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Part 2 Interview with author of There Is No Me Without You: One Woman’s Odyssey to Rescue Africa’s Children
Mary: Did you have any surprising revelations in the research process?
Melissa Fay Greene: Oh good heavens, the last few months of trying to finish the book were nightmarish!
Many a night I swore to myself: Never Write Nonfiction Again.
If You Wrote Fiction, I berated myself, You Could, At This Moment, Make Stuff Up.
The nearly-finished manuscript was due to the publisher, Bloomsbury, by December 31, 2005.
On December 15, the heroine of my book, foster mother Mrs. Haregewoin Teferra, phoned me from prison.
She had been arrested for accusations of child-trafficking and failure to report child molestation.
I had been painfully aware of the accusations swirling around her since September; she had put my mind at ease that they were nonsense.
Now she phoned from prison.
After making sure (thanks to WWO) that the children were being cared for, I had to call the editor-in-chief at Bloomsbury.
“Melissa!” she cried in delight. “How are you? How’s it going?”
“Oh, fine, the book’s great,” I assured her. “But things have gotten a little weird in Ethiopia.”
In February, when Haregewoin was safely at home again, I flew over to see her.
“Will she let me tell the whole story?” I anguished.
“If she says no, I will have a horrible choice: journalistic ethics versus my relationship to her.
“What if telling an honest story puts her work and orphanages at risk?”
Thank heavens, she greeted me prepared to talk. I got out my notebook and pen. She began. “I’ll have to put this in the book,” I said cautiously.
“Yes,” she said. “You must put this in your book.”
I never want to go through that again.
Fiction next time; or, if nonfiction, perhaps a nice portrait of someone who lived and died in like the 1300s.
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Mary: What would you say to the people who are thinking of reading this book but are hesitating because they fear that the topic of HIV might be depressing?
Melissa Faye Greene: For years already, whenever I’ve told people who’ve asked what I’m working on, they’ve replied, “Oh, how awful!” “That sounds so grim!” “That must be so depressing.”
But it’s been the least depressing story ever because it is filled with children. My days in Ethiopia are crowded with children; my bed at home is crowded with Ethiopian children. My life and the life of my family has changed to accommodate this story, this reality.
The AIDS orphans are not grim waifs, devoid of desire and hope; they are darling loving playful CHILDREN who deserve to grow up, to live.
We must intervene to help them.
Not by adoption (which touches fewer than one percent of Africa’s orphans), but by helping the children’s parents to live, by allowing the world to generate fewer orphans.
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I want to thank Melissa for taking time from her busy book tour to share her answers to these questions. Below you will find information on her next two scheduled book signings. For more on Melissa’s book tour, click here.
October 24 Seattle, WA
7:00 PM University Bookstore
4326 University Way NE
October 26 Portland, OR
7:00 PM Powell’s Bookstore
1005 W. Burnside St.
Book Website: There is No Me Without You
This little series was perfect–Dave & I are both reading the book & it has been a joy to read the interview. Melissa is a passionate & purposeful personality!!
thanks to you both.
again…what a treat! thank you both. i am on chapter 17.