us to “sit up straight” in order to grow properly!).

It’s as if proper manners are applied to each potted plant as, sitting in its chair, it is pushed forward to enjoy “nature’s table.”

A young couple might reside in the house, beginning their shared life with a mutual love of decorative plants.

Or perhaps such love of plants has “taken root” and flourished over many years.

These plants disappear just before the first frost and reappear after the last one, while the chairs remain outside. Once inside the home, I can picture these plants jostling (or rather, “being jostled”) for position on every windowsill and ceiling-hook.

The British Royal Horticultural Society advised years ago that plant owners should talk to their plants, as when they do, the plants respond by growing well! During their early-fall to early-spring “living-in” time, I can imagine the wealth of beneficial conversations (one-sided, of course) involving those plants. In the case of those that go dormant in winter, I imagine they are spoken to as gently

as one speaks to a family member in the grip of a coma.

As the angle of the sunlight further changes during those shadowy months, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that loving fingers rotate these plants to take best advantage of the windowsills’ micro-climes.

When these “live-in winter guests” return to the lawn in early spring, their painstaking winter care is evinced by

leaves already verdant, matching the color of that famed isle where snakes were evicted through saintly effort!

I said before that a conversation with plants was only one-sided.

But maybe the “plant-talker” receives things in return for the gift of “flourishing” words: perhaps an ease in respiration, a restfully slower heartbeat, and a gentle lessening of force against artery walls.

Evince Magazine Page 15

The 3-Sentence Book Review The Silent Patient

by Alex Michaelides review by River City Readers @ Danville Public Library

A Raisin in the Sun

by Lorraine Hansberry review by Unrequired Reading – Classics Book Club

T

he 3-Sentence Book Review helps you easily pick your next book with to-the-point reviews from a wide range of local readers.

Guide

+ What did you like about this book?

– What did you dislike about this book? > Who would you recommend this book to?

The Silent Patient

David Worrell + A surprising and mostly satisfying reveal, holding up to rereads after the twist is revealed.

- A little padded, with passages that could easily have been cut but seemingly left in for the page count. > Fans of slow-burn mysteries/ thrillers who have the patience for the story to develop.

Em Liverman + Puts a spin on genre expectations and tropes like psych wards, concerned doctors, and murder mysteries.

- Endings are hard, and this one was appropriate rather than exhilarating. > To people who like the ride more than the ending.

Maggie Brown + The book had multiple takeaways, like the meaning of love, the damaging effects of words, and how betrayal affects others.

- I wish the ending had more details, I wanted to know more! > I have been recommending this a lot and would to anyone who enjoys a good thriller. It kept me on the edge of my

seat until the last ten pages where it all came together.

Maggie Lineberry + So gripping and drew me in immediately! The author kept adding details but without giving too much away. The plot twist was so unexpected.

- I wish the ending had more because I’m just so curious. > I have told most of my friends about this book and would encourage others to give it a try, it’s worth the read!

Tara Morris + The end of each chapter made me want to keep reading and know what happened next!

- The ending was good but needed more detail to explain some things that happened throughout. > To an adult audience.

Rachael Miller + The exploration of childhood trauma and the effects it has on our adulthood.

- Some of the ways that therapists and mental health disorders were depicted. > To anyone who enjoys a well told story with intriguing twists.

Visit Readdanvilleva.org to find book clubs and summer reading groups!

A Raisin in the Sun

Caskie Walker + All the characters were relatable to people that I know.

- The way Walter acted or behaved throughout the play. > To most people, it is a good depiction of a middle-class family trying to improve their lives and overcome the odds.

Diana McManus + The strength, wisdom, and love of the females in this play, each dealing with their own frustrations, sorrows, and hope.

- The self-absorbed male and alleged head of their family. > Lovers of history, a slice of African-American experience and families in general.

Rachael Miller + I like how relatable and real all of the characters feel.

- How emotional certain aspects made me.

> To anyone who thinks they might enjoy reading a play.

Join Unrequired Reading to discuss Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin June 27 at 6pm at Ruby B. Archie Library in Danville.

Readdanvilleva.org for more information.

Submit your 3-Sentence Book Review with picture kendall@ evincemagazine.com!

Page 16 June 2022