Separate Fountains has been recommended by Tallahassee Mayor John Marks for the January reading list. To find out more, visit the website

Tallahassee, A City That Reads.

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   Patti has been a educator all of her life, starting her career teaching in several elementary schools in Fulton County, Atlanta, Georgia. She has been a College Instructor at Georgia Southern University, Florida Atlantic University, and Pennsylvania State University. She is presently an Adjunct Instructor in the Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education, College of Education, Florida State University, where she supervises student teaching interns. In the last fourteen years, Patti has supervised over 200 student teachers.

   Patti's book, Separate Fountains, is based on her family's life in Jonesboro, Georgia in the late 1940s and early 1950s. When she first wrote Separate Fountains, it was written in the adult voice in "memoir form" using the real names of the people in the town of Jonesboro. After her brother started reading parts of the manuscript, he expressed concern for her liability and safety knowing that some of the people mentioned in the story were still alive. After speaking with her editor about her brother's concerns, Patti decided to rewrite her story and tell it from the eyes of twelve year old girl, Katie Jane Taylor. That twelve year old girl's voice reflects the childhood memories of Patti Wilson Byars. Patti also had to change the real names of all the Jonesboro people in her story to fictionalized names.
     Should we say Patti changed the names -- to protect the innocent? Or to protect the guilty?
     Patti is available to come to classrooms and conferences to speak about Separate Fountains. When she speaks, she shows a video that shows all of the places in her story that are still in today's Jonesboro, Georgia -- thus showing the audience that Separate Fountains is based on her childhood. When Patti speaks about Separate Fountains, she stresses that her story shows the goodness of people and how good people -- no matter race or creed -- work together to help each other and to better the community.
     The reading level for Separate Fountains is mature fifth grader to adult -- in other words it is a book for all ages. For several years many fourth grade teachers in the Leon County Schools, Tallahassee, have read Separate Fountains aloud to their students during Black History month.
     Patti has been a featured author / speaker at the following colleges:

Ohio State University -- The President's and Provost's Diversity Lecture Series
Troy State University in co-sponsorship with The Rosa Parks Museum
Florida State University
Florida A & M University
Palm Beach Community College
Tallahassee Community College
She has been a featured author at:
The Southern Festival of Books
Florida Reading Association Conferences
International Reading Association Conferences
Florida Association of Media Specialists Conference

The Florida Association of Teacher Educators, 2004

The Southeastern Regional Association of Teacher Educators, 2004

     Patti has been a speaker in many classrooms across Florida. For the last two years, an annual visit has been to St. Cloud Middle School, Kississimee, Florida. Sydney Weiss, Advanced Placement eighth grade English teacher, has her students read Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" and then read "Separate Fountains." Her assignment to the students is to write an essay comparing the two stories.
     To contact Patti to speak about Separate Fountains, please e-mail her at contact@pattiwilsonbyars.com.

    Attention Educators: Separate Fountains is now listed with Renaissance Learning Inc. Patti was a featured author at "The 2008 National Conference on Accelerated Learning" in Orlando, Florida, February 2-5.  See website:
www.renlearn.com/nationalconference/08/authors.htm
 

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