Peter C Tyner

A Witness Tree: the Story of Hattie Plain Peter C Tyner

When retired janitor Hattie Plain reads that the Advice Columnist of the New York Daily Record has left the newspaper, she sees herself as a perfect fit for the open position. She prepares her "resume", a shopping bag full of essays, articles and diary excerpts and heads down to the Record on a bus. There are problems ahead. She is 92 years old, has no newspaper experience, and they don't know she's coming. But they'll find out soon enough. Hattie is told the newspaper is reorganizing and the Advice Column has been eliminated. But Hattie believes if they will give her a chance to explain herself and her life story, they'll reconsider their course. Their position is final, and she is dismissed immediately. But the Harlem resident didn't get to be 92 years old without knowing how to handle adversity. The twelve hour oddesy of Hattie Plain's dealings with the newspaper reveal her life, losses and successes through flashbacks generated by her "resume". These include watching her parents slaughtered and house burned by the Klan at age 16 in 1929. Her escape takes her to NYC as Harlem is changing color, and the rich black culture is taking root there. She spends 60 years as a janitor but is at the core of the social upheavals in every decade. Her civil rights involvement is crucial to the success of that movement. Seniors, people of color, religious folks, the rebuffed, the stepped-on, the student, the radical...anyone with an inextinguishable idea and the guts to see it through will relate to Hattie's journey and revel in her eventual success. Hattie Plain stands for the inherent good in human nature although the path to its realization in daily life can be heartbreaking, illusive and even treacherous.