THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 28, 1996 TAG: 9604280057
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Paul South
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Highway 321 is an asphalt ribbon that winds through the Carolinas, past farms and fields and fruit stands.
The road goes through York County, S.C., called home by author Dori Sanders and her family for generations. She sells peaches and cucumbers and tomatoes and other manna from the ground at the family produce stand. And it is there she finds her stories of time present, and time past.
On a recent wet, windy night at a Manteo bookstore, Dori Sanders told some of those stories, in her rich Upcountry drawl. And, she offers a word of caution:
``Don't evah ask a Southerner for directions,'' she says. ``You may not find out where you're going, but you'll find out where they've been.''
Dori Sanders, who like a true Southern lady would not reveal her exact age, weaves stories of things she has seen in her 60-plus years, from the fruit stand and beyond. One novel, ``Clover,'' came from a day at the roadside market.
``One day, I was sitting at the stand, and all of a sudden this black funeral procession came by. All these cars kept coming by, and finally the line stopped. I found myself looking into the face of this little African-American girl. She had the saddest face. She waved sadly at me, and I waved back at her. The funeral went on.''
Later, a second procession came by, this one full of white mourners.
``This white funeral was coming by, and like the first one, it came to a stop right in front of the stand,'' she said. ``I looked into the face of this pretty young woman. She just shook her head, and looked down. The cars moved on. After a while, I got to thinking about what would happen if that little black girl and that young white woman got together. That's how I came up with Clover.''
The novel tells the story of a 10-year-old African-American girl and her relationship with her white step-mother. Their bond began with a tragic turn, the death of the girl's father in a car crash within hours after his marriage. It is also an effort to gently but firmly tear down the barriers that divide us.
Writing fiction, Sanders said, is like breaking an egg.
``It's like taking an egg and smashing it to smithereens with a rock, and then trying to put all the pieces together. You can never get them all together just right.''
Sanders published her first novel just six years ago. But she has been telling stories her whole life, even as a child.
``Being the eighth of 10 children, it was hard to get daddy's attention,'' she recalled. ``So when I wanted to tell him something, I just wrote it down. Like one time I wrote, `My brother hit me with a rock, and I didn't do nothin' to him.'
``So you see, I've been writing fiction a long time.''
Sanders' fiction follows in the tradition of so many Southern writers who rely on a sense of place - home, family and remembrance - to weave their word tapestries.
In her most recent work, a collection of recipes and stories called ``Dori Sanders' Country Cooking,'' Sanders gives us a glimpse of what drives her craft.
``Our original family home no longer stands. The old wood burning cookstove has rusted into pieces. The silver teas are a thing of the past . . . But the tastes, and smells and foods of my childhood let me know I can go back again.''
Spending a few minutes with Dori Sanders, whether in the back of a bookshop, at the peach stand on Highway 321, or in the pages of her novels, gives us a glimpse of what life used to be on a South Carolina farm.
A life of grace, and goodness and grinding hard work. And wealth not measured by money.
It might be a bad mistake for motorists on Highway 321, but readers shouldn't hesitate to ask Dori Sanders for help. If you love home and hearth and family, you'll want to know where she's been. by CNB