Shay Youngblood
- Personal remembrance of Shay Youngblood by Alexis Pauline Gumbs
- Charis Books and More: Tribute to Shay Younglood by E.R. Anderson
Shay Youngblood was born in 1959 in Columbus, Georgia, and she died 2024 at the age of 64 in Atlanta, Georgia. She gladdened and comforted so many hearts during her productive, accomplished life, leaving such a rich legacy to us all.
Novelist, playwright, artist, and poet, Shay did it all; and she did it well, always emphasizing teaching and mentoring others along the way.
Shay gave credit to getting her start at Charis Books and More in Atlanta, Georgia (now located in Decatur, Georgia). She joined the Charis Circle Young Women Writers Group. There, in 1980, she read aloud for the first time from her first poetry collection that was soon to be published at the time.
Linda Bryant, cofounder of the book store, described Shay as an epicurean of the heart, a writerâs writer, a generous gift-giver, a marvelous cook, and a cheerleader for everyoneâs wildest dreams.
Soul Kiss, Shay Youngbloodâs 1997 novel, begins with these sentences: âThe first evening Mama doesnât come back, I make a sandwich with leaves from her goodbye letter. I want to eat her words.â In the days since Shay has gone from this Earth, our Charis community, family, and friends everywhere have been longing for her to come back. “We have has sought sustenance in her words and in the words of all those whose lives she touched.”
Shay was an epicurean of the heart, a writerâs writer, a generous gift-giver, a marvelous cook, a cheerleader for everyoneâs wildest dreams. We are fortunate that we got to witness and celebrate the entire trajectory of her writing career; from her first pre-publication poetry reading at Charis in 1980 all the way to her picture book release in 2023, A Family Prayer.
Shay Youngbloodâs publications include novels, poetry, plays, and more. See Charis Books and More for a full list, and to buy Shay’s published works.