Grand Central Winter: Stories from the Street

As Kurt Vonnegut says in the opening pages of this book, Lee Stringer can write. Vonnegut isn't lying.Lee Stringer is ruthless in his description of how corruption and greed overcome the true hearts of men - how the problems of homelessness can never be solved unless there is true caring, courage and compassion on the part of our leaders. The most encouraging part of this book is the excerpts from "Ask Homey," a column written by Lee Stringer in the newspaper "Street News," where he directly addresses the issues of the homeless without pause. Lee Stringer also changes the mentality that homeless people are people that somehow scrape the bottoms of the buckets of accountability, dignity, and humanity. They are most certainly not - they are people that could be your next door neighbor...or are, for that matter.Don't miss this one. it is an unforgettable read, especially the second or third time.

Lee Stringer can write! This book is what more books should be, entertaining. It's amazing to get this man's thoughts and philosophies from the precise time when he was homeless and addicted to drugs. Wonderful to read and fun to discuss. I speak with confidence when I say "You will enjoy this book."

When I became homeless, I suddenly began seeing people on the street that I had never noticed when I was a white-collar professional commuting from suburbia. They were now my neighbors in the shelters and on the streets. But there were still a few that I did not feel empathy with. Sympathy maybe, but not empathy. I did not identify with the street drunks and the drug addicts. Then I read stories in poetry by a local alcoholic, about "13 cent Bob" and the others he hung out with on the corner. Even the street drunks became companions, people I knew. Now I have read Lee Stringer. And I will never feel the same way about a crackhead or other drug addict again. Lee Stringer lived on the streets of New York, often in the warrens underneath Grand Central Station. His description of the homeless life is as accurate in Seattle as it is in New York. He wrote for the New York street-paper Street News, and eventually became its Chief Editor. His account gives a close-up look at what this kind of paper means to many of us. Lee Stringer makes me proud to be a writer. He managed to trade in the addiction of crack cocaine for the addiction of writing. (Not easily -- nothing in this book is easy.) I wish he was writing with my street paper, Real Change. He describes life on the streets without ever getting maudlin; he honestly reports charity scams and the violence done by homeless people themselves without ever sacrificing our empathy or our hope. It is one of the rare educations that can actually be enjoyed.

Although I have not yet read Mr. Stringer's memoir, I did have the pleasure of meeting him this morning--at the Body & Soul Ministries, here at Dallas' St. Paul's Methodist Church--right before the free feed. Having written for many years myself, and having been homeless for over two years, I listened to him read a chapter from his book to the crowd of over 100 homeless men and women gathered for the weekly occasion. While his reading was an inspiration to us all, a testament of courage, risk and fortune, I couldn't help but think of the times I have tried to sell my work to the two newspapers here in Dallas: The Dallas Observer and The Dallas Morning News. Considering that I am indeed homeless, well, I suppose that is one chalf mark against my reputation. Stonewalled, humiliated, ridiculed and put down for trying to better myself, I have to admit that I know first-hand what it is like to struggle through the night in an abandoned parking garage, or to risk being knifed simply because I act differently than the run-of-the-mill homeless person. Therefore, after hearing only one chapter from Mr. Stringer's book, I have to congratulate him on his success, and wish him well for the future. I sincerely doubt some New York publisher is going to walk up to me and say, "I've read your stuff! Wanna write for us?" After all, those in Dallas who have the power to do just that have, without a doubt, violated my sense of the general worthiness of modern American ethics. In other words, we are a bunch of spoiled brats, and the homeless, for one reason or another, scare the living daylights out of us. Finally, when I asked Mr. Stringer if his publisher ever worked him over real good to see what he was worth before handing over the advance he received, he exclaimed, "What? They gave me $3,000 right off the bat! I smoked it all up!" Any questions? Dallas, by the way, is the home of the First Baptist Church, the number one stronghold of the so-called Christian conservative movement.

Not since "Tropic of Cancer" by Henry Miller have I read such an unsentimental and totally realistic view of existence outside of "normal" society. The reader experiences a perceptive man taking responsibility for his choices while others indulge in illusions of respectablity. The beauty of the writing lies in its directness, as the book tells stories of suffering people. That our rich society permits such dreadful conditions under which people live while calling itself moral is a scandal.