Molly Walling
Two of the speakers for the annual “Sunday with Friends” series at the Washington County Public Library Abingdon, Virginia, had to be cancelled this spring. Visits by Molly Walling and Tanya Carroll Richardson are now re-scheduled for Sundays in August.
Molly Walling speaks Sunday, Aug. 14 at 3 p.m. in the library’s conference room.
Walling, a Bristol, Virginia, native, has written two personal narratives which explore her family history. Her first book, “Death in the Delta,” in 2012 investigates a long-held family secret that her father as a young man in the 1940s in Mississippi was implicated in the death of a black man, Simon Toombs.
At that time, she thought her quest for knowledge and understanding had come to an end without a firm resolution. And then what happened?
Six months later Walling was contacted by Toombs’s great-great-grandson, Gregory Woods, who was preparing to launch his career as a reporter for the ABC affiliate in Charleston, South Carolina. Woods revealed to her that Toombs had a daughter, Virginia, living in L.A. Not only that but her husband had been raised by the cook on the plantation where Walling’s father grew up.
In her new book, “For Simon: A Journey into Truth and Reconciliation,” Walling goes to Los Angeles to further seek the truth.
This multigenerational story speaks to the struggle for “truth and reconciliation” which Walling feels is so necessary for racial understanding and healing.
Tanya Carroll Richardson is the writer featured Sunday, Aug. 21 at 3 p.m. at the Abingdon Library.
Richardson shares her thoughts on self-love, the subject of her new book, “Love Notes to Myself: Meditations and Inspirations for Self-Compassion and Self-Care.”
Richardson is a professional intuitive and a regular contributor to Mind/BodyGreen.com. She is the author of eight books, including “Angel Intuition,” “Forever in My Heart: A Grief Journal,” “Zen Teen” and “Self-Care for Empaths.”
Richardson is the wife of Michael Wartella, an artist and filmmaker, who grew up in Abingdon. They live in Austin, Texas.
There will be book sales and signings after each event.
