Blythe, Tanisha

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Current revision as of 16:22, 20 October 2011

Tanisha Blythe, later Tanisha Chladek, was born in 1977 and raised in St. Louis. Her father was the preacher at Bethel African Baptist Church and her mother died in 1994, before she graduated High School.^GT6 She has at least one brother, Kwame,^GT2 older and also involved at the family church. She is first the girlfriend and eventually the wife of Jon Chladek in the book Alone Together. She is 5' 4" tall^AT1 and described as extremely dark-skinned ("dark ebony skin"^AT18).

Tanisha attended Martin Luther King High School and "I was the class valedictorian, I had all A's, a 34 ACT score and SATs in the high 600s."^AC01 Because her family subscribed to the theory that All whites are devils, she wasn't allowed to attend any college deemed too white, despite being accepted at Caltech and Purdue. She was instead encouraged to attend Moorhead or other traditional Black Colleges, despite none of them having an engineering program. Georgia Tech was an acceptable compromise, being in Atlanta, Dr. Martin Luther King's home town, and as a brilliant black female engineering student she earns a full scholarship, which her family isn't one to ignore.

At High School Tanisha had few friends, her grades and strong math and science track setting her apart. She also described herself as a wallflower. During the summer after her freshman year, she was required to work at her family's church day care center, "wiping grubby little noses", which she vowed to avoid in future.

Tanisha first appears briefly in Dawnwalker, in a scene^DW48 that is repeated in Alone Together Chapter 3. She recurs somewhat frequently in Magic Carpet, as she develops a friendship with Jennlynn Swift, the lead character of that book.

Jon and Tanisha develop a tight almost supernatural bond as they work, play and live together, separated from their families and with few other friendships. They work at an internship at Lambdatron during the summer of 1997, which turns into a full time job after graduating. Tanisha graduates Magna Cum Laude from Georgia Tech in April (possibly May) 1999, although doesn't attend the ceremony to avoid confrontation with her brother. Shortly afterwards, Jon and Tanisha are married at a wedding chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada.^AT12

In December 2000, Jennlynn helps the couple get a chance to play out a fantasy at the Redlite Ranch with Tanisha standing in a lineup and having Jon pick her out.^{MC28, SQ7}

Despite their friendship with the rafters of Canyon Tours, Jon and Tanisha don't manage to make a raft trip until his mother's wedding trip in April/May 2001, where she finally meets Jon's sister Nanci.

Jon and Tanisha appear frequently in Canyon Fires (additional detail to be added).

In 2002, she was working on her doctorate (presumably part-time) at Arizona State.^GT5

Tanisha (and her husband Jon) are the main characters in Growing Together, the followup story to Alone Together.

Timeline

• 1977: Tanisha is born in St. Louis.
• 1994: Tanisha's mother dies.
• Fall 1995: Tanisha starts Georgia Tech.
• January 1997: Tanisha and Jon, alone at school during the break, become good friends.
• Summer 1997: Tanisha and Jon work as interns at Lambdatron.
• Summer 1998: Tanisha and Jon work at Lambdatron as interns again; ironically on a project for Pete Chladek.^AT10
• December 1998: Jennlynn picks up Tanisha and Jon for a Christmas in St. Thomas.^AT11
• May 1999: Tanisha graduates Magna Cum Laude from Georgia Tech.
• May 1999: Tanisha and Jon wed in Las Vegas; move permanently to Phoenix to work at Lambdatron.
• July 4, 2002: Jon and Tanisha's daughter is born: Barbara.^GT21