Out of the attic
Around 1988, Mom Vikki Grady took a photo of her sons, the Grady brothers — Brad, 12; Tyler, 5; and Michael, 9. She took the picture when she owned a photography studio and worked out of her home.
The boys are the sons of Vikki and husband Lynn Grady of Kinston. Grandmothers are Maebelle Grady and Frances Voss, both of Kinston.
The middle brother,Tyler, will turn 30 Monday. He is married to Eliza Stancil and they reside in Greenville.
Library to present Pulitzer-winning play
Friends of the Kinston-Lenoir County Public Library will continue celebrating Black History Month with a stage reading of “Fences,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by August Wilson, at 3 p.m. today at the library, 510 N. Queen St. The event is free and open to the public.
Perhaps the best-loved of Wilson’s 10-play Pittsburgh Cycle — about the black experience in 20th-century America — “Fences” tells the story of a family trying to stay together while reaching for its dreams in the 1950s. It won a Tony Award for best play and the Pulitzer Prize for drama. Set in Pittsburgh in 1957, it originally starred James Earl Jones and Mary Alice and was recently revived on Broadway in an acclaimed production starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis.
Today’s stage reading will feature several area actors, including Sandra Fisher, Letari D. Thompson, Julian Pridgen II, Michael Adams, Michael Elisabeth Adams, Tim Berry and Lendell Wayne.
Fisher has performed throughout the south and worked with various national recording artists, including Weekend Excursion, and for the retirement ceremony of an Original Tuskegee Airman, Lt. Colonel Spann Watson. She was a 2011 and 2012 Martin Luther King Jr. “Keeper of the Dream” award recipient for volunteerism and mentorship by the Young Women of Promise, Inc. and Project Promise Mentoring Alliance.
Thompson is the senior pastor of the First Baptist Charity Church. Implementing various programs and community outreaches, he has been a resource in the community and beyond. A graduate of Campbell University Divinity School, he is a musician, singer and songwriter.
Pridgen has returned to Kinston and continues to give back to the community. A Lenoir Community College employee, he will be making his debut in “Fences.”
Michael Adams is no stranger to the stage. However, he will make his acting debut in Kinston during “Fences.”
Michael Elisabeth Adams, 11-year-old singer and Kinston resident, has been singing and performing since the age of 3 in regional theaters. Winner of the 2012 Junior Stage Craft Award, she studies voice with Elvira Green, Artist in Residence at N.C. Central University.
Berry is a Kinston High School senior and member of various school performing groups. He plans to attend Fayetteville State University.
Wayne is a KHS graduate and a retired English teacher with Lenoir County Schools. She has performed in many plays and is vice president for the Kinston Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
For more information, contact the library at 252-527-7066, ext.120 or neuselibrary.org.