FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: June 15, 2004
CONTACT: Clare Osdene Schapiro
The Monument Group Communications, Inc.
(804) 359-9334
clare@themonumentgroup.net

Richmond, Va. - GO READ, in the final year of a three-year initiative to bring together residents of greater Richmond through reading and discussion of a designated book, has selected as the text for 2004, White People by Allan Gurganus.

Published in 1990, the award-winning collection of 11 stories — by the author of the highly acclaimed Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All — explores the American human experience — black and white, gay and straight, young and old, and especially Southern. Ann M. Reinke, a member of the GO READ book selection committee said, “White People, a collection of stories both funny and poignant, challenges the reader first of all with its title; let’s not judge a book by its cover. The issues the characters struggle with – the nature of identity, the courage needed to make moral decisions, the decisions made and the effect they have on the world all resonate with the life of any reader. GO READ wants to connect people in the Richmond community through literature and discussion, and Allan Gurganus gives us flawed, very human characters to accomplish that goal”.

GO READ programs will be held in libraries, schools and book-discussion groups in the fall, culminating with a visit by Gurganus for a community reading at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 815 E. Grace St. in downtown Richmond on Nov. 11 at 6 p.m. and a student forum at James River High School earlier in the day. Community organizations are encouraged to participate. Residents are urged to read the book over the summer in preparation for these events.

GO READ is intended to bring the city and surrounding suburbs closer together through a shared reading experience. Go READ brings major authors to a diverse audience and promotes discussion among adults and young people. The community is encouraged to visit libraries, bookstores and attend special events.

Sandy Stoddart of the Circuit City Foundation, a founding committee member of GO READ said, “When GO READ conversations began several years ago, volunteers made a commitment to a three year program. Two years did not seem long enough and five years would be too long. There was no indication if 50 or 5,000 or 50,000 individuals would be interested in reading and discussing the same book at the same time. The first two years greatly exceeded the expectations. GO READ has been embraced by the community and the sentiment is to continue the program as long as the community is interested and involved in reading and book discussion.”

The book selected in 2003 was The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. To date, more than 50,000 people in the region have participated in GO READ featuring The Things They Carried. This estimate is based on: participation by high schools and colleges, including the purchase by area school systems of over 5,500 copies of the book. Henrico County public schools report 16,186 students from 37 schools participated. In Chesterfield County, 11,625 students from 17 public schools participated. Additionally, area libraries report circulating 2,100 copies of the book. Also taken into account are the numbers of books and related materials distributed by libraries, prisons and jails, visits to the GO READ website and attendance at O’Brien’s student forum and reading. The figure does not include area book groups, faith organizations and individuals who may have read the book. Retail stores in the Richmond area sold approximately 3,000 copies of The Things They Carried, making it one of the best-selling titles of 2003 at Richmond area booksellers.

Allan Gurganus, the novelist and short-story writer was born in Rocky Mount, N.C., in 1947. Originally trained as a painter, his oils and watercolors are represented in many public and private collections. He also has illustrated his own works of fiction. White People, his collection of stories and novellas set in the fictitious Falls, N.C., of Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction, the winner of the Southern Book Award for Fiction from the Southern Book Critics Circle, and a New York Times Notable Book.

Gurganus has taught writing and literature at Stanford University, Duke University, the Iowa Writer’sWorkshop and Sarah Lawrence College. His short fiction is included in the O’Henry Prize Collection, Best American Stories and The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Gurganus is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His mentor, author John Cheever wrote: “I consider Allan Gurganus the most technically gifted and morally responsive writer of his generation.”

Information on the book, the author, programs, resources and discussions is available on the GO READ website, www.goreadrichmond.com or by phoning 804.646.0290.