Thank you for your kind comments regarding White Man’s Grave. You may be interested in either Mende or Krio proverbs. Here are a few collections. The phonetic transcriptions are sometimes difficult to make out, but you can usually figure them by looking at the English translation.

For example: “Bad bush no dae foh trow way bad peekin.”

Translates roughly as: “There is no bad bush where you can throw away a bad child.” Meaning, if you have a bad kid, you are stuck with him or her and have to do your best. Although some would say that your bad peekin “no get bettah training,” meaning, the child needs better training (from the parents).

http://www.sierra-leone.org/Proverbs.pdf

http://www.sierra-leone.org/Proverbs-Anonymous.pdf

If you are interested in Mende culture, there is an interesting colony of folks called “The Gullah” living just off the shores of South Carolina in the Sea Islands. The Gullah are descended from slaves brought here from West Africa, especially from Sierra Leone, and especially from the Mende tribe. I have heard reports that mothers still sing Mende lullabies here, even though they don’t remember what the words mean. It’s supposed to be a fascinating place to visit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gullah

Good luck exploring Mende.

rd

Thanks, Mark.

As for quotes, how about:

“Home is where I hang my head.”–Chris Offutt

Frankly, had to get to my yahoo maps to be sure I had the low-down on Omaha to read “Bet your Life”, btw an excellent read. I forgot I had driven through Omaha going from Illinois to California returning from a grad school seminar. It was so much as a fly over as a drive by. In the mid-seventies Omaha seemed like a tight town in the midwest where Falstaff reigned supreme. For this California born, Seattle matured and now Central Florida resident Omaha might as well be next door to the Yukon. Seems far away. However, I do understand Saintbury Pinot Noir can be purchased locally so life has become more sophisticated since 1973.

Thanks for a great book!!