Dying Is the Easy Part

by William Jefferson

Faced in 2002 with the prospect of dying at age fifty-five of a heart condition he never knew he had, William Jefferson was forced to reflect on the things that meant the most in his life. So, from his hospital bed, he started to write about the people, surroundings, and situations that raised him. Jefferson grew up in a small town on a farm in the rural South in the fifties and sixties, and recounts those hard times here in short story form. Sharing the powerful lessons of family, religion, racism, and generational curses and blessings that flowed from those experiences. Dying Is the Easy Part shows that while the hard parts of life can occasionally be conquered, life is more about being ready to die than ready to live. Being ready to die is all about faith. As Jefferson recovered in his hospital room, he realized that we spend our lives worrying about avoiding death, when life is the real challenge. As Shakespeare declared, "Of all the wonders in the world, it seems to me most strange, that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come." The stories within are about African American, Southern life. But they are not just for Southerners, and not just for Black Southerners. They are for people who want to live life without fear; for those who want success in life, and also want to keep that success in perspective; for those who want to laugh through situations where others are focused on the negative; and for those who are inspired by the power of simple people, people engaged in daily struggles. People who rise above them to pass on life-sustaining lessons to their children and families.

228 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2007

Reviews

[Lsilberman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very fine collection of autobiographical stories by a black Member of Congress from the South. His tales of life as a black male in the era of segregation--often tragic, but occasionally amusing--are quite eye-opening for this white woman. Horses were replaced by cars because the horse would memorize a route and take your wife where you didn't want her to go, which made keeping secrets impossible. :) On the other hand, an incident in which a black male was totally innocent could, nevertheless, cause both him and his family to get out of town, fast, in fear of their lives.

[Carlos Vallarino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Am going on Sundays to Northwest1 library here in WDC and am always finding great books, this is one of them, he had a heart problem, just like me and got emphatic with the theme and it is the story of the south and how it is and was in the south, it was the women, his mom and his aunt, and his grandma that maintained the family centered.