Dori Sanders will be the speaker at the Friends of the Newberry County Library fundraising luncheon. The event is set for noon on April 25 in the Fellowship Hall at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer on Boundary Street. Tickets for the event are $20 for Friends of the Library members and $25 for all others. The tickets can be purchased at the library on Friend Street.
Sanders, a native of York County, was the eighth of 10 children. She grew up working on her family's peach farm. The produce was sold at an open-air market on Highway 321 in Filbert.
During the winter months Sanders would travel north to work odd jobs. She once worked in a banquet hall where she began writing on small pieces of paper, napkins and the backs of menus. The hotel owner read samples of her writing and encouraged her.
Sanders says she started writing to tell her nieces and nephews about life on the farm.
Her first manuscript was rejected, but the publisher told her it showed promise and said she should not be discouraged.
In 1990, Sanders submitted a second manuscript, “Clover” to a North Carolina publishing company.
The book's story revolved around the relationship between a 10-year-old black girl, Clover, and her white stepmother.
The book became a bestseller and received rave reviews. Sanders received the Lillian Smith Award for Clover. Disney also purchased the film rights to the book.
Three years later, Sanders wrote “Her Own Place” about a woman named Mae Lee Barnes, who buys a farm, works it, raises a family and moves to town.
Sanders still farms, accomplishing most of the writing during the off season.
In 1995, Sanders published “Dori Sanders' Country Cooking: Recipes and Stories” which features re-inventions of old Southern favorites.
A 2004 monograph from a speech by Sanders, “Promise Land: A Farmer Remembers” intertwines family history, farming and food.
Also, while in Newberry Sanders has asked to pay a visit to Reuben Elementary School.
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