Those of us with this ancient compulsion to tell stories sometimes start with a single kernel of something. Edward P. Jones More Quotes by Edward P. Jones More Quotes From Edward P. Jones It just so happens that I was born and raised in Washington. Had I been born in Chicago or San Antonio, the streets and places would have figured into whatever I wrote. Just so happens that it's Washington, D.C. Edward P. Jones i-was-bornwhateverstreetsborn In the summer of 1964, my sister and I went to South Ballston, Virginia, to stay with my aunt and her kids. They passed the civil rights bill that summer; my cousins were so happy because now they could swim in the pool. Edward P. Jones staypoolsisterhappy From my apartment in Arlington, I could see Washington. It was always nice to be near home. Edward P. Jones seealwaysnicehome I've never been comfortable with the idea of using family and friends in stories. Which is why it takes me longer than something else. Because you make them up out of nothing. Doing that is harder. Edward P. Jones meyoufriendsfamily People seem to have trouble with the imagination. They can't believe that you can just pull things out of your brain like that. Edward P. Jones youimaginationbrainpeople I never like to put myself in the stories; in 'Lost in the City,' there are fourteen stories, and there's only one, 'The First Day,' about a little girl going to school, that has anything to do with me. Edward P. Jones daymyselfmegirl My mother worked in the white world, but I lived almost exclusively in a black world. I don't think I had ever seen a white teacher until I got to high school. Edward P. Jones blackmotherteacherworld There are those who write because they believe they have something so marvelous that it will make them famous and wealthy, a lauded commodity who will be invited to a lifetime of cocktail parties. Edward P. Jones cocktailsomethingwillbelieve Something happened during the 1980s - perhaps the political climate of that time - that caused me to ask how a people would become part of a system that oppresses their own people. Edward P. Jones mepoliticaltimepeople You don't go to the library and walk along and pick out a topic. You are riding the bus, or shopping at Safeway, and all of a sudden the idea comes to you. Edward P. Jones walkyoulibraryshopping
