Painful Reminder of of Emmett Till Murder

Allan Jalon’s article (Oct. 7) on the case of Emmett Till pierced my heart and soul. A Mississippi flood of remembrance almost drowned me again.

This innocent child’s tragic murder and the injustice of our country’s laws changed my life forever.

In 1955 I was a struggling student in theater in New York City. I went to read for a play on 2nd Avenue. It concerned the murder of Emmett Till. I played the sheriff’s wife. As we rehearsed the material of the facts of this case, I was overwhelmed with grief and rage. I don’t recall how audiences responded, or if we were reviewed, etc. But since that experience my work is tied inextricably with civil rights and justice.

One of the other actors was just in from Kentucky--18, tall, raw-boned, deep-voiced--not attractive in the least by acting standards, but he “became” that sheriff so completely it made us look like we were “acting.” He understood that man--we found later that he was a playwright as well and we read his work and we gave up our private lives to work and live together to get his play on. We failed, we learned. Years later I heard his voice at the Washington Monument during a civil rights demonstration. That great voice opening with “It broke my American heart.”

Thank you, Allan Jalon, for this painful reminder of the work that must go on--these last few years of glitzy GOP doings almost had me giving up the fight.

LORETTA CHILJIA

Los Angeles