Imogene Ware and Shunryu
Suzuki lived during similar times. Shunryu Suzuki was the Zen monk who brought Buddhism to North
America. He once said, "The point is to attain complete composure," and
his was a life that modeled, in spades, that lack of entanglement with himself and
the world. My friend, Imogene Ware, on the other hand, was an illiterate, Black
housekeeper during that same time span, earthy, funny, talking with God with
the same familiarity as with her car horse, Polly, but I suspect Shunryu Suzuki,
had he known her, would have regarded her as very Zen. The only difference is
that Imogene Ware walked through the pages of a novel while Suzuki Rossi walked
this earth. But once you get into the novel ACCIDENTS OF BIRTH, I sense you might forget that one small difference.
Suzuki Rossi was once asked to summarize Buddhism in one
sentence. Everyone waited to hear the response to what seemed an
impossible question. His reply was: Everything changes.
Miss Imogene, when
talking about life said something very similar: So it be with life, each piece,
each bit whether a flower, a bird, a sin or a song pass on, fo’ life be motion,
an motion be change.
Unfortunately, Shunryu Suzuki has left this life, but Miss
Imogene lives on. I know Suzuki would have delighted in her company.
I bet when you get to know her, you will too.
Accidents of Birth
A Story in Two Parts
A Story in Two Parts
Summary: The greatest influence in setting the course of
anyone’s destiny is where and to whom they’re born. What we’re taught to
believe, what is asked of us, the burdens we’re given, the lies we share all
start there. Through the eyes of an illiterate Black housekeeper, Imogene Ware,
born in 1928 in the post-Civil War enclave of Small Town in rural Mississippi,
the reader gets to view the last half of the racially charged, politically
divisive 20th century through her eyes.
Available in Kindle Format and Paperback (very
soon)
