Eleanora E. Tate
 Our heartfelt thanks go out to all of you who have responded with cards, letters, and gifts as word spread around the world that our beloved Brother Zack had transitioned. Zack's story has not ended. The struggle continues. Institute of Children's Literature If you're interested in the basics of writing stories for children, the Institute of Children's Literature (ICL) awaits you. I'm an instructor, along with Joyce Hansen and dozens of instructors who'll give you one-on-one guidance. It's headquartered in West Redding, CT but you work from your home, in your PJs if you want to! Go to: InstituteChildrensLit.com Get Your MFA in Writing for Children at Hamline Hamline University's Graduate School of Liberal Studies in St. Paul, Minnesota offers a two-year, intensive, Masters low-residency program "Writing for Children and Young Adults." Award-winning writers, sensitive editors, and guest writers will keep you inspired and writing. I'm pleased to be an assistant professor on its faculty. For more information go to: http:/ The Brown Book Shelf The Brown Book Shelf offers the "best and brightest authors of children's literature," a "black history celebration of children's literature," reviews, discussions and much, much more! See the new list! Go to: http:/ NEW! A reader's guide is in the back of Celeste's Harlem Renaissance new paperback. You'll also find a discussion guide at my Books pages. MY AUTHOR VISITS I make Author Visits to elementary schools, selected middle schools, writers and reading conferences, churches, bookstores, book clubs, libraries, universities and colleges. When you have me, my books, and the film Just an Overnight Guest based on my book (same name), you've got a winning combination! When sending me an e-mail for more information, please include your name, title, and mailing address.Students, if you e-mail me for information, please include your full name, the name and an email address of your teacher, and the name of your school. 2009 National Black Storytelling Conference and Festival The twenty-seventh anniversary gathering will be in historic Little Rock, Arkansas Nov. 11-15 with the theme "My Soul Looks Back: Stories of How We Got Over." This is a unique, enthralling, traveling national festival sponsored by the National Association of Black Storytellers, Inc. (NABS), headquartered in Baltimore, MD. I was a national board member 1988-1992, was NABS' national president from 1990-1992, and national South Carolina festival co-director in 1991. For info about the 2009 festival and the association, founded by the late Mary Carter Smith and the very much alive Linda Goss, go to: www.nabsinc.org |
In Celebration of a Life Well Loved: Zack Earl Hamlett, III Zack Earl Hamlett, III On Wednesday, May 27, 2009, at 4:31 p.m. Zack Earl Hamlett, III spread his wings and went home to be with God. Brother Zack was born December 16, 1951 in Tuskegee, Alabama, the oldest son born to Merilyn Frances Bruce Hamlett and Zack Earl Hamlett, Jr. The family moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan, where Zack accepted Christ as his savior and was a member of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church. In childhood he became entranced by photography and illustration, both lifelong loves. He played flute and saxophone, and was an avid football and Little League baseball player. He was graduated from Kalamazoo Central High School in 1969.
As a student at Howard University in Washington, DC, Zack’s love for people and community was evident. He was active in the Pan African and Black Power movements, setting up breakfast programs and educational freedom schools for urban families. During this period he began calling himself “Ibn Zak” (without the c), which means “son of Zack.” After moving to Des Moines, Iowa in 1972, he quickly immersed himself in the Black arts movement. He married writer Eleanora E. Tate on August 19, 1972 at the Center for the Study and Application of Black Theology. He taught photography there and assisted in other community enhancing programs. After completing a cement finishing apprenticeship training program, from 1974-1976 he was a recruiter/ In 1976 the family moved to Jackson, TN, and in 1978 to Myrtle Beach, SC, where he was stationed with the US Air Force. After being honorably discharged in 1982, Brother Zack became public information officer for Waccamaw Economic Opportunity Council, Inc., Conway, SC. From 1983-1992 he and Eleanora formally established Positive Images, Inc. as a syndicated African American news service and “ma and pa” public relations company. Through Positive Images News Service Brother Zack’s photos were published regularly in the Des Moines New Iowa Bystander Newspaper, the Jackson (TN) Banner, the (Memphis, TN) Tri-State Defender, the Charleston (SC) Chronicle, and in the Washington Post, the Des Moines Register, the Myrtle Beach Sun News, and the Baltimore Afro American, among others. His graphic arts expertise garnered awards from the Grand Strand Press Association, the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and