Gerald Stone
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Benton High School in Benton, Arkansas
I. Biography Gerald Eugene Nathan Stone was born in the sands of the South Canadian River, which is now in the western tail of Lake Eufalula
in Oklahoma. He moved to Beebe, Arkansas in 1945 to finish his high school education. Stone was very reclusive as a child. He was just as happy alone as he was with others, especially if he
had his dog along. After high school, he went to Arkansas Tech and then attended the University of Arkansas, where he graduated with a B.A. in fine arts. Soon after that, he moved to Fort
Worth, Texas to study at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. After receiving his B.D., he moved to Knoxville, Arkansas, where he pastored a church.
Sometime later, he moved to Little Rock to pastor another church. Then he decided to go back to the University of Arkansas to earn his B.D. in architecture.
After an internship of four years in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he moved to Denton, Texas with his wife, Virginia, and his four children. He maintained an architectural practice there until
November of 1997, when he and Virginia moved to San Francisco. He now works as a construction inspector for the San Francisco International Airport in their $2.4 billion improvement program.
When Stone is not improving the quality of life at the San Francisco international airport, he likes to write. He doesn't write to make himself famous. Stone says that, "fame is an
empty thing." He writes for pleasure, and occasionally, the pleasure of others. II. Influences
Stone gets the ideas for his books like most of us do: from his childhood memories, stories he has heard, and his own creativity. He turns off the "faucet" of his imagination, humor,
and pathos that is within him. He enjoys writing about different periods of time, culture, and the people of the Arkansas-Texas-Oklahoma region of the U.S. For example, Stone's new book Rockhand Lizzie
is about an orphan girl in Arkansas at the turn of the century and all the problems she faced growing up. He loves the people of this region because he
believes that "there was and is a richness in their experience that will soon be lost." Stone tried to wait until his retirement to begin his writing career, but he considers this a
big mistake. He wasn't really sure of himself until he actually started writing. Now he is really enjoying it and feels like "he's only just begun."
Although Stone has a limited exposure to literature, he enjoys the style that William Golding uses in his work. His favorite modern author is probably William Faulkner. Stone
likes Faulkner's exciting themes, wide variety of vocabulary, change of pace, and probing deep into the human personality. In time to come, Stone hopes that he can provide a way for others to see through some of
his windows to the past that he has created in his writing. He hopes that his audience will enjoy it as much as he does. Stone looks at himself as very fortunate, because of his success that God has allowed him
to attain. He has very few regrets about life, but even this can be parlayed back into what he writes. In the future, Stone wants to be remembered as a lover of God, family, and humor.
III. Literary Works God's Front Porch (1998) IV. Stone on the Web To learn more about Gerald Stone or to write him, contact Tattersall Publishing at
Rockhand Lizzie (1999)
V. Sources Stone, Gerald. Personal Interview. 4 May 1999. This essay was submitted by a student of Suzanne Dilday, a teacher at Benton High School in Arkansas.
Stone, Gerald. Personal Interview. 8 May 1999.