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| SIBLEY PUBLIC LIBRARY, CIRCA 1940 |
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| SIBLEY PUBLIC SCHOOL, CIRCA 1940 |
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| SIBLEY BUSINESS DISTRICT CIRCA 1940 |
One Writer's Beginning
Family lore has it that my father
wanted to be a writer. Instead, Poppy worked as a farmer, a carpenter, and a bookkeeper. I don't have a farmer's green
thumb or a bookkeeper's head for math, and if I tried carpentry I'd have a sore thumb. Poppy liked to read western
novels and pulp detective magazines. Maybe his reading habit rubbed off on me.
A memory of first holding a book
in my hands dates to about age eight, when Poppy sent me to the library to pick up Zane Grey westerns for him. I lugged home
a few children's books for myself. A library seemed like a magical place; a room full of books from which I could choose
a handful to take home. The Sibley Public Library became my favorite place to idle away free time. Although the librarian,
Miss Zenobia Walton, encouraged my reading, and the setting fostered a fondness for books and authors, I never had that "I
want to be a writer" moment.
During the same era that I frequented the library, the Iowa public school system
grounded me with a solid background in spelling and grammar. All this held me in good stead when, at age fifty, I tried my
hand at writing for publication. A late bloomer, yes. My sister, Dolores, called me the Grandma Moses of writing.
From a family history I'd compiled, I gleaned essays. The first piece I submitted was published in two newspapers during
the same Christmastime. Simply Delicious has since been published nearly every holiday season for
more than twenty years. The first fiction I submitted, The Story Lady, was published by Thema
Literary Journal and nominated for the Pushcart Prize (two other nominations came later).
I considered
it the luck o' the Irish when I stumbled upon my Jones and McLaughlin cousins' unique story during genealogy research.
After publishing an article about this family in the Tampa Tribune, I received an offer from an independent filmmaker who
wanted to collaborate with me on a screenplay of the story. While flattered, I felt uneasy about giving rights to someone
who might have a different vision of the story, and who might take years to complete the project (if ever). I declined the
contract and wrote Swinging Sisters, the musical journey of the Texas Rangerettes, a Depression
era all-girl band.
My second book, Masquerade: The Swindler Who Conned J. Edgar Hoover,
is also based on a true story, but not of a family member.
Brief bio: Past Contributing Editor to Writer's
Guidelines and News; current Editor of the online magazine Doorways Memoirs (www.doorwaysmemoirs.com); Contributing Editor to Yesterday's Magazette; Contributing Editor
to Writer's Magazette, and columnist for Extra Innings. Listed in
Who's Who in America. Work has appeared in more than 100 publications. My husband
and I live in Sarasota, Florida, where our worst vice is crowing about our grandchildren, Grace, Sarah, William. Don't
get me started. Suffice to say, they are ceol binn (sweet music).
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| DEIN IST MEIN GANZES HERZ (YOU ARE MY HEART'S DELIGHT) |
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