My News

JUNE 2010

I was the keynote speaker for a very import conference. My speechis below.

RURAL PHILANTHROPY DAYS OF SW COLORADO CONFERENCE JUNE 2010

Thank you and welcome to beautiful Mancos, Colorado

I am honored to be here today because i cannot think of a more important issue than giving back to our communities so that everyone has the opportunity to live in a healthy, safe, productive and happy environment

Due to the deaths of my parents my sister Alyce became my guardian when i was 13 and she was only 23. My second memoir a bowl of cherries is about my childhood and my relationship with my sister. I always believed Alyce knows me better than anyone

So you can imagine my surprise and hurt when I proudly told my sister i was asked to speak at the SW Colorado RPD Conference and she shot back, “what do you know about philanthropy?”

Her question gave me pause and made me wonder if the RPD conference program committee had chosen the wrong person to speak.

Then i remembered a Christmas when I was 9 years old. My mother, father, brother and i lived in a garage. My sister was in a troubled marriage then. My father had broken his back in three places in a train accident while working for the NY central railroad. He was in a full body cast and confined to a bed. We had no income or health insurance. We had been evicted from our two bedroom duplex. We had little food or hope. Christmas looked bleak.

We lived in a small town in rural upstate NY. Several railroad workers in our town banded together to form an unofficial association to help families of fellow workers in need. They made the decision that they would do whatever they could to improve the well-being of a colleague’s family. Because of their decision we had a wonderful Christmas—one that will remain the best i have ever had. It was also the last one that my family celebrated together. My father died the following summer.

The railroad men who delivered the basket of food and box of gifts to our garage home couldn’t have known that their compassionate gesture birthed my life’s mission to help others.

So the answer to my sister’s question—i know a lot about philanthropy. My family and I were recipients of a small, makeshift philanthropic group.

Yet my sister’s question was also a wake up call. Too many people believe they have to be wealthy to be philanthropic. Being wealthy is helpful. However giving of one’s time to help others can be equally as important.

This brings me to my main passions when i look at philanthropy and what it means:

The first is—anyone can be a philanthropist. You may know this but too many people in our communities do not.

We do not have to be wealthy or be the head of a large foundation to make a positive impact in our communities and in others’ lives. Although foundations are the soul of philanthropic missions many non-wealthy individuals have dedicated—thus donated—substantial portions of their time, effort and money to charitable causes.

Greg Mortenson the author of three cups of tea comes to mind. He had no money. But because of his passion and efforts, schools are being built in the wildest and most rural parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. His individual philanthropic effort has turned into an international foundation.

However Greg Mortenson could not have realized his dream without the partnership he had with the people in the first village in which a school was built.

Unlike Mortenson’s more worldly philanthropic view i strongly believe we need to devote our resources and energies to local causes first. It’s not to say that we can’t give aid and support when tragedies hit like the earthquake in Haiti or when hurricane Katrina happened. But it is really important to start at home. Too often when we focus our efforts on global goals we are defeated and overwhelmed by the enormity of the task and give up.

Even more important though is to remember we have many needs in our own communities that must be addressed.

Yet I’m confident that whatever we do locally will eventually reach beyond our borders. Many of us who benefit from local assistance as I did as a child will go on to do the same for others in whatever community we live.  This is similar to the concept of paying it forward

An example of local giving that accomplishes remarkable ends and works well is the growing trend in philanthropy of giving circles.

I am familiar with two giving circles a in our own community but i am sure there are many more.

One is Womanade, a program of the Women’s Resource Center of La Plata County. This is a grassroots initiative that raises money through brown bag or happy hour meetings that occur every other month. The monetary donation from each attendee is awarded to a woman in immediate need of assistance.

Another example of a giving circle but on a smaller level is the book group that i belong to. It is also a good example of a partnership. We don’t only read we hold 2 events a year specifically to raise money—a holiday party and auction, and a St. Patrick’s day dinner and book auction. The money goes to the library and a person or agency in need.

Again it is important to remember that persons who are helped by these small local philanthropic causes often help another person or agency once they get back on their feet. We see this all the time in the news when reporters talk about making a difference. The people making the difference are like you and me

As you know from my bio i have devoted much of my adult life to criminal justice reform and women’s issues—especially women and children at risk and the children of incarcerated parents.

As you may also be ware i was the warden of two prisons outside Detroit—a men’s maximum security prison and women’s multi-level later a close/maximum security prison. However when i started in corrections as a probation officer my passion was to work with women prisoners to improve their immediate lives while incarcerated and also to make every effort to ensure their transitions back into the community would be successful.

Although it may seem odd to you i will draw a parallel between my experiences in corrections to those of rural philanthropy.

