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Meetings of the RVA Hoos Book Club and discussion group normally are intimate affairs – capped at a dozen participants to allow a free flow of discussion.
But when the club’s small group discussion coordinator, Sharon Peffer, learned about Chris, she didn’t hesitate to open the discussion up to a crowd.
The story of a widowed mom who supported her family by working as an auto mechanic in mid-twentieth-century Richmond, Chris, The True Story was written by University of Virginia alumnus and former Lakeside resident Charles “Chuck” Payne.
The nostalgic telling of his mother’s struggles and triumphs over adversity can be summed up, according to Payne, as an answer to the question, “What made America’s Greatest Generation great?”
Now a resident of Virginia Beach, Payne told Peffer he would happily come to Richmond for a talk about the book, which took place Sept. 25 at the UVA Richmond Center on Parham Road. Over a soup-and-salad supper, a capacity crowd of readers enjoyed a presentation about the book, as well as a discussion about Payne’s remarkable mother and growing up in post-war Lakeside.
‘One-of-a-kind woman’
In his introductory remarks, Payne, a retired attorney, told the group members that he began writing the book as a “legacy piece.” Instead of simply passing on information about family genealogy – “which is really just a list of begats” – he hoped to flesh out the names into personalities and make them come alive.
“Our mother was obviously a unique, one-of-a-kind woman,” Payne said. “I wanted my children and grandchildren to be able to know their ancestors vicariously, by reading their life stories. So my grandchildren would come away from reading their genealogy and would really know them – that this is who they were.”
But as his project took shape, Payne began to see that it was developing into more than an account of his family history.
“The more I wrote it down,” he said, “the more it began to dawn on me: we are losing that generation.”
The story of Christine “Chris” Payne also is the story of the culture that bred his mother and her peers – a generation that knew the hardships of war and the Great Depression and survived with toughness, sacrifice, and hard work – and how that culture has disappeared.
Piecing it together
As for the process of writing the book, Payne said, that came fairly easily – at first. He had previously published a few short stories and essays, and had written many a lengthy legal brief.
“So, in very lawyerly fashion,” he said of his first attempt, “I sat down and listed topics.”
When he had an editor read through the first draft, however, the editor gently informed him, “You need to start over.” Told that the book needed to be in chronological order instead of topical, Payne completely reorganized the first draft.
“But it would have made a great legal brief!” Payne insisted, to laughter from the crowd.
Payne also consulted his brother, Gene, who still lives in Lakeside and joined the book group for the event.
Together Gene and Chuck Payne visited sites from their childhood – many of which no longer exist – to clarify details and memories for the book.
“Gene was a big help in pinning down dates and documenting things,” said the author.
Savvy businessman, mechanic
In the question-and-answer session that followed Payne’s presentation, there was lively discussion about the challenges of single parenting, and a number of readers marveled at the way Chris Payne was able to work long hours in a male-dominated profession, yet still keep tabs on her sons through a network of friends, neighbors and teachers.
The group members also marveled at Chris’ boss, Richard Mahle, and how forward-thinking he was for his time – enough to take a chance on hiring Chris as a mechanic.
“He was a good teacher, and patient – helping her learn,” said Payne of Mahle. Although his mother was an unusual woman, Payne mused, “I don’t think anyone else in the automotive industry would have hired her.”
In addition, said Payne with a smile, “I think that he was a savvy businessman. He figured that hiring a tall, slender, good-looking woman might bring some business.”
His mother became such an expert on cars that many men – including Payne’s uncle, a farmer who would pay her with bags of produce – would bring their cars to her for a diagnosis when they were acting up or making strange noises.
‘A fresh chocolate chip cookie’
Payne also shared some trivia about the book’s readership, noting that the oldest known reader of his book was a 95-year-old from Virginia Beach by the name of Norwood Thomas.
A WWII paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division, Thomas learned about the book when he met Payne at a recent reunion for 101st vets. Payne, who served in the Vietnam War with the 101st, said Thomas read Chris in just two sittings.
The youngest person to read his book, Payne remarked, is a 13-year-old he knows who wrote a book report about it – and got an A-plus on it.
“And she’s my granddaughter!” he added to much laughter.
But the record for the fastest reading of his book, Payne said, was established just the week before the UVA book club event. Les Wagner, a club member who was attending the event, had received the book at his house just before the tornado outbreak that struck the Richmond region Sept. 17.
As Wagner explained, the resulting power outage in his Windsor Farms neighborhood presented an ideal opportunity for some pleasure reading.
“I went to Starbucks, got coffee, started drinking and started reading,” said Wagner, noting that he did not leave Starbucks until he had finished the book – in a matter of hours.
Wagner also added that at book’s end, he was a bit embarrassed to be in Starbucks, because the story had moved him to tears.
“I was ready to bust out bawling at the end,” he said. “Fabulous book!”
Wagner’s praise was echoed by other club members who enjoyed the book, particularly those who grew up in Richmond and were familiar with the neighborhoods it depicted. But even non-natives appreciated the glimpses the book gave them of a bygone era of tremendous historical and cultural change.
Multiple readers – both those at the UVA event and those commenting online -- have called Chris motivational and inspirational; at least one commenter has suggested it should be made into a movie.
As another online reviewer remarked, the book is “like a fresh chocolate chip cookie for the soul.”
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Chris is available in soft cover at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble stores. Charles Payne is available to speak to groups; contact him at (757) 431-0300 or at cpaynewin@cox.net with “CHRIS” in the subject line.
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