And hear from him she did, as did more than 200 Clevelanders who packed the Cleveland Public Library Auditorium Monday night. The occasion was a celebration of the selection of Finding Fish as this month's North Coast Neighbors Share a Book 2004. The idea is to get as many people in the community to read the book or listen to the audio book and develop discussions around it. Either on line, in person or just around the water cooler. It is a magnificent selection especially as we honor Black History Month in February.
The Cleveland Boys Choir performed, students from the 10th grade Cleveland School for the Arts read selections from the book and Antwone spoke. Soft spoken, articulate and humble Antwone stressed the importance of writing one's life - even if only for your children. "It is difficult to believe someone can make it on this Earth for 20, 40 or 50 years and not have something valuable to say." He told small bits of his life - foster homes, physical and mental abuse, growing up on Cleveland's mean streets, homeless, hungry and feeling the meanest sting of all human conditions, being unloved. But through it all, somehow, this little insignificant person kept feeling it would all turn out okay. Somehow he was "gonna be a wheel." He spoke of his older brother, who is still in prison, as one who "wasn't able to make good choices." After the Navy, Antwone worked at Sony Pictures as a parking lot attendant. He told the other guys he was going to be a screenwriter. They laughed - "You ain't gonna be nothin'." Not only is he a screenwriter and not only is he the industry's most successful African-American screenwriter, but the guys he worked with at the Sony lot now open the gates for Mr. Fisher as he arrives at work. He has written 10 screenplays and has sold them all. The best line of the night - "Because of Finding Fish, everyone knows me. But I've written 10 screenplays. You know, if you wait at the end of the movie when all the credits are rolling, you might..." the rest of his words went unheard due to the roar of laughter from the crowd.
Antwone was told he was stupid because he just couldn't get the knack of reading. Everyone else could, so he must be stupid if he can't. It wasn't until he was in the Navy it was discovered he was dyslexic. A young boy in the audience stood and asked how Antwone was cured of his dyslexia. "It never goes away," he said. The bold, straightforward statement caught the audience off guard and the magnitude of his accomplishments increased ten fold. Ask 20 people in the audience if they thought he still suffered from dyslexia and surely 19 would guess no. So he fights his problems and demons, past and present and although he has accomplished an extraordinary amount, beyond what most people could ever imagine, he still must fight everyday the one demon that could easily bring down someone who reads and writes for a living.
The line to meet Antwone and have a book signed easily took more than 2 hours to complete. The crowd was patient and the buzz was constant. Clutching my first edition and inching my way to the front, I struggled with what to say. Keep it short, make some sense and move on. I opened my book to the title page and as he began signing, I realized how fast my turn would be over. " You are a huge inspiration to me. Thanks for coming here today." He signed, looked up and in his humble, comfortable manner replied, "You people are so great." I extended my fist to touch knuckles, which he did without hesitation.
To learn more about the North Coast Neighbors Share a Book 2004, contact Mike Snyder, Executive Director of the Cleveland Area Metropolitan Library System. http://www.camls.org/shareabook.html
By Cool Cleveland reader Tom Perrino
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