By Leonard E. ColvinChief ReporterNew Journal and GuideAs a child John Charles Thomas, recalls that one of his fondest memories was his grandfather, William H. Sears, teaching him poetry and other literary works connected with the Masonic tradition. In turn, he would recite poetry back to the old man.The two sat on the side porch of the huge childhood home in the Sears family compound that sat at Washington and Proescher Streets in Huntersville.It was not only a dwelling where at least 10 or more people of three generations lived at any one time; but also, the enterprising family ran a general store and the only post office which served the community in the 1950s at that location.He joined members of his family and other boys in the area, selling the Journal and Guide on the street corners and door to door each week.“Guide for sale ... Guide for sale ... 15 cents Guide for sale,” Thomas recalled saying to passersby. “When we approached homes, people would turn out their lights and play like they were not home. I would push the paper under the door. Later I would collect in pennies.”Walking home, with the pockets of his bibbed overalls filled with pennies, he sounded “like a brass band.”Thomas said young thugs heard the sound from a mile away.“A lot of times I did not make it home with those pennies. I would get jumped and robbed,” Thomas recalled. “Whatever was left I would take home and give to my grandmother, Eunice.”Thomas grew up witnessing and experiencing the oppression of Jim Crow segregation, the erratic and abusive behavior of his father, and the sometimes rough nature of his Norfolk neighborhood until he left for college in 1965.These and other recollections have been compiled in his recently release memoir “The Poetic Justice” (University of Virginia Press).On November 10, Thomas will share passages from his memoir at a book signing at the Attucks Theater in Norfolk from 6 to 8 p.m.Early reviews of the book describe Thomas’ ascension from an enterprising dreamer in a huge clan in urban Norfolk, to become a highly regarded lawyer, jurist and man of letters.In 1983 Thomas was appointed by then Governor Charles Robb as the first African American to the State Supreme Court.“I made history. Black historians came to me and said I should write down what happens while I am on the court,” he said during a recent interview with the GUIDE. “But I was busy. I was starting a family and working as a judge on the court. But I remembered so much. I sat down last year and finally did it.”Thomas’ career on the court ran from 1983 to 1989, cut short due to the detection of a brain tumor which sidelined him.But after he overcame what could have been a life ending tumor, he continued using his law skills at the Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP law firm.In 2005, Thomas was named a member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which is based in Lausanne, Switzerland. The members of the Court include lawyers and former jurists from around the world. CAS is an independent arbitral institution created in 1983 to settle sports-related dispu