By WALLYCE TODD
Staff Writer

Beverly Boone, retiring principal of Central Middle School, has published her first book. There will be a reception and book signing today at the Whiteville City Schools Central Office at 3:30 p.m.

The small book with its simple yet evocative illustrations has a title that’s invitational: “Life is Like a Tootsie Roll Lollipop.” This phrase begs the question: “How is life like a lollipop?”

The answer is acquired inside one of the dozen short stories found within the pale green paperback covers. However, just as it’s true that not every lollipop has a Tootsie Roll center, not every collection of short stories is like those written by Dr. Beverly Boone.

In fact, with its lyrical language and humorous, yet deeply insightful looks into children’s minds, the recently published collection of short stories is a beautiful example of capturing the essence of childhood. It’s not often that an adult can so accurately communicate what it is to be young and blessed with imagination and love…even in the midst of what the world would say were unlovely circumstances.

Boone grew up in the segregated South. Living in Troy with an aunt and uncle she knew as her “Mama” and her stepfather – as a child she did not know what it was to have lots of money, or a car, or opportunities for recreational activities.

Yet, the newly published author readily acknowledges that she knew what it was to be loved and cared for. In the introductory pages of her book, she writes:

“At night, we would wrap ourselves in laughter, pull moonlight covers over our heads, and drift off to sleep on pillow clouds.”

Beverly, known, as “Bib,” and her sister - known to her as “Sivi” - but known to the rest of the family as “Sib,” were both blessed with an abundance of imagination and energy. Numerous stories in Boone’s Tootsie Roll Lollipop collection allude to how the sisters’ creative intellect grasped eternal truths and delighted in temporal treats.

In one story entitled, “Creating Lifelong Moments and Memories,” the author recollects: “The last summer before Sivi began first grade was the best. Time was our silent friend that drizzled like molasses over our morning biscuits. We sashayed in the warmth of each new day and beckoned the moon to kiss us each night. On warm, summer nights, Sivi and I caught thick, fat, June bugs and tied a piece of Mama’s sewing string on their legs to make a zooming June-bug kite. We held the strings high and enjoyed the soft zooming of the bugs as they circled above our heads.”

In the increasingly fast-paced world of today, children in America seem more inclined to plop down in front of a computer or T.V. screen then to allow their imaginations to give their minds wings. Video games and cell phones seem to serve as the entertainment that lightning bugs and mud pies used to be.

Not so in Boone’s book of short stories. Each story stands alone in the meaningful message it shares…from grief to giving, cussing to comprehending, refinement to rejoicing, frustration to friendship. And the common threads through them all are faith and love.

“All the stories have a deep spiritual connection,” Boone said. “They share a “love of God, a love of family, a love of self …”

In 1966, Bib and Sib were literally two of the first group of students who chose to leave Peabody Academy in Troy to integrate West Montgomery High School in Mt. Gilead before integration was mandated everywhere in 1967. As such, Boone’s collection of stories could have focused on “lack” and hardship.

Instead, she remembered: “We were just kids. We thought we were going (to the new school) to make new friends.”

In her book, the lifelong educator wrote: “What I remember most about childhood are my friendships. My heart swells with the laughter and my spirit still soars with the love for my first two girlfriends, Ethel and Cheryl, who opened my life to experience true friendship and sisterhood.”

She also included this about her sister: “We are now as old as our parents were during those long-ago days when we frolicked through the slender, needle’s-eye space of time called childhood, creating lifelong moments and memories.”

In her writing, this thoroughly educated, highly gifted former teacher, retiring principal, and woman of faith has not just engraved her own memories into the fabric of readers’ hearts. Dr. Beverly Boone has encompassed emotions all can empathize with, rejoice in, and fellowship in remembering

Editor’s Note: Today’s reception at the Whiteville City Schools’ Central Office is open to the public. Boone’s book can be purchased at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. The author can be reached at bevboone@aol.com.