MEET AUTHOR JOHN ROBINSON

From the Valdosta daily times John Robinson of Valdosta shares stories from his life in the autobiography “Chicken Scratch.”

“The words ‘chicken scratch’ is a form of slang honed out of the past and is still today just as common as it was then,” Robinson writes. “It was used to define the appearance of a person’s handwriting when it is difficult to read. However, behind these words is a special history willed by time, as a part of the black American struggle, twisting, spell binding, sometimes breaking the will of those trying to define the symbols of the struggle; integration, segregation. (Chicken Scratch) Can you read it? Robinson writes the words “Chicken Scratch” sometimes followed by various lines – such as “Did you read it?” “What happened?” – after several episodes in his memoir.

Robinson writes of his childhood in Valdosta; the people he knew here and elsewhere during his challenging early years.

He writes about jobs he took, the careers he poured himself into while living in Florida, only to face discrimination, being passed over for promotion, or handed the full responsibility of running a place without the title or pay.

He opposed discrimination through a federal lawsuit.

He’s battled cancer, beating a death-sentence diagnosis, according to his book.

Robinson writes in an easy-to-read style. He tells a dynamic and compelling story. He holds nothing back. He writes in a bold manner befitting a bold life.

He points fingers but he also reveals faults and foibles within himself. “Chicken Scratch” is about a man’s life but it aims to speak of a cultural experience for lives in the South.

To quote a Robinson line from the book: “(Chicken Scratch) Read it if you can.”