THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 10, 1995 TAG: 9506100049
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MICHELE SNIPE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
WASHINGTON POST reporter Patrice Gaines hoped that the story of her personal journey from a jail cell to a big-city newsroom would inspire young woman to overcome abusive circumstances.
And it has, beyond her wildest expectations.
``Laughing in the Dark,'' she said, ``speaks to people who need encouragement. I took a lot of negative and turned it into something positive.''
From Boston to Los Angeles, women have cried and embraced Gaines in the course of her promotional tour. Others have written letters, saying that after reading her book, they checked into drug rehabilitation, decided to go back to school or left abusive husbands.
All have confessed that her troubling and triumphant experience has moved them deeply. ``It's given me a better sense of who's out there and how many people needed the book,'' Gaines, 46, said this week during a telephone interview.
The book's message is simple, but powerful: ``In spite of obstacles, you can make it.''
Gaines will bring her message to Lee's Joint in Hampton at 1 p.m. Sunday. She will share her delinquent past: a childhood with an emotionally absent father, heroin abuse, teenage pregnancy and a string of abusive relationships with men. And she will relate her current successes.
Since its release last fall, ``Laughing in the Dark'' has sold more than 61,000 copies, enough to cover the advance Gaines received, she said. Television movie-makers have also approached her. But no deals have been made.
Her first book a success, Gaines is hard at work on another. Recently, she signed a contract to write a spiritual work ``about change and the things you need to explore in order to change.''
As a reporter covering the District of Columbia, Gaines often saw young women visiting boyfriends in jail or at courthouses. They inspired her to tell her own story.
``They were always around, but they were largely ignored'' by the press, she said. ``I'm naive enough to believe that I'm able to stop some young people from making the same mistakes.''
Some reviewers have criticized the book, saying it portrays a whiny, middle- class girl who used poor judgment. But, said Gaines, ``you can't write a book for everybody.''
After a heroin bust in her early 20s, Gaines reached a curve in the road while reflecting on her life in a North Carolina jail. Raising her daughter, Andrea, and therapy helped untie more of the knots she had inside.
``Everything begins with love for yourself,'' she said. ``You have to have that before you can receive any measure of success.''
Acceptance into a summer program for minority journalists some years back further boosted her inner strength.
Her greatest achievement came in 1992 when she received Best Commentary award from the National Association of Black Journalists. The piece told of her teenage experiences and how she related to those young women she had seen at the jails.
``It really affirmed that what I am doing means something; that it counts,'' she said.
As a reporter, Gaines likes to go after stories about others who have overcome handicaps, poverty and other challenges.
It takes a certain amount of care, she said, to show ``what human beings are like at their best and to tell stories that celebrate the human spirit.'' ILLUSTRATION: AUTHOR TO APPEAR
Who: Patrice Gaines, author of ``Laughing in the Dark''
When: 1 p.m. Sunday
Where: Lee's Joint, 120 East Mellen St., Hampton
Info: 727-9137
by CNB