A Writer Speaks: An Interview with Lorenz Bell Graham

Missionary, teacher, professor, strikebreaker, cook, waiter, and author are embodied in the national treasure interviewed here. Lorenz Graham received an honorary Doctorate of Letters from his alma mater forty-seven years after receiving the B.A. degree. He is almost as old as the twentieth century in years of age and as young as a college freshman in spirit. Graham is a recognized giant as a writer of literature for young readers. His major works include South Town (Chicago: Follett Publishing Company, 1958), North Town (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1965), Whose Town: (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1969), Return to South Town? (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976), and John Brown: A Cry for Freedom (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1980). In the fol lowing interview Graham shares aspects of his life with those who share the dream of a better society. Lorenz Bell Graham was born January 27,1902, in New Orleans to Elizabeth Etta Bell Graham and David Andrew Graham. David Gra ham, a minister of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, moved his family to Seattle in 1916, and Lorenz Graham attended Broadway High School in that city. The interview begins with that period of his life.