Still worthy after all these years

Paul Saitowitz

Dr. Ruth Siegrist of Huntington Beach has writing in her blood. As a

professor of education at Cal State Fullerton for 20 years, reading and

writing drove her.

Well, she also had a little push in that direction from her father

Lorenz Graham -- author of more than 20 children’s novels including the

well-known “Town” series. Then there’s her uncle, W.E.B. Dubois.

“Reading and writing was always a big part of my life,” Siegrist said.

After a process that took nearly five years, Boyds Mills Press -- a

publisher based out of Pennsylvania -- re-released “How God Fix Jonah” --

a book originally published by her father in 1946.

At the age of 22 Graham took a sabbatical from his studies at UCLA to

go to West Africa to teach at a bishop-founded school in Liberia. The

Liberian setting and culture left its mark on Graham. What really

intrigued him was the way people relayed stories and poems to one

another.

“Africa has always had a very oral history, and my father was inspired

by the way the people he worked with told stories from generation to

generation,” Siegrist said.

Many of the stories he taught were biblical, and when he returned to

the United States he wrote “How God Fix Jonah,” a 20-story book of

biblical adventures featuring everyone from Jonah to Ruth. The stories

were written in the idioms and accents of the people of West Africa.

The book was highly acclaimed and the stories were read and performed

by children and adults alike throughout the country. Graham himself did

several readings. As time passed the book eventually went out of print.

In 1993, Boyds Mills Press reissued “Every Man Heart Lay Down,” the

story of Christmas that was one of the 20 featured in “How God Fix

Jonah.”

After the resounding success of “Every Man Heart Lay Down,” Boyds

Mills Press decided to re-release “How God Fix Jonah” last year, with new

illustrations By Ashley Bryan, -- the original artist passed away --

three new stories, written by Siegrist, and a new forward. The original

forward, written by Dubois, is in the new addition as well.

“The stories I added I had found in my father’s manuscripts and I just

decided to finish them,” Siegrist said. “Thankfully they have been very

well-received.”

The Horn Book review in January of this year called it “The most

unusual and captivating book returning this season.” The American Library

Assn., named it a notable book of 2001. It also made the Booklist Top 10

religion books for youth, and Graham was posthumously awarded the Roberta

Long Medal for distinguished contribution to children’s literature.

Siegrist accepted the award for her father in Alabama.

Siegrist has performed the book for schools and churches several times

since the re-release, and really gets into her performance.

“I put on a traditional African headdress and dress and read it in the

same vernacular that my father used to read it in,” she said. “In fact I

think I may use more vernacular than he did.”

The success of “How God Fix Jonah” has garnered interest in other

works by Graham, and movie studios have even approached Siegrist about

filming the “Town” series -- books that realistically depicted African

American life in the 1950s’s and 1960s through the eyes of a young man.

Siegrist herself has been focusing on writing children’s novels and

may still try to finish some of the works her father started on before he

passed away in 1989.

“My father wrote for people to understand, no matter what size, shape

or color, he always said ‘People are people.”’* PAUL SAITOWITZ is a news

editor. He can be reached at (949) 574-4295 or by e-mail at

[email protected].