Deborah Craig

My name is Deborah Juanita Craig. I was born and raised by my grandmother in a little Mississippi Delta Town called Rolling Fork, Mississippi.

I grew up in the mid 50's and during that time, I had no choice but to be creative. Everything was segregated at that time but, as poor as we were, I miss those days.

My Aunt Esther came to live with us when I was a toddler. She was everything to me. If no one else in the world loved me, I knew she did. She was a music teacher and started teaching me to play piano at about age 4. Music ran in my family. My biological mother played piano and sang, my biological father played saxophone, my grandfather sang in a gospel group, and my grandmother was always singing in the kitchen and crying. I would often ask her, why she was crying, but she never answered, now I know why.

I always loved music and writing, but strangely enough, I never wrote seriously until now. I started teaching music soon after graduating from college. I love teaching young children and never wanted to teach beyond 5th Grade. I love to do big productions. The children seem to get so much out of the performances. I guess I get a lot out of them too, because for 38 years I have continued to teach music, and I have never stopped learning.

This will be my 38th year teaching, and I am branching out with my writing and storytelling now. Writing is my way of telling my story through what I have experienced for years, teaching young children.

All of my stories derive from experiences I have encountered growing up in Mississippi. One of my true stories, The Purple Pot, continues to haunt me, because I buried my grandmother's pot in our back yard when I was about nine years old and I have never been able to find it to this day. I'm still holding on to the hope that I can find that pot before I pass away. We still own the property and hopefully, I can go home soon, to search for the pot, maybe you can join me!