Judge Olly Neal (ON) and Karama Neal (KN)
ON: I was a rather troubled high school senior at the time, about sixteen years old. And I spotted this book that looked rather risque, called the Treasure of Pleasant Valley. On the cover was a drawing of a woman who appeared to be wearing something that was basically see-through, but the symbolism was really great for me at that age, at sixteen.
And then I realized if I read the book, two of my classmates, girls, were volunteering in the library, and if they saw me taking out a book they would tell the boys and my reputation would be down because I was reading books. And I wanted them to know that all I could do was fight and cuss and so finally it come to me, just steal the book.
And so, when I finished the book in about a week or two, I brought it back.
KN: Right.
ON: And when I put it back there was another book by Frank Yerby. So I thought maybe I’ll read that too. So I took it under my jacket, and later I brought it back. And God, there was another book by Frank Yerby so I took it. And I think that semester I read four books by Frank Yerby.
And several years – thirteen to be exact, we were at a gathering at my high school, for my class reunion, and the teacher who had been the librarian, Mrs. Mildred Grady, was there. She told me that she saw me take that book when I first took it. She said her first thought was to go and tell him, “Boy, you don’t have to steal that book. You can check them out. They’re free.” Then she realized what my situation was. I couldn’t let anyone know I was reading. So she said that she decided that if a old boy would read a book, she and Mrs. Saunders would drive to Memphis and find another one for me to read. And they would put it in the exact same place where the one I had taken was. And every time I took one out, they headed to Memphis to find another one. You have to understand, this was not an easy matter, because this was 1957 and ‘58. Black authors were not especially available, number one, and number two, Frank Yerby was not such a widely known author and number three, they had to drive all the way to Memphis to find it. And I credit Mrs. Grady for getting me in the habit of enjoying reading so I was able to go to law school and survive.
KN: That’s pretty cool.
ON: Yeah (laughs).
