300 Years & Counting 1H KILLS - On The Issues Magazine

E AGAINSavannahpressed itselffull-lengthagainst mywindowsat night, palmtrees blowing,cicadaswhirring, carshonking...ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1992"All I ever wanted to do was write," says39-year-old National Book Award nomineeMelissa Fay Greene, author of 'Prayingfor Sheetrock. "But I didn't knowhow to make the connection betweenhigh school and college writing andmaking a living. After I graduated fromOberlin college in 1975,1 sent letters to20 newspapers and VISTA (Volunteersin Service to America). I never heardfrom the newspapers but I was acceptedby VISTA."Greene was assigned to Georgia LegalServices (GLSP) and in no time flatbecame a skilled paralegal and communityorganizer. "Legal Services was partof the whole social justice movement,"she recalls. Her assignments were complexand varied: Representing clientswho were erroneously denied welfare,food stamps, Medicaid, SupplementalSecurity Incomeand disability; attendingadministrativehearingsas a client representative;teachingpublic-housingtenants their' rights; and organizing a coalition to! stop cutbacks in health care. "It waswonderful work," she says, eye-open-. ing, meaningful, rewarding. She did itfor three years, one as a VISTA volunteer,two as a GLSP staff paralegal.Greene's contentment during this period,her near total immersion in thelives of her clients, her increased senseof self-worth and joy at being on the sideof racial and economic justice, was enhancedby geography, for Greene hadlong hoped to return to the state of herbirth. "I went to Georgia every summerto see my grandmother and I'd alwayswanted to return there to live," shesays. "Ihave vivid early childhood memoriesof it, the lushness of it, the dirtstreets, the red clay, those childhoodconnections of loving the land, the mixof people, the accents. My main interestin school hadbeen history,Southern historyand intellectuallyunderstandingslavery.There were nolonger "colored"37