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Comments by Readers

     "Being raised in the South and being a public servant during the Civil Rights Movement, I feel that Patti Wilson Byars' Separate Fountains gives a realistic perspective of what life was like in the South during the 1940s and 1950s. Once I started reading her story, I found myself reliving parts of my own life and my own experiences.  Separate Fountains takes the reader back in time, making the reader feel he or she is walking the walk of day to day living and coping with the social, racial, political and health issues of that era.  When talking with the young people of today, I find they have little concept of what life was like in the United States before the Civil Rights Movement.  Therefore I feel that Separate Fountains would be a valuable reading resource for American students  --  middle school through college level  --  to understand this important time in the history of the United States."
 

Reubin O'Donovan Askew
Eminent Scholar, Florida State University  1994 --  present
Governor of Florida  (two terms 1971 -- 1979)
Florida Senator 1962 -- 1970
Florida Representative 1958 -- 1962
Practicing Attorney
 

     "I, like so many, found Separate Fountains such a gripping tale that I could not put it down. While reading my mind would drift through Jonesboro where I could actually feel how it was to grow up in the late 40's and 50's in this wonderful little town.
     "Patti's writing was so passionate that it placed me in the scene where I could just image a time when the roads through Jonesboro were still unpaved and children ran barefoot playing made-up games. I could move along with the writer as she told the tale of Katie Jane walking to town and how she was warned not to enter certain establishments even when her curiosity got the better of her.
     "I felt the love of a great and fair father who taught his children right from wrong and stood united with family and friends even when times were tough, no matter the color of ones skin. If anything, Separate Fountains gave me a lesson in compassion for those not so easily accepted. I am fortunate enough to live on Dixon Street which I am sure was once red clay. I am also lucky enough to own the wonderful home of the Elliott's, the childless couple who Katie Jane and her brother visited often. While I read this wonderful book, I came to a realization that I could look out my back door and see Katie Jane's childhood home, their
'little blue heaven'."
 

Cindy Pallon
9-year resident of Downtown Jonesboro

"Having been to Jonesboro, Georgia twice in my life, I was familiar with this charming small southern town, and when I cam across the book, Separate Fountains, I was intrigued.   I found this book impossible to put down and fell totally immersed in the events depicted.  It is a rare that a book keeps my attention to that degree, which is a sincere tribute to Patti Wilson Byars' advanced literary skills.  I am a native Floridian and have childhood memories of seeing separate water fountains and separate restrooms at a well known local grocery store that is part of a chain of grocery stores throughout the South. (Since integration, the "white only" and "colored" signs have been replaced with "public" and "employee" signs.)
      I am fortunate, being a son of the South, to have parents, also southerners, who raised my younger brother and me to judge an individual on how he/she acts or treats you  --  and not on an entire culture.  As a child, I was privileged to have been "raised" by a dear middle-aged black lady, hired by my parents who both had to work.  Miss Pauline was a housekeeper who kept me spellbound with her stories of her childhood and comments on how cruel people had been to her culture.  I think that those stories had a strong influence on my outlook on life and re-enforced my belief in the Golden Rule  ("Treat others as you wish to be treated.").  Miss Pauline used to tell me: "God made people like Christmas presents  --  different wrapping on the outside and something wonderful on the inside."  That lady was "my Ardella,"  --  may she rest in peace, knowing she was loved by many.  Miss Pauline may have been influential in my pursuing a law enforcement career  --  where I could help others in our society!"
 

Brad Barfield, Retired
Lakeland, Florida
 

"Patti Wilson Byars' account of events that shaped her life is a gripping story that not only lets the reader into her family experiences but takes the reader back to a not to distant chapter of our nation's history when 'separate fountains' ruled the land. Anyone interested in trying to understand the realities in regards to race relations of the 1940s and 1950s in America should read this book. The personal experiences detailed will help readers of all races understand what life was like in those days."

Jason Crader

University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Middle Childhood Education Graduate Students

"The characterization and depictions of the time in this book were absolutely beautiful and amazing. I could not even begin to put it down. I fell in love with Katie Jane, such a sophisticated and sweet child. She captured my heart from the very moment I could see her and Ardella walking down the street together holding hands. I know this book has many themes of course one being about civil rights but I think more importantly this is a love story. The story of a family whose love for each other grew and grew through trials and tribulations. The sort of family who at the end of a hard day has a little Katie Jane who stays awake listening to her mother and father and their 'staccato of kisses'."

