The Books My Mother Read: Joyce Ann Ashford
- Joyce Ann Ashford
- May 3
- 2 min read
"Ma, on her grandparents' farm in 1951."
As a farm boy, Ozzie dropped out of school in eighth grade. Etoy dropped out of high school but obtained a GED in her forties to work as a Nursing Assistant on weekends while working full-time for Honeywell Inc. She read voraciously.
"Let them know it was a brown mother who read prolifically and trained her daughter to do likewise. " Joyce Ann Ashford.
Indeed, Ashford is a reflection of her mother. I encountered this author and educator in a local store and discovered a taste of her adventures and achievements - nine years in France, speaking three languages, published works, exploration of history, and a rich family legacy. I requested a contribution from her for Garden Spices and received a gift: a poem inspired by her mother. Gate open to Joyce Ann Ashford - Victorine
The Books My Mother Read
“You must read Peony
but it will make you cry,” Mother said.
I read that book by and by.
Then I was hooked on Pearl Buck
and read The Good Earth and Dragon Seed.
I read all the books Mother told me to read.
“Gone with the Wind is a great book!”
She said one day.
I read it to see what Margaret Mitchell had to say.
Heidi was another book Mother said I should not miss
and The Slave Who Freed Haiti was on her list.
Reading gave me empathy for God’s people
throughout the world
but Katherine Scherman’s book on Haiti
made me proud to be an African-American girl.
Joyce Ann Ashford was born to Etoy and Ozzie Ashford in Town Creek, Alabama, on her grandparents' farm in 1951. Joyce has an A.A. in Liberal Arts from Kendall College. a B.S. in Mass Communications from Emerson College. an M.A. in Theatre from the University of Illinois, an M.S in Linguistics from the Illinois Institute of Technology. an M.A.T in Elementary Education from National- Louis University and a License in English from the Université de Nantes. As an undergrad, Joyce was a "Copy Kid" for The Christian Science Monitor and a production assistant/ freelance writer for Steve Hemingway's Black News at WNAC TV. She is a poet, children's book author, and memoir writer who speaks three languages: English, French, and Spanish. She has four adult children and eleven grandchildren.
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