George Ella Lyon's writing was described in the Language Arts magazine as something that "sings with the lyricism, the color and the rhythms of southern Appalachia."
She does consider herself an Appalachian, "I'm proud of being from where I'm from . . . and although I write about other things and other places, still that's my root life."One fascinating thing about this writer is her name. She explains it simply, "there have been Georges in my family for years."
Writing for Lyon began at an early age, as did reading. She remembers vividly growing up with books and family storytellers that provided a foundation of language, "I think in the mountains there is a strong oral culture and a love of good talk."
That language with its unique lilt and rhythm is reflected in her books for children and young adults, her plays and poetry. For example, in "Together," a picture book with illustrations by Salt Lake artist Vera Rosenberry, the bedtime conversation says, "Let's put our heads together and dream the same dream." Later the memories of her grandfather, who was a lumberman, is reflected in, "You cut the timber and I'll build the house."
Her other works also are representative of the Kentucky setting in which she grew up and her husband and children choose to call home. In "Borrowed Children," Amanda believes she belongs in some place more sophisticated than her home in Goose Rock, Ky. The theme of this coming-of-age novel is finding the value of place and family.
"Come a Tide," told in the voice of a young girl, deals with the spring floods in a mountain community. Lyon tells of the impetus for this book, an experience when the water was "up to the piano keys."
"A B Cedar: An Alphabet of Trees" is an example of Lyon's commitment to the nature around her. Trees, 26 of them from Aspen to Zebrawood, are shown in various ways through their leaves, the fruit and the relative size of each as held by human hands.
Artist Tom Parker has shown the size of each tree with silhouette patterns against a stark white background. This is a cleverly contrived use of the alphabet with elegant editing and design.
Lyon and her husband, Steve, have collaborated on a play, "Looking Back for Words," a collection of poems set to music. One poem, "Archaeology," suggests the importance of listening for a voice in the family that was gone before your time.
Her research led to a collection of vignettes that disclosed her own family story, but it was also generic enough to be anyone's story. "For a long time we kept saying the play was Reader's Theater, because we had no experience with acting. But it just wouldn't stay still. So the last time we performed it, we went ahead and did it as a play and used slides of the documents."
Lyon completed a Ph.D. in English from Indiana University. She is happy with that decision for graduate study but seems most pleased with a position on the Kentucky Humanities Council, where she worked on a literacy program.
She tutored adults learning to read in her home, hoping for a connection in their stories and listening to others. She spent a year writing a book for these new readers. "Choices: Stories for Adult New Readers" is a collection of first-person fictional stories about people in a small mountain town.
Her hope is that these adults just learning about reading would find the connection between what others write and their own personal stories. Her experience with adult readers only made her more passionate about the correlation of reading and writing that for her began at a young age.
This energy is expressed in her own words, "I think stories are the deepest things we can share. Those stories that come from our family, that come from who we were before we were this wave on the horizon are still enacted in who we are and what we do."
Works by George Ella Lyons:
Several poems in "Strings: A Gathering of Family Poems," ed. by Paul Janesco.
"Father Time and the Day Boxes," illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker.
"A Regular Rolling Noah," illustrated by Stephen Gammell.
"Borrowed Children."
"A B Cedar," illustrated by Tom Parker.
"Choices: Stories for Adult New Readers."
"Red Rover, Red Rover," illustrated by Vera Rosenberry.
"Together," illustrated by Vera Rosenberry.
"Come a Tide," illustrated by Vera Rosenberry.
"Basket," illustrated by Mary Szilagyi.
"Cecil's Story," illustrated by Peter Catalanotto.
"Who Came Down the Road."
"Mama is a Miner."
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Author to speak
George Ella Lyon will be one of the keynote speakers at the 31st Annual State Conference Feb. 7-8 at Salt Lake Community College - South Campus, sponsored by the Utah Council of the International Reading Association.
For information and reservations contact: Dr. Richard Harmston, Utah State Office of Education at 538-7765.