Author talks to kids about the difference between being poor and being broke. - Herald & Review (Decatur, IL)

Byline: Valerie Wells

Jan. 12--DECATUR -- John W. Fountain did not grow up 'poor,' though he thought so at the time.

'I used to say, as a kid, that I was poor,' Fountain told Renee Saunches' fifth-graders at South Shores School on Wednesday. 'Later I learned I wasn't poor, just broke. I may not have had everything I needed, but I had people who cared about me, who loved me.'

Fountain is the author of 'True Vine,' an account of how a combination of faith, determination and encouragement from people who loved him helped him escape the fate of many of his childhood friends. True Vine is the name of the church where his grandfather was pastor in the Chicago neighborhood where Fountain grew up, and his grandmother was such a significant influence on his life that he dedicated his book to her.

Saunches read the book last summer and was so impressed she wrote to him to tell him she'd bought copies for her sister, daughter and best friend and intended to recommend it to her students' parents, too.

One thing she loved about it was that Fountain told his story unflinchingly, but without any inappropriate language or content that she or her students' parents would find unsuitable for the kids.

'It's an adult book,' Saunches said, 'but anybody in this class could read it without reservation.'

His message, Fountain told the students, is that education is the key to making your life what you want it to be.

'You have a better chance of being hit by lightning than making it into the NBA,' he told the class. 'Some of the best basketball players I've ever seen were on the west side of Chicago. And you know what? They're still on the west side of Chicago, playing on the playground.'

Making it in professional sports is as much a matter of luck as skill, he said, but if you study to be an engineer, you will be an engineer.

Students were already familiar with him, because in response to a request from Saunches he had sent a motivational poem that the students repeat every day.

'It makes me want to do something for the world,' said Jared Sheppard, 11. 'So I'm going to be in the Army someday.'

Tyler Taylor, also 11, said Fountain's example makes it clear that she can only achieve her dreams by avoiding anything that could hamper her.

And when Saunches asked her class, after Fountain's talk, to tell her what they'd learned from him, Marcus Lahr put it succinctly:

'To get, you have to give.'

Valerie Wells can be reached at vwells@;herald-review.com or 421-7982.

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