Prisons for women are not much different than rural communities when it comes to having their needs met. They both tend to get little attention.

The good news is that the number of women inmates is generally 6% of the total prison population. However that is also the bad news. Because their numbers are so small, funding is limited.

Does this sound familiar to those of you who work in rural communities?

As a warden I, as did many other wardens depended on foundations, volunteers, interns, whatever partnership it took to provide the programs and meet the needs of the prisoners that were not being met by our department’s legislated budget—in other words the programs government and social service agencies could not provide.

My goal then was clear and is summed up in this year’s SW RPD conference theme: GROW PARTNERSHIPS AND HARVEST SUCCESS

We seem to believe that partnership is a new concept. Yet our country was built through voluntary associations. The original colonists and later United States citizens did not rely on the government to solve their public problems. Rather they did it themselves through voluntary associations or in a more modern term philanthropy which is characteristically democratic. Since the birth of our country, philanthropy has met the challenges and taken advantage of opportunities that neither government nor business ordinarily address and often cannot afford to tackle.

Governor Ritter understands this. He has approached philanthropic foundations to help fund needed programs

Going back to my days as a warden i was fortunate to have my prisons located in Washtenaw County near Ann Arbor the home of the University of Michigan. Through a partnership with the university’s social work and psychology departments i was able to provide needed services to the women prisoners such as the children’s visitation program.

Through the help of the university, volunteers and prison program employees we also received grant money from foundations.

The Children’s Visitation Program offered a structured and constructive 4 hour visits between women prisoners and their children.

 I later instituted the program at the men’s prison. When the men first approached me about having this program it was because they wanted what the women had. So before i agreed to implement Children’s Visitation Program at the men’s prison they had to complete an educational program with planned parenthood to make sure the men clearly understood the concept of fatherhood. Those who agreed to this were allowed to participate.

The objective of the children’s visitation program was to lessen the children’s fears of their parents’ incarceration, let them know they weren’t the only children in this situation, provide parenting skills, strengthen the bond between the parents and their children, offer caregiver support and education and provide counseling and debriefing for both the incarcerated parent and the children. This is an extremely brief overview of this important program which has also proven to reduce recidivism.

Another partnership in this program was with the faith based society of friends. They provided most of the transportation for the visiting children who came from all over the state. This also could mean providing overnight accommodations for the children, feeding the children who had little food or no food and giving clothing to the children who needed it

The Children’s’ Visitation Program would not have existed or been successful without partnerships

Partnerships are needed if we expect to accomplish our goals. In fact the Southwest RPD conference overview states that one of the main reasons you are meeting is to “network with other non-profits, for-profits and public agencies in southwest Colorado to build mutually beneficial partnerships and collaborations”

Again I can relate to this necessary element in any community’s wellbeing. However if we are honest with ourselves nonprofits can be protective of their agencies and funding resources. They almost have to be to survive.

However there is no more territorial agencies than those that make up the criminal justice system—law enforcement, courts, juvenile justice and corrections.

In Washtenaw County we were determined to avoid the pitfalls of other Michigan counties who aired their grievances with each other through the media and often failed to work together even though they had a common goal—to make our communities healthy and safe to live in.

So we formed the Washtenaw Criminal Justice Association—a partnership made up of the sheriff, prosecutor, chief circuit judge, district judge, police chiefs, fire chiefs, federal prison warden, state prison warden and the parole and probation supervisors. We became a hard working team whose efforts produced positive relationships, friendships and accomplished common goals.

It was so successful other counties in Michigan and then across the country duplicated it. One of our major successes was establishing one of the first county-wide protocols and training programs for domestic violence cases in the country.

While i was a warden, philanthropic opportunities popped up everywhere. I was on the united way board and one year the women’s prison was a pace setter. We were thrilled to be selected that year to take on the challenge to "jump start" the annual united way campaign and help set the standard for leadership and community support.

I hardly had to mention this before my administrative assistant jumped in and took over. Every employee eagerly participated. And although we raised a lot of money i believe the joy it brought to the employees was equally as important. They found great pleasure in helping others in need.

It also helped that the men’s and women’s prisons i was managing competed against each other to see who could raise the most money. The winning prison was rewarded by having me and my administrative staff cook a meal for them

We didn’t only participate in united way. Each Christmas the prisons partnered with the county social services department. They chose several needy families for whom the prison employees collected food, toys and money for holiday baskets. Because every employee wanted to be among those to deliver the goods i had to hold a lottery and the lucky winners delivered the holiday boxes.

I don’t think the employees did this just to get out of work

Philanthropy wasn’t only for the employees. Prisoners got involved. This was true throughout the state. For example, prisoners participated in running events to raise money for children in need or made toys to be handed out at Christmas through toys for tots.