a “Top Ten” award from the Southeast Tourism Society for the Ninth National Festival of Black Storytelling held in South Carolina in 1991. Brother Zack loved storytelling, and with his wife was active in the National Association of Black Storytellers, Inc. (NABS). He designed the association’s trademark logo. Zack served as national media relations director and co-sponsor of the 1991 Ninth National Festival of Black Storytelling, and was design consultant for the 1999 National Black Storytelling Festival and Conference held in Winston-Salem, NC, where he received the first NABS Founders Award from its founders Mary Carter Smith and Linda Goss. From 1995-1998 he was editor of the Havelock (NC) Times Newspaper. In 1998 he joined Coastal Community Action, Inc., Havelock, as its resource development director, and later was its interim director. At the time of his passing he was the director of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Office of Economic Opportunity, and chairman of the board of the NC Rural Communities Assistance Project, Inc. Brother Zack was graduated from the South Carolina Governor’s Rural Development Leaders School, White Oak, SC in 1984, and earned a B.A. degree from the University of South Carolina-Coastal Carolina, Conway, in 1990. He was a former board member of the Arts Council of Carteret County, and a member of the North Carolina Association of Housing Counselors, North Carolina Press Association, Concerned Citizens Operation Reach-out Organization (CCORO), and the local planning committees for the SC Cross-Cultural Mental Health Conferences. In 1995 he was honored by the South Carolina Senate and South Carolina House of Representatives for his community activism and photography. He was a member of St. Paul AME Church and the St. Paul Sons of Allen, and a life member of NABS. Brother Zack’s vast talents and dedication to public service caused many to fondly call him “Mr. Positive Images” and “Renaissance man.” He would modestly reply, “I’m just ole Brother Zack.” Brother Zack gave up his life to the cause of helping the poor and disenfranchised who could not speak for themselves, and whose needs would otherwise be ignored. He leaves to cherish his memory: his wife, Eleanora E. Tate; his stepdaughter, Gretchen R. Tate; his father, Zack E. Hamlett, Jr. (Gretchen); two sisters, Diane Cooper (Michael) and Stephenie Stevenson (Robert); two brothers, Bruce G. Hamlett (Patricia) and Reginald C. Hamlett (Jill); his mother-in-law, Mrs. Lillie Mae Tate; his brother-in-law, Donald Tate; nieces Alicia Williamson, Kimberly Hamlett, Carmen Hamlett, Elizabeth Marie Morgan, Autumn Sirles, Jheris Tate and Kel-Leigh Tate; nephews Kyle Stevenson, Nathaniel Hamlett, Joshua Hamlett, Don Tate II, Brian Tate, Timothy Tate, Gary Tate, and Damien Tate; grand nephews Camren Avant, Caleb Majors, Morgan Anderson, Kolby Tate, Brian Tate, Jr., Drake Tate, Charles Anderson, III and Cordell Anderson; grand nieces Olivia Tate, Madison Tate, and Quinnlyn Lee Tate; and a host of loving family and friends. He was preceded in death by his mother, Mrs. Merilyn Frances Bruce Hamlett, and two sisters-in-law, Evelyn Morgan and Jill Hamlett. Persons are encouraged to honor Brother Zack by making contributions to the National Association of Black Storytellers, Inc. (NABS), P.O. Box 177, Glenwood, MD 21738. Checks should be made out to NABS and include in the memo line: “In Memory of Zack E. Hamlett, III for Youth Programming.” My book of biographical profiles is African American Musicians (Wiley & Sons, publishers) with known and unknown Black musicians over the past 200 years. A companion book is Black Stars of the Harlem Renaissance. Another book with a musical bent is The Minstrel's Melody (Windmill Press), my historical fiction saga of Orphelia Bruce who yearns to travel the world in 1904 as a singing and piano playing young star. But when Momma threatens to silence her music forever, Orphelia runs away, determined to let her musical light shine, no matter what. Get both books at your local bookstore, and support your independent bookshops.  AAUW Award for Celeste Is an Award Winner!!! Hooray! Celeste's Harlem Renaissance has been named an International Reading Association (IRA) 2008 "Teachers Choice" Award winner! It's also available in paperback from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers now. Hooray! It's also the 2007 North Carolina Book Award for Juvenile Literature. This award is sponsored by the NC Chapter of the American Association of University Women. On behalf of Celeste and the other characters in my book, thank you very, very much. Onward and upward! When Celeste Lassiter Massey must travel to Harlem to live with her actress Aunt Valentina, she's not thrilled at all to leave her friends, home and Poppa in comfortable Raleigh, North Carolina for New York's 1921 fast life. She constantly wonders and worries about Poppa, her friends, and even her cranky Aunt Society (her Raleigh live-in aunt-in-charge) back home. Talk about dangers, hard work, and romance! What about