Harvest The Dust

As a young boy Jacob Tallman witnessed a black man being burned alive. That experience planted seeds of fear deep inside him. Those seeds sprouted into weeds that grew into stalks of feigned kindness and hidden shame. It took a white man, entering Jacob's house, knocking his wife to the floor and firing a shotgun at his son for Jacob to finally cut the roots of his fear.
Jacob and Clara Tallman married young and had four children, two girls and two boys. Jacob's folks were sharecroppers. Clara's mother was a domestic worker and her white father a prominent doctor in the area. Everyone knew but no one, black or white, talked about it in public – especially within Clara's hearing. Because of Clara's near-white skin color, her mother never accepted Jacob – whose skin was black. Clara and Jacob had lost one son in a tragic drowning accident. When their remaining son is killed in a gambling dispute Clara could find no rest on the land. She leaves Arkansas taking their youngest daughter, and her grandson, with her and away from an illicit relationship.
Jacob's remaining daughter, a schoolteacher, falls in love with a man and decides to also leave the land. Jacob is left alone, committed to working the land and hoping for Clara's return. She does return. And the two of them work the land together.

Stephen Sachs
Artistic Director, Fountain Theatre
Los Angeles
Had this to say about this magnificent story
"Written with deep affection, Harvest the Dust is a heartfelt tale of a farming family planting seeds of love, hope and self-respect in an unsure world. Reading Harvest the Dust is like savoring an old family scrapbook filled with unforgettable images of folks and homeland you get to know well and love."