in memory of Jennis “Little Man” Johnson

photo by Kim Raff, The News & Advance

On Tuesday, July 7, Jennis “Little Man” Johnson died peacefully in his home. In December, I wrote a story about his struggle with terminal cancer and his unrelenting will to live. Even when his body betrayed him, he got out of bed, walked his dog and went to his job as a greeter at Wal-Mart.  He lived months beyond his doctors’ predictions.

When I found out he died, I revisited the story I wrote about him and Kim’s wonderful slide show.  Stay tuned for an update in the News & Advance after his funeral.

Below the photograph are the opening lines from the story I wrote, which I think do a good job capturing Little Man’s spirit. Click here to read the whole story, The Rites of Life: Keeping On.

photo by Kim Raff, The News & Advance

Jennis Johnson leans at a jaunty slant against a shopping cart. There’s a chair nearby, but the 77-year-old insists on standing through his six-hour shift as a greeter at the Bedford Wal-Mart.

Sometimes his body betrays him, and his torso convulses in a hard, raspy cough.

But not today. Today is a good day.

Jennis salutes customers with a smile. At 5 feet 8 inches, he is lean of build and long of face. He has short white hair and a pencil-thin mustache.

Friends and family know him as “Little Man,” the nickname his father gave him at birth.

With his shift almost over, Jennis peers through the sliding glass doors at the bustling parking lot. A woman walks in. His eyes flicker in recognition.

“How are you doing, Little Man,” she says.

Jennis extends his hand.

“Oh, I’m doing fairly good,” he says with a chuckle, “for an old man.”

This blog is about my journey as a writer. Mostly, it’s an online portfolio with links to stories I am proud of.  Sometimes, I share a piece of my inner-world, reflections as I strain to grow and expand and find my way. This entry is the latter. No groundbreaking stories today, just a few small thoughts on where I’ve been and where I”m going.

 I wander this world collecting words and images – a dull sigh, a flushed cheek, the must of an old book, with pages yellowed like coffee-stained teeth. 

I call them tiny fragments of the world. And sometimes they are not so tiny.

They help me see through the murk and clutter. I hope that one day the will help me tell a story that gets at a truth long-obscured.

But sometimes I lose my bearings. The words seem distant, faint specters fading into an ink black sky. 

So I to return to the writers that inspire me. I close my eyes and listen to their words, let them sink in and flow through every crevice of my brain. They are always there, waiting patiently on my bookself. Last night I revisted William Blake, a poet I’ve read since childhood.

“Without contraries is no progress. Attraction and Repulsion.

Reason and Energy. Love and Hate, are necessary to Human existence…”

I would add to that list Creativity and Stagnation. I love my job. The deadlines keep me going. But sometimes the words don’t flow as easily as I would like.

Last night, I reconnected with another friend, a journalist and writer I met two years ago at a journalism fellowship in Florida. I admire her work and her spirit. Talking about our shared passion helped to reawaken my creativity. I realized that the embers were still burning even if the flame had gone out for a while.

I am ending with a Ginsberg poem I read years ago… A few of his words returned to me out of nowhere recently… I am here.. pen in hand awake… That’s all I could remember, so I looked up the whole poem. I love the poem for being bare, stripped down and exposed. Here are the last few lines.

i am here

tiny under sun rising in vast white sky, staring

thru skeleton new buildings,

with pen in hand awake

[a slice of life from the <3 of virginia]

Check out this story: A new beginning.  The Fuhrmanns are among a growing number of Americans nationwide who are trying their luck with small-scale farming. For them, it’s a chance to get back to the basics and pave a new life for their seven children. 

Click on the link above, read my story and watch staff photographer Jill Nance’s slideshow…

 Behind-the-scenes…

Staff photographer Jill Nance and I were at the farm when the family received a delivery of 100 chicks. They arrived in a cardboard box at the Gretna post office. The chicks were just two days old and caused quite a commotion.