that fine, bald-headed boy Big Willie from Eagle Rock, NC that she meets on the train to Harlem? Will she ever see him -- or North Carolina again? Publisher: Little, Brown & Co. Pub. Date: April 2007.ISBN-10: 0-316-52394-1 ISBN-13: 978-0-316-52394-3 Great Books for Girls blogspot wrote "... A whole cast of fascinating, well-developed supporting characters surround Celeste as she embarks on this journey from girlhood to womanhood. You'll learn to love Aunt Society, laugh with Miss D., and enjoy Celeste's ever-growing circle of friends." North Carolina School Library Media Association in Info Tech Review wrote, "During her stay in New York (Celeste) encounters famous Harlem Renaissance artists such as Duke Ellington and James Weldon Johnson. These encounters enrich the story without disrupting the coming-of-age theme that is at the heart of Celeste's experiences." "This is an excellent coming-of-age novel with so many added attractions you forget that Celeste, her friends and family aren't real, that all this didn't really happen as you are swept into Harlem in its heyday with theater, jazz, blues and music that enriched our lives. Rating: Recommended 10 Plus." -- Ruth Moose, Raleigh News and Observer "It is a pleasure and a privilege to hang out with Celeste as she grows up. Her world is full of color and music, even when it has to come only from her soul." -- http:/ "In Celeste, Tate has created a fully realized heroine, whose world expands profoundly as she's exposed to both the cultural pinnacles and racial prejudices of her era. Readers will likely happily accompany Celeste on her journey." PUBLISHERS WEEKLY "...readers will connect with her strong, regional voice ..., her ambitions, and the enormous responsibilities she confronts at such a young age. Both sobering and inspiring, Tate's novel is a moving portrait of growing up black and female in 1920s America." -- Gillian Engberg, BOOKLIST. "Celeste and her friends and family ... represent the wide variety of characters and personalities of African-American society without reverting to stereotypes. Absorbing. -- KIRKUS REVIEWS. Tate's "... large ensemble of secondary characters is complex, distinctive and well developed. Celeste's wide-eyed observations, organic to her strong but somewhat sheltered character, pull readers into the thrills and fears of her rapidly expanding world." -- Claire E. Gross, the HORN BOOK MAGAZINE Windmill Books, an imprint of Rosen Publishing Co., is releasing my book The Minstrel's Melody in January 2009 under its new Histories Through Time series. The Minstrel's Melody was originally published in the American Girl History Mysteries series. Well, Orphelia, Madame Meritta, and lyin' Pearl are back! Hooray! Raisin Stackhouse of coastal Gumbo Grove, SC loves history so much that she's willing to face being grounded in order to know more about her family's and her hometown's hidden secrets. The neighborhood bully, a girl nicknamed Big Boy, is out to beat up Raisin. Does Raisin stand a chance? And will she solve the mystery hidden in that old cemetery? A teacher’s guide is available. Click on A Blessing in Disguise on my home page. A Parents Choice Gold Seal Award Winner A California Young Reader Medal Finalist A Georgia Children's Book Award Nominee Featured in USA Today and on NPR's "All Things Considered" A “Give a Child a Book” SC Public Radio read aloud selection Available as an Audio Book from Recorded Books, Inc. "A warm, humorous, and wonderful story centered around an intellectually curious and spirited black girl... " -- Starred, School Library Journal "A vividly evoked piece of Americana that should be widely enjoyed." -- Pointer, Kirkus Reviews My books Thank You, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.! and The Secret of Gumbo Grove are also Audio Books? That means you can listen to them and free up your hands to do other stuff! Check with Recorded Books (see below). And Remember... Reading is knowledge and knowledge is power, and with positive power you can do almost anything positive that you want to in this world. In the meantime, pray for angels and stay away from devils. They're everywhere. Films: Just an Overnight Guest, starring Richard Roundtree, Rosalind Cash, Fran Robinson, Tiffany Hill, and Elinor Donahue. Phoenix Learning Group: 1-800-221-1274 (more info on Books page). Audio Books: The Secret of Gumbo Grove , narrated by actress Kim Staunton. Thank You, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., narrated by actress Kim Staunton. Ms. Staunton makes my characters really come alive! Contact Recorded Books, Inc., 270 Skipjack Rd., Prince Frederick, MD 20678; 1-800-638-1304 Celeste's Harlem Renaissance Front Porch Stories at the One-Room School Retold African Myths To Be Free The Minstrel's Melody Just an Overnight Guest A Blessing in Disguise The Secret of Gumbo Grove Thank You, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.! African American Musicians Don't Split the Pole: Tales of Down-Home Folk Wisdom (out of print) |
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