Erin Hall

"While reading Separate Fountains I felt like I was Katie Jane. I could almost feel the red clay beneath my toes on those hot Georgia days. Sometimes it seems that the times of segregation were so long ago that it is hard for our students to imagine the battles for civil rights that have brought our country this far. Separate Fountains reminds us that segregation and the fight for civil rights were not so long ago. It also helps us see how common people helped fight for the rights of all Americans. While we are used to reading about Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, we rarely hear about the man down the street or the family who refused to accept segregation as a way of life, this book does that for us. The description of the black man that was tied behind the pickup truck and pulled through town hit a realistic chord within me:  it made the whole experience REAL! I will definitely use this book in my classroom, I only wish I would have read it sooner."
 

Leslie E. Smith
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Middle Childhood Education Graduate Student 

"Wow! It has been a long time since I have enjoyed a book this much. Separate Fountains takes me back to my own growing up in the southern town of Little Rock, Arkansas. Some of my own growing up is somewhat similar to that of the protagonist in Separate Fountains. For me, this all takes me back to the seemingly much simpler life of growing up. Unfortunately, it also takes me back to the racism which I saw growing up in 1960's Little Rock. After having read this for a graduate class at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, I hope to use this in my teaching. I think it is a must read for the 6th graders that I teach!

Stephen Lienhart

"I met Patti Wilson Byars at a fundraiser for the Separate Fountains Scholarship Fund at a local country club in Tallahassee, Florida, where I obtained a copy of Separate Fountains.  When I began reading this book, I had no idea what to expect.  Well, what I got was a very long next day.  I just could not put the book down!  I began reading Separate Fountains at about 11:00 p.m. one night, and I had planned to read for about an hour  --  but four hours later, I had finished one of the best books I have ever read!  This story is both a tale of love and devotion, as well as a story of triumph.  Patti's amazing use of detail and description leads the reader to know each character  --  and one can almost see the characters. I felt like I was living there in the house with Katie Jane Taylor and her family.  The story in itself is an amazing tale  --  and I can only imagine what it was like to live it.  But, what makes the book so good is the way it is written.  Patti uses so many good adjective and verbs  --  and the dialect she uses when Ardella is talking allows the reader to know exactly how Ardella sounded.  It is this type of detail in the writing that keeps the readers sooo...  interested that they just can't stop reading.  I suggest everyone read this book, not only will you enjoy the story, but you will gain an understanding of life 'in the segregated South' during the 1940s and 1950s."

Justin Michael Sharpe
Florida State University
 

"As a newcomer to Jonesboro, Georgia (I've only lived here 28 years), I found Separate Fountains to be both informative and inspiring.  Once I started reading I did not want to put the book down.  Patti Wilson Byars paints such a vivid picture it is almost as if you can see into the souls of the characters.  I believe she paints an accurate picture of small towns all across the South in the 1940s and 1950s.  I know the small town in Kentucky where I was born and raised was very similar.  I know neighbors were always helping neighbors and that racial prejudice was prevalent in our community.  Mrs. Byars' father reminded me of my mother and how she, too, stood up for others.  I am certain that anyone who reads this book that lived in those days will find there is some character to which they can personally relate.  I intend for my entire family to read Separate Fountains and am going to recommend it strongly to everyone I know.  This book is GREAT READING and a GREAT SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY!  What is inside people's hearts is the only important thing in life.  None of us had any control over the color of our skin.  We are all GOD'S CHILDREN.  We owe Mrs. Byars a debt of gratitude for this book.  This is one of those books you will want to keep near your favorite chair or on your bedside table because I feel confident you will find yourself reaching for it many, many times.  A VERY INSPIRATIONAL AND UPLIFTING STORY!"

Roger Grider
Jonesboro, Georgia
 

"Loved the book. I usually avoid books written about this particular time in southern history because I find them very negative and slanted toward one person's agenda. This book I found easy to read, very true to the times, with interesting characters some of whom I know by a different place and name. One of the most beautiful things I have ever seen is an old iron lung stuck in a forgotten corridor of a hospital, covered with about two inches of dust. The goat man is a fond memory from my childhood as well. I would recommend this book to anyone."

Janie Hopwood

Macon, Georgia

"Separate Fountains, the story of Katie Jane Taylor and her noble family maneuvering in a typical Southern town of the early 1950s, is anything but typical. It is a heart-warming tale for all thoughtful readers - 5th grade up - about the potency in trusting your spirit, the rightness of integration and the wrongness of segregation. You will no doubt pick a favorite moment in this based-on-real-life story, but I get goose bumps in the scene with the Klan, at night, at the peach-packing plant. I'm glad our town, Tallahassee, 'A City that Reads' adopted this title for its community reading program."

