Books Reviews
by L. Arthalia Cravin

Last week I read two books that might be of interest. The first book was entitled, “Same Kind of Different as Me,” by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. It was published in 2006. The book is written with alternating chapters of two writers, one white, the other black. Both men grew up in Navarro County, not far from Corsicana during the late 1950s and early 60s. The early setting for the book was of particular interest to me because my maternal grandparents migrated to Frost, Texas, about 30 miles from Corsicana, about this same time to work as sharecroppers, picking and chopping “Blackland” cotton. I actually lived in Frost, Texas from 1959 to 1962 with my sharecropper grandparents and pulled cotton from many of the long, crocked rows, of cotton patches that surrounded the two-room share-cropper shack we lived in. I could identify well with Denver Moore’s story about working from “can’t to can’t” (can’t see in the morning to can’t see in the evening,”) being paid 50 cents an hours for working in the cotton fields, the outright racism, and never getting any money because of the “company store,” practice of always keeping sharecroppers in debt. Even though I was only 8 or 9 at the time, I fully understood how Denver Moore grew up and why he eventually landed in Angola Prison in Louisiana, how he hopped a freight train to California, then wound up at a Mission in Ft Worth. It was Ron Hall’s story that was so different from mine and Denver Moore’s upbringing.

Ron Hall went to college, then became a wealthy art dealer, making more money on one art deal that my all my ancestors combined could ever dream of making. His lived the typical privileged life of a white man. The kicker is how Hall eventually crossed paths with Denver Moore at a Ft. Worth Mission orchestrated by and through Ron’s Hall devoutly Christian wife Deborah who urged him to get involved with helping the poor. As the story unfolds these two men, from miles-apart social and economic backgrounds, eventually meet and begin a friendship. The friendship lasts through the death of Deborah from cancer– and beyond. The story of their meeting, their different lives, their sameness, and continuing friendship led to a book well worth the read.

Ron Hall and Denver Moore will be in Amarillo for a book signing on April 7th and 8th so mark you calendars. Read more »