That’s me in the background next to farmer and missionary Jack Fuhrmann, who oversees the farm with his wife Kim.  I spent at the day at the farm to get a sense of the family and their daily routine. This kind of reporting involves a balance of getting my questions answered and stepping back and letting the moments happen naturally. I work closely with the photographer and try my best to stay out of the photos.  (This photo didn’t run in the paper.)

Fire and brimstone, reenacted: guns, religion and civil war reenactors in Appomattox, VA… what more could you ask for in a story? go to the link, read the story and check out the great audio slideshow that brings this subculture to life.

photo by Kim Raff, staff photographer @ The News & Advance 

After the sky fell: top notch feature storytelling from none other than the St. Pete Times.

[thanks to everyone who read and commented on my digital detox series... i hope to tell more stories in that style on my blog in the future.]

[Last week I unplugged for seven days. Here are stories about life without technology, adapted from my journal. Enjoy!]

[click here --> for explanation of digital detox]

[click here --> for digital detox: a night of strange occurrences (pt. 1)]

[click here --> for digital detox: the addiction (pt.2)]

[stay tuned for the last two installments. do i survive digital detox week and other matters of great importance...]

My morning was so saturated with social media that I decided to begin digital detox week at sundown, like a Jewish holiday. I outlined the ground rules in my journal (see below). There are some exceptions for work since I’m a journalism and need to connect with the rest of the world to do my job (this sometimes involves a computer).  I am unplugging all of my digital temptations and stowing them out of sight. I’m also keeping a journal on my online abstinence. I’ll let you know how it goes.  

see you on the other side.
mazel tov.

l

Spring is here! I’ve been hiking every weekend since March, so I’ve been able to watch spring spread from the valleys to the mountain tops.

In Lynchburg, the dogwoods are blooming white and pink.  It seems we can’t go more than two days without a cold rains that soaks the soil and hydrates thirsty roots.

The mountains are still bare. The rare flash of purple and pink breaks up the brown-gray monotone. From a tall peak, you can see the scalp of the mountain, the carpet of leaves unobscured by bare tree limbs.  Soon, a verdant tree canopy will conceal the life that grows beneath.

As you can see, I’m excited about spring. It means the end of hibernation for bears and Barry (me). For a peek of what I’m up to at work, here are links to some recent stories:

Raw passion: Blackwater Rugby – story with a great audio slide show by Kim Raff, staff photographer

Mother tongue– Story about new Korean Language School that gives an overview of the growth of the local Korean population over the past 30 years. Exploring Lynchburg’s hidden diversity and growing immigrant populations is an ongoing interest of mine. I have written stories about the International Halal Market, Lynchburg’s first mosque and profiles about people in Lynchburg who represent its changing demographic. I’m always looking for new ideas!

Lynchburg plans city eco-park – This story chronicles the decay of a historic industrial site and future plans to turn it into a cutting edge eco-park.

photo by Chet White, The News and Advance

Above: Decaying warehouse that will be torn down to make way for an eco-park.

The News & Advance did awesome at this year’s Virginia Press Association Awards contest. Congratulations to everyone! I am grateful to work with such talented photographers, reporters and editors. 

Photographer Kim Raff and I were recognized for our 10-part feature series The Rites of Life.  If you haven’t seen the project, check it out.

I won “Best in Show — Daily Writing” and Kim won “Best in Show – Photography.” We were competing with newspapers of all circulation sizes in the state, including the big ones in Richmond, Norfolk and Roanoke.

I also won three other awards in our circulation division: first place for feature series or continuing story, first for multimedia feature reporting and third place for combination picture and story.

Staff photographer Jill Nance won Virgnia Photographer of the Year from the Virginia News Photographers Association.  A really big award!   Good job!

Here is a picture from the awards ceremony in Norfolk. Crazy coincidence, while we were out celebrating, there was a deadly shooting in the parking lot next to the hotel where our car was parked.

[picture censored due to it being unflattering of kim ]

Me, Kim and Jill.