Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 24, 1992 TAG: 9203240391
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER SOUTHWEST BUREAU
DATELINE: HILLSVILLE LENGTH: Medium
"It's a personnel problem and it'll be dealt with privately," Harold Golding said.
The book is "The Floatplane Notebooks" by North Carolina author Clyde Edgerton. A spokesman at Algonquin Books, the publisher, said people there were surprised that it upset anyone because it is a straightforward novel about various members of a family from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Edgerton has written a more recent novel, "Killer Diller," which is occasionally critical of fundamentalism, said Senior Editor Robert Rubin. "We were surprised that it wasn't that book."
Meanwhile, the only copy of "Floatplane Notebooks" in the Carroll County Public Library is checked out and has a long waiting list.
Marion Goldwasser, who has taught English for 20 years and was chosen this year as the county's teacher of the year, says she has gotten calls of support from some parents. "Some former students have called and asked what they can do, and a lot of the faculty has been extremely supportive," she said.
J.B. Lineberry, the evangelist who began objecting to the novel after a parent showed it to him, has been joined by others in circulating petitions calling for the firing of Goldwasser and whoever else approved the novel as supplementary reading in two 11th-grade English classes.
Lineberry, who has a twice-weekly radio show on WHHV, has scheduled a gathering outside the school for Friday afternoon as a demonstration to show support for his position.
Among his supporters are Jim and Darlene Young, who moved here from Pennsylvania six years ago. Lineberry works for Young at Hemlock Building Co.
"I moved out of that area to come into a better place, and this is a better place but that humanistic philosophy has started already and it's got to be put a stop to," Jim Young said.
Darlene Young said it was important to know that Lineberry was not fighting this battle alone but had support from members of the community. She said the size of that support will be seen Friday.
by CNB