Allen Carter Found The Write Thing To Do
…CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE
“My wife and I — there’s so much missing as far as our history and our lineage. We have some pictures, but I wanted to start a generational preservation of things that transpired in the lives of our family,” Allen explains.
“That means more to me than trying to sell it. If I can make a buck that’s great; I’ll try to get my investment back. But even if that does not happen I consider it to be an investment in my family and in my heritage.”
Allen has a way with stories, though, that goes well beyond familial interest. Some of the anecdotes found in his new book are available in abbreviated form on TikTok, where, thanks to one of his grandsons, he has become TikTok’s Favorite Grandpa.
Asked how is Lillian is doing, he hands her the phone.
“I’m doing just great!” she says.
Allen and Lillian have been married since age 15 — together “864 months, 3,754 weeks, 26,280 days, 30,720 hours” notes Allen proudly. But who’s counting?
“I’ve been with him so long I don’t know if I could do without him,” she says.
They are quite the unit. The Carter family is rich with talent — author-faith leader and Ascension member Carolyn Coleman-Grady, Pastor Cynthia Berry, and studio singer Carmen Carter are among the super-achieving group.
Allen notes that since he spends much of his time as a caregiver, “I don’t have the interaction and the responsibilty I did when I was running my business. I had a lot of time on my hands, and I have to stay busy…so I started journaling.”
His first book, “A Layman’s Search for Salvation,” chronicles “my experience as a Black person in a Lutheran congregation. My wife came from the Baptist experience. I came from the Methodist experience.” As neither Carter was interested in joining the other’s church, he says, “Together, we looked for a denomination in which to raise our children. We read about all those churches, visited many…” Ultimately, they made the Lutheran Church their faith home.
He notes, “That book was such a tremendous challenge for me because I’d never written a book. I’d always written short stories and poems. My computer skills were at a kindergarten, no, I’ll say a preschool level,” he admits with a smile. “But I like challenges. I like to push myself out of my element.”
For the latest book, Allen wanted to see if he could replicate his process. This time, he had a lot more know-how.
Beyond his own recollections, the book contains “things my dad and grandparents told me” as well as history drawn from sources further back, including Ancestry.com. It was stiking, soul-stirring research, “reading about the history, the difficulties people went through,” he says. “How these people overcame challenges, how difficult it was for some of these slaves simply to stay alive. It took ingenuity, creativity, and resolve to persevere and live another day.”
His ancestors “became whatever it took to survive so that Allen Carter could write a book called ‘Weeds in the Garden of the Soul.’ … It’s such a cliché, but it is a cliché I cannot escape that we stand on the shoulders of giants.”
As Allen has told Pastor Tim and his Thursday morning Coffee Talk Bible study group, his new book “is not for the faint of heart. The bad stuff — I didn’t sanitize it. I wrote it the way it was. It isn’t intended to bash. It tells the story. I don’t try to make it palatable; I tell it like it is. My book ultimately leads to Christ. That’s where we’re going.”
That’s where we’re going indeed.
We greatly appreciate you and all our friends at Global Refuge for all your caring work. We are happy to hear of the growing ministries of Global Refuge in Southern California, both in Pacifica Synod and in our Southwest California Synod ELCA.
Also we are thankful each year to be one of your three hubs in the county for Hope for the Holidays.
Hearts promoting justice for people & planet guide Hands that sew, grow, weave & carve to make delicious and beautiful Fair Trade products for us to eat, drink, wear & share. Painting starts soon. Interested in sharing your “more mature” hands to help with this special project? Send us a note (
Maximilian Fuhrmann, Ph.D.
The artist who created them, Mark Eric Gulsrud, will be giving a lecture about his work on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 4 o’clock in Samuelson Chapel at California Lutheran University – another site enhanced by his stained glass – and we’re invited.
Book Club:
Cereal
