Women
of a certain age have accumulated a wealth of history and stories and a propensity
to share, which is lucky for us. Such is the case of five of my friends, Heidimarie
Seig-Smith, Kelly Jackson, Charlena Chandler, Aralyn Hughes, and Sarah Bird,
all of whom have recently published highly-regarded books. It is my joy and
pleasure to have read their charming, funny, tender and insightful writing, and
to now share a little about each with you.
After the
Bombs – My Berlin by Heidimarie Seig-Smith
I met Heidimarie Seig-Smith
in Italy, and, because I found her to be a thoughtful and interesting person,
have stayed in touch. Reading her recently published book After the Bomb – My Berlin is a soundly-penned and
unique story about what it was like, as a family, to be on the other side of
WWII. Sure you can read shelves full of books about the hardships, attitudes
and families of the English, French and Jewish victims of WWII, and plenty has
been written about the major players on the other side like Hitler and Göring,
but I’ve not seen many accounts of what life was like for the average
German during and after that horrific time in human history.
Heidi has done a commendable
job of collecting information about her ancestry and their day-to-day lives
during and after WWII, Heidi’s immigration to the US in 1963, and up through
the fall of the Berlin Wall, about which she says, “I attacked the Wall with great
satisfaction, equipped with a mason’s chisel and hammer. I pounded until
I got my chunk of the Wall to take home and remember.”
Read After the Bombs – My
Berlin.
A Texan Goes
To Nirvana by Kelly Jackson
I
don’t exactly recall how and when I met Kelly (KK) Jackson (Author/Yoga Guru/Horsegal)
and her sister Sally (Actress/Scouting Agent for Speilberg), but I want to be
them when I grow up. Why? Because they have incredible attitudes and senses of
humor, and that will get you further than anything I know.
KK
the younger sister (sorry SalGal) has written her first book, A Texan Goes To Nirvana about a recently,
divorced NYC woman, Wendy, who in a desperate attempt to
gather her wits and make a living decides to go to an ashram in Kentucky to get
certified to teach yoga. Just to give you a hint about what a fertile set up
for humor that scenario is, the title of Kelly’s next book is Yoga For
Smokers, Drinkers, Meat Eaters and Non-Believers.
But A Texan Goes To Nirvana
isn’t just
a divorce-recovery thing. We get our first clue when the receptionist at the
Ashram says to Wendy, “We very much look
forward to eating you.”
This is a well-written, hilarious book with a fun storyline
that you will truly enjoy! Read it.
Kid Me Not:
an anthology by child-free women of the ‘60s now in the 60s edited by Aralyn Hughes
Aralyn
Hughes sold us our home in 1990, and sold it for us in 2014, and has remained a
friend for more than 20 years. To you however, Aralyn is the creator of the
“Keep Austin Weird” campaign, co-author of In The West, one of the longest running
monologue shows in Austin, which also played the Kennedy Center and was later
adapted into the movie Deep In The Heart.
Aralyn performed her solo play, Aralyn’s
Home Economics in NYC at the International Solo Theater Festival in 2013. This weekend Aralyn will be at the Portland Film Festival presenting her
most recent film, Love In The Sixties.
When Aralyn found time to assemble and edit Kid Me Not, I’ll never know, but I suspect she doesn’t sleep. Kid Me Not is an anthology about
child-free women who came of age in the 1960s and who made the decision to not
have children. They were the first generation of women to truly have that choice, due to the advent of the birth control pill, which makes this book of
historic significance as well as an enjoyable read. Many of you will recognize
women featured in Aralyn’s book, and will relate very closely to their stories and
the time and the culture in which I, and some of you, grew up. I have many
friends who chose to live life without children, possibly just because they
could.
I kid you not, you really need to read Kid Me Not.
Dead
Javelinas Are Not Allowed on School Property by Charlena
Chandler
When
I was a young girl, Charlena Chandler and her younger sister JoBeth were two of
my older brother’s many girlfriends. Occasionally my brother had to take his
little sister along on dates either as a chaperon or an enforced
babysitting gig. Whatever the case, I got to go out to the Chandlers on many
occasions, which was extremely cool because not only did they live way, way out
in the country, but they lived on the beautiful spring-fed Pecos river under
massive Pecan trees and they had a swimming pool and a golf course, which in
dry West Texas is literally an oasis in the desert.
Charlena
and I relate closely also because we grew up in a culture of rough country folk
who worked very hard, minded their own business and kept life simple. With that
came a strong sense of irony, a dry but generous sense of humor and an insight
into life unencumbered by politics and baloney. And this is why I absolutely
adore everything Charlena writes. In spite of the fact that Charlena is an
educated world traveler, she hasn’t lost any of the valuable assets ingrained
by her heritage and we are the better for it.
Dead Javelinas Are Not
Allowed on School Property is a joy-filled account of what it was like being an
open-minded librarian in a very conservative country school – all blended with
the delicacy of a soufflé!
If
you want to know where I’m from, and where Charlena is from, or even if you don’t,
you should read this book.
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