Floridian: Dialogue on race by Florida writers gets New York venue

Dialogue on race by Florida writers gets New York venue

By Times Staff Writer

Parallel Lives, a dialogue on race produced by the Florida Humanities Council, has traveled to dozens of cities in Florida and elsewhere since its first public performance in St. Petersburg two years ago. But now the program is gearing up for its biggest trip yet, this time all the way to the United Nations.

Beverly Coyle and Bill Maxwell, the writers featured in the program, will share their stories of growing up in Jim Crow Florida at an upcoming seminar sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office, a non-governmental organization of the U.N., on April 6 at the U.N. Plaza in New York. Coyle, a New York novelist, and Maxwell, an editorial board member and columnist for the St. Petersburg Times, grew up only a few miles apart in northeast Florida.

UU-UNO executive administrator Rev. Francis Mercer invited Coyle and Maxwell after seeing the duo perform last month. She believes the program will help Unitarians, attending from across the U.S. and Canada, formalize statements they plan to present at a U.N.-sponsored world conference against racism later this year.

"Parallel Lives engages the audience and elicits a great deal of self-examination," Mercer said. "It is exactly what I was looking for to help frame and inform our discussion."

The anticipated UU-UNO performance gives Parallel Lives, which was developed by the state humanities council for the benefit of Floridians, broader national visibility, much to the council's delight.

"We are incredibly happy that this is happening and proud that we gave birth to it," said Janine Farver, associate director of the Florida Humanities Council. "Parallel Lives is bigger than us, and bigger than Florida now."

"Parallel Lives' will be performed in St. Petersburg on Feb. 19, at 6 p.m. in the Student Activities Center on the USF-St. Petersburg campus. The program is free and open to the public. For more information, call Janine Farver at (727) 553-3813.