Award Winning Author to Speak at Solo Flight February Luncheon

“At what age do you know enough about racism to recognize it?” With this question, Rodney L. Hurst, Sr. begins his story of growing up in Jacksonville during the late ‘50’s and early 60’s, a time of racism in the south that seems unbelievable today. However, “on August 27, 1960, more than 200 whites with ax handles and baseball bats attacked members of the Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP in downtown Jacksonville who were sitting in at white lunch counters protesting racism and segregation” (from www.rodneyhurst.com). Hurst’s book, It Was Never about a Hot Dog and a Coke: A Personal Account of the 1960 Sit-in Demonstrations in Jacksonville, Florida and Ax Handle Saturday portrays the racial and political atmosphere in Jacksonville in the late fifties. The title “Ax Handle Saturday” was coined in the media coverage of 200 ax handle and baseball bat-wielding whites attacking young blacks as they staged sit-in demonstrations at white lunch counters in downtown Jacksonville, led by Hurst as Youth Council NAACP President. Although the event was downplayed in Jacksonville, it gained national attention, and thrust Hurst into the Civil Rights limelight.

However, Hurst’s account of that era is more than a civil rights testimony. He also illustrates the backdrop of the times with descriptions of many of Jacksonville’s institutions little known outside the black culture then, but widely recognized now, such as his account of the La Villa area, “You had to visit Ashley Street in Jacksonville, much as you had to visit Beale Street in Memphis and Bourbon Street in New Orleans.”

The book has won several national awards including the 2008 Premier Book Reviews Best Book of 2008 award in the general non-fiction category and Honorable Mention in the autobiography/biography category at the 2008 New York Book Festival.

A former college administrator, Rodney L. Hurst, Sr. has devoted years of service to the Jacksonville community including two four-year terms on the City Council. He was one of the first 13 national recipients of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Fellowships, and the first Black to co-host a television talk show in Jacksonville. He has been widely recognized, won numerous awards, and served on the boards of several state and national organizations including the Arrangements Committee of the 1980 National Democratic Convention. . Hurst is a member of the Bethel Baptist Institutional Church in Jacksonville where he is active in the Fine Arts Ministry. He and his wife Ann, married for more than 41 years, have two sons, Todd, and Rodney, and two granddaughters Marquiette, and Jasmine.

Rodney L. Hurst, Sr. will be the featured speaker at the February 15 Solo Flight luncheon. His book will be available at the Christ Church Bookstore as well as at the luncheon book signing, and 10% of the sales will be donated to the church. Solo Flight cordially invites all members of the parish to attend the event in the Parish Center following the 11:15 a.m. service. The cost is $5, childcare will be provided (with reservations only - no later than Monday, February 9), and reservations for the luncheon are required. Contact Mary Alice Wester at 273-2961 or mawester@bellsouth.net.

- By Barbara Church