Lillian Lincoln Lambert

With dreams of conquering the world, I left Ballsville, VA in Powhatan County more than fifty years ago and never thought I would return on such a positive note as I did last weekend.

Some friends hosted a lovely, well attended book event in the home of one of the couples. The host and hostesses had lived up North for a number of years but had returned home to to live in this quiet community. Their house was overflowing with about 80 people occupying the family room, music room and dining room.  It was diverse group – old, young, black, white, retirees, employees, etc. The array of tasty food and drink added to everyone’s enjoyment.  I was surprised to see some of those in attendance such as the current pastor from the church I attended as a child, TV newscasters and a newspaper columnist from the city where I now live, and the daughter of the man who was postmaster at my childhood post office. The latter is a white lady, someone I would not have been allowed to socialize with as a child because of the segregation laws.   She was so excited to know what had happened to me over the years.  I saw people whom I had not seen in years and met many new people most of who had moved to the area subsequent to my leaving.

The event was planned for three hours but a small group of us lingered around for another couple hours reminiscing about our younger days in this little town. I was exhausted when I arrived home but the pleasantries of the day overshadowed my tiredness. The day was a blessing.

A special thanks to my friends for such a memorable day!

When I was first invited to visit a book club to discuss my book “The Road to someplace Better: From the Segregated South to Harvard Business School and Beyond” which had been selected as their choice for the month, I was somewhat reluctant. I could not quite imagine how that would be beneficial as a part of my very busy book tour events. I accepted the invitation and it was a very wise decision. I have recently completed my third visit with a book club and have enjoyed each one.

Members of the book club have usually purchased the book prior to the meeting and most have read it either in its entirety or at least some of it. Some members bring guests who either already have the book or will purchase one at the meeting.  It was obvious that most members really enjoy reading and they cherish the camaraderie of their fellow club members.

Book clubs have a diverse membership, though those I have visited are all female, but with varied backgrounds and interests. The exciting thing about book clubs is that members get to ask all kinds of questions – questions about things in the book on which they want more detail; questions about things omitted from the book and sometimes questions about things on which I plead “the fifth.  It is amazing the different messages readers get from the book, sometimes messages I was not aware I have sent. Overall, the discussions have all been intriguing.

To top things off, they all served delicious food! I am looking forward to my next book club meeting later this month.

Dream big, Act bold