Olly Neal grew up in Arkansas during the 1950s. He didn't care much for high school. One day during his senior year, he cut class — and wandered into the school library.
As he told his daughter, Karama, recently, he stumbled onto a book written by African-American author Frank Yerby. And the discovery changed the life of a teenage boy who was, in Neal's memory, "a rather troubled high school senior."
The book was The Treasure of Pleasant Valley — and it had an alluring cover, especially for a teenage boy.
Neal remembers it being "risque — a drawing of a woman who appeared to be wearing something that was basically see-through. But the symbolism was really great for me at that age of 16."
There was just one problem: If Neal took the book to the checkout counter, he was sure that the girls who worked on the counter would tell his friends.
...
Finally, Neal decided that he ought to steal the book, in order to preserve his reputation. So he did.
A week or two later, Neal had finished the book — so he brought it back to the library, careful to replace it in the same spot he had found it.
"And when I put it back, there was another book by Frank Yerby," Neal said.
"So I thought, 'Maybe I'll read that, too.' So I took it under my jacket," Neal said.
"Later, I brought it back, and there was — by God, there was another book by Frank Yerby. So I took it."
He read four of Yerby's books that semester — checking out none of them.
But Neal's sneaky behavior turned out not to have been so sneaky after all.
Attending his 13-year high school reunion, Neal ran into the school's librarian, Mildred Grady. She had seen him trying to steal The Treasure of Pleasant Valley years ago.
"She told me that she saw me take that book when I first took it," Neal said.
"She said, 'My first thought was to go over there and tell him, boy, you don't have to steal a book, you can check them out — they're free.'
"Then she realized what my situation was — that I could not let anybody know I was reading."