Jan Annino Godown

Children's literature volunteer and author of

Family Fun in Florida, Globe Pequot Press, CT
 

"Reading Separate Fountains has revived my desire to help in making this country a place where all people can live in peace and fellowship with one another regardless of differences. I have always heard stories of civil rights struggles, but it is rare that a person who was not part of the oppressed group openly speaks out against the injustices that minorities faced during those turbulent times. I liken Patti Byars’ story to that of Oskar Schindler. While her daddy did not save thousands of lives, he saved the life of one person, which in turn decreased the power and the authority of the Ku Klux Klan to victimize every person that they sought vengeance upon. I was into every page of that book and I am not an avid reader. Quite frankly, I would much rather see a film or made-for-TV movie version of any book. However, Separate Fountains has also inspired me to read more because my imagination put faces on each character that stuck with me throughout the text, even though I had no idea what they looked like. Students need to be educated on historical facts such as civil rights and racial oppression so that they can see how far we have come and in turn learn to always treat people with the respect they deserve. I know that there are people that have been touched dramatically by this book because I felt as if I was part of the book once I got into it. Students need this book. It is not simply a selection for Black History Month; it is a selection for all months because it relates to numerous racial, cultural, and spiritual demographics in a powerful way.

     "I was truly inspired by the struggle and triumph that lies within Separate Fountains and it is story that world needs to hear."

Louis L. Dilbert
The Florida State University
Graduate Student- Educational Leadership Administration
Student Senate President
Former President- FSU College Chapter of the NAACP
 

"To me, Separate Fountains is a classic in the making! It is an absolute joy to any reader of any age. This story of how the unbreakable love of a family overcomes all odds will warm your soul and tickle your funnybone. I thought the reading was very much like Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. This book is very very hard to put down. Once you begin, you are swept off into the South to feel the fear that was caused by the cold grip of the Ku Klux Klan and how good honest folk of Jonesboro, Georgia thwarted their schemes to keep as much peace in the town alive as possible. If you are in need of an uplifting experience, this is the book for you. True family love will always rise above all that opposes it, and true friends will always be there when you least expect it. This is a book for everyone; be sure to pick up a copy for yourself and another for someone you love!"

Andy

a twenty-one year old college student

Grand Forks, North Dakota

"I loved this book! Mrs. Byars has written a masterpiece. I laughed! I cried! The images are vivid and you can imagine yourself on the streets of Jonesboro in the 1940s and 1950s. What a great tribute to her father, a man with great integrity and honor. A man who did not see color  ---  only the goodness in a person."

Donna Allenburg

Tallahassee, Florida

 
"Patti Wilson Byars has written a most accurate and sensitive book on life as it really was in the rural south during the 1940s and 1950s. She handles segregation and its people, the good and the bad, with truth and dignity. Separate Fountains would be a great reading requirement in schools."

Betty Lou Joanos, Ph.D.

Tallahassee, Florida
 

"Separate Fountains shows history not found in textbooks. This wonderful book is appropriate for all ages. Children can identify with the protagonist, Katie Jane. And adults can enjoy the richness of detail evoking an era gone forever, but not forgotten, before cable television, SUV's and interstate highways -- a book that is a sensory experience. One is transported back to post-war American, and can relive the sights, sounds, tastes and smells of the south as experienced by a child. The personal effects of racism and epidemic illness is vividly portrayed. A great book about a family and a community -- and about life. This book is a must for every school's curriculum."

Anthony Clum

Teacher

Tallahassee, Florida

"Separate Fountains is a book that shows what life was like in the south in the 1940's and 1950's. We had to read this book for Summer Reading, and I am sooo... glad my English teacher picked it for us to read. I have read it seven times since I got it, and I plan on reading it even more. Separate Fountains is one of those books that once you start reading it, you can't put it down."

 Malorie

Ninth Grader

"When I go to find a book at the bookstore sometimes I get lucky and find a really interesting book I just can't put down. Well, I consider myself very lucky because I went to hear you speak, and then I bought your book. Separate Fountains was a book I just couldn't put down. I am so glad I met you because the whole time I was reading I was able to have a mental picture of you."

Mary Frances

Tenth Grader

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