Q&A: Getting to know Ivera T. Grundy
By REBECCA LEFTWICH
rebecca@newnan.com
Editor’s Note: Ms. Ivera T. Grundy granted a rare interview to The Newnan Times-Herald, graciously agreeing to answer some of our questions and give us a look inside her world.
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Yes baby, I love books. Baby, we all need to read more to gain knowledge of things in life. My favorite authors are Dr. Creflo A. Dollar and Jamal-Harrison Bryant. Honey, they are dynamic men of God, and their writings help me to get my mind renewed every day. They just tell it like it is, and I am from the old school of teaching, and there is no sense in lying to folks! Just tell them how it is!!! Literature is my passion, honey! And if you are not reading, you aren’t living!
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Why do you work with children?
Sugar, I love the children. They keep me young and stylish. I learn from them ,just as they learn from me. Honey, I’ve even learned to text like the young people. I now know that LOL means “laugh out loud.” Baby, I used to yell at the kids, because I thought that it was a secret code for getting on my nerves! I feel that the Lord has placed me here on earth to help the little munchkins to be all that they were meant to be.
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Who does your wardrobe, and why is it so incredibly shiny?
OOOO Baby, I am my own stylist! I just feel like no one can get my clothing just right; therefore, I work on my outfits until midnight many nights sewing my FABULOUS threads! And girl, many of the stars come knocking on my door. They want to pay me lots of money to style them “just right” and Grundy style! I like my wardrobe shiny, because I want the world to see that “I’ve got it going on!” I picked that phrase up from the young kids. Hee-hee.
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Is it true you are considering a “Grammar With Grundy” video series? What can we expect from that?
Baby, my principal, Mrs. Lorraine Johnson, suggested that I do a grammar series for the munchkins, because she knows that Ms. Grundy can cause the kids to grasp the eight parts of speech better than anyone in the country. Baby, after the kids view my “Grammar with Grundy” video series, they will never used terms like: “git,” “you is,” “wuz,” and “cuz.” I want them to get things “WRITE.” You dig?
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If you couldn’t be Ms. Ivera T. Grundy, who would you be?
Baby, there is no one else I’d rather be, because nobody can beat me at being me! As my kids say, “I rock!”
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Do you dance? Do you sing? Do you have any hobbies?
Yes, baby, I do it all. Honey, I speak Spanish and swim (even at 85). I just have to wear a full bathing suit now, if you know what I mean. It would be too scary to wear anything else. Sugar, I ride motorcycles, jump on the trampoline, run 20 miles a day (in my mind), and I do so much that the Guinness Book of Records can’t keep up with me. Go Grundy, go Grundy, go!!!!
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If you could give out just one piece of advice for everyone to live by, what would that be?
I am humming Amazing Grace as I ponder upon this question. Hmmm... I’ve got it! Sugar, I have several pieces of advice, because it ALL goes together: Love God, follow the Golden Rule, live upright, tell the truth, speak well, be modest, read books, study your lessons, obey authority, and last, but not least, ROCK ON!!!!!
