Star Jones was a prostitute living on the streets of Roanoke before

S u nday
extra
August 9, 2015
Star Jones was a prostitute living on the streets
of Roanoke before she found God and turned her life around.
Star Jones of Roanoke hugs her midwife, Wanda Smith, after a session at Jones’ home. Jones is due to give birth in September.
Photos by ERICA YOON | The Roanoke Times
A Star is reborn
By amy Friedenberger
amy.friedenberger@roanoke.com
981-3356
Star Jones feels at her most natural on the streets.
Cross-legged on the cement
sidewalk in downtown Floyd,
she played with two dachshunds,
Romeo and Juliet, while Pam Chappell — a complete stranger only
five minutes before — talked about
her visit to Floyd and approaching
retirement from her job in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Jones came to Floyd on a cloudy
afternoon to eat lunch and stroll
through stores with Lynne Florin,
whom she met last year at FloydFest. Florin, who Jones calls her
“spiritual mama,” introduced her
to her current place of worship, a
non-denominational church in Roanoke County.
Star had a tough journey before
she settled at her current church,
and Chappell wanted to know
about that. What was her story?
Star worked as a prostitute,
lived on the streets, used drugs, got
busted in a gun-trafficking ring and
landed herself in prison.
“There must have been so much
fear,” Chappell said.
Then Star found God, and she
turned her life around, and she
wants others to know that.
“Sometimes you’ve got to give
up and give in,” she said.
Star stood up and wiped away
tears as they talked. She has fair
skin and black and brown dreadlocks that hang over the gauges in
her ears. Instead of eyebrows, the
26-year-old woman with a baby
bump has five star tattoos dotted
above each eye, with sparkling silver stickers in the center of each
one. “Pray hard” is stamped in
black across her fists, and scattered
across her body are other tattoos
— Bible passages, a wooden cross,
See STaR, 8
Jones (center) and her friend and “spiritual mama” Lynne Florin (right) chat with Pam
Chappell, whom they first approached after spotting her two dachshunds, Romeo and
Juliet, while walking in Floyd. Jones began to share her personal story with Chappell, who
then opened up about someone she knew who also suffered from drug addiction.
To see more photos, and to read letters Star Jones wrote to Keith Farmer, go online at roanoke.com.
INSIDE
Travel
Wisconsin’s Elkhart Lake is
an enchanting destination.
Page 6
Menu Planner
Entertain friends with cream
corn-stuffed tomatoes.
Page 12
CORNERSHOT
There’s been a lot of
hubbub surrounding Virginia’s
Confederate flag license
plates. According to the
Richmond Times-Dispatch,
the controversial design is not
one of the 10 most popular
Virginia state license plates.
The following are the top 10
designs and the number of
cars that have them:
1. Scenic (234,800): The most
popular plate shows the Blue Ridge
Mountains and an Atlantic ocean
coastline.
2. Heritage (188,387): One of
the most recognizable plates, this
sports a cardinal perched on a
dogwood branch. (pictured)
3. Great Seal (47,960): The seal
of Virginia rests in the middle of
strike, originated during the
American Revolution. Today, the
image is often used as a rallying
cry for limited government.
7. In God We Trust
(31,029): An American flag is
the backdrop to this patriotic
license plate.
8. Wildlife (26,056):
Nothing represents wildlife
this plate.
better than a soaring bald eagle.
4. Scenic autumn (45,940): A
9. Clean Special Fuel (24,821):
beautiful Virginia fall is represented
by tumbling red and yellow leaves. This environmental plate bears a
blue and green planet Earth in its
5. Virginia Lighthouses
center.
(39,583): The Virginia coastline
10. Jamestown (20,627):
houses many lighthouses. This
A colonial ship idles in the
plate reminds Virginians to “keep
Chesapeake Bay as a symbol of the
the lights shining.”
6. don’t Tread on Me (34,223): first settlement in America.
The Gadsten Flag, with its image
of a coiled rattlesnake poised to
— Alexis Helms