When I was a warden, another partnership was formed with the non profit agency leader dog school for the blind in Rochester, Michigan. The women inmates trained puppies for this school.

Although a worthy cause in itself the prisoners learned to give back to the community among many other valuable lessons. Yet one of the moments that stands out the most for me was when one woman inmate told me, “i never thought i was worth enough or had anything to give back to the community until now.”

This prisoner like others learned that her participating in this partnership was an important charitable gift that would help make the life of someone in need and less fortunate  better and give them hope for their future.

Without each of us volunteering as individuals and agencies forming partnerships how can we ask foundations to help? Our personal and partnership charitable initiatives not only show how serious and passionate we are about our endeavors, but they make it clear that we are willing to solve the needs of others together.

We know our lives are enriched by helping others. It gives us joy as demonstrated by both the inmates and prison employees. Studies show that volunteering and giving back can even help with depression.

Recently, however, a friend cautioned me that happiness comes from within an individual—that it cannot come from outside. That we are solely responsible for our own happiness.

I disagree. We all need a nudge from outside now and then to give us hope. The people of Haiti know this. And when I was nine years old it was someone from outside who gave me hope and a happy Christmas.

This is what you do in your rural communities through your hard work and efforts. You give others hope including unwanted animals and help them on the road to happy and productive lives.

In closing I will read a quote from the amazing Helen Keller.

“When indeed shall we learn that we are all related one to the other, that we are all members of one body? Until the spirit of love for our fellowmen, regardless of race, color or creed, shall fill the world, making real our lives and our deeds the actuality of human brotherhood—until the great mass of people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other’s welfare—social justice can never be attained.”

MARCH 2010

I am sure most of you are feeling the way I am at the moment—I have had enough of winter and I am tired of shoveling snow. Yet living in SW Colorado where we rely on reservoirs filled by the snow pack the endless winter storms will be welcomed memories during our hot summer months. I also feel fortunate that winter storms are an inconvenience rather than what so many in our world have had to face. I have a warm house to live in, plenty of food to eat and clothing to keep me warm. 

Recently a former employee contacted me. I hadn’t seen or spoken to her in 25 years. I was stunned to hear from her after so long. However what she shared with me was even more astounding. She lamented the mistakes, one in particular, she had made in her life and that had temporarily put her in a dreadful place from which she didn’t feel she would ever get out. She now believes she has finally come to peace with herself after years of feeling guilty and shame. She also wanted to apologize to me—a woman she had undeservingly placed on a pedestal.

I made it very clear to her she was not alone when it comes to making mistakes. I have and will make many mistakes, many that may have hurt others. Don’t we all?

After our correspondence I decided to share with you part of the commencement speech I made at Cazenovia College because it speaks to this very issue.

When I was 27 years old I had just returned to the US after working for the Army in Germany. I was immediately hired by Michigan Bell Telephone Company and placed on their fast track management program. Within six months I was fired from that job.

As you might well guess I was embarrassed, devastated and confused. I felt like a looser. However I didn’t like that job. It wasn’t a good fit for.  Surely my employer saw that in my performance. Yet getting fired turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me then. I started my twenty–year career with the Michigan Department of Corrections which was a good fit because I used my sociology degree and my social worker mentality.

In 1971 When I applied for the entry level probation officer position I knew nothing about corrections and could barely spell incarceration. I was scared to death. I feared I would fail again, especially when I discovered I was the first woman ever interviewed. Yet I decided I had to take that giant leap into the unknown and make it work. It was a good decision.

The moral of this story is simple–embrace change rather than run from it even when the circumstances appear that put us there are demoralizing. All of us fear change because we don’t know what it holds for us. I teach a workshop where I give an exercise about change. 99% of the time the changes we make have positive outcomes. Still we tend to stay cemented in negative personal relationships and careers.

Eleanor Roosevelt said, “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop and look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”

Along with change and what we face in our day-to-day living we will make mistakes. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying which was one of President Kennedy’s favorites, “If you aren’t making mistakes you’re doing nothing.” I also say that since we will make mistakes we might as well do them with a great deal of enthusiasm because if you fear mistakes you’ll never take the leap to get out of a negative comfort zone—the ones that keep us cemented in  harmful person relationships and careers.

 Eleanor Roosevelt summed it up the best when she said, “Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”

Making mistakes can lower our self esteem and confidence if we let them. We tend to beat ourselves up when we blunder just as my former employee did and I also have. We may even be the brunt of criticism, sometimes harsh from an uncaring person. Instead of letting that error and criticism eat at us, we need to learn from those circumstances. How many times have you gone home from work, class or a meeting questioning what you said or your behavior? We often don’t hear the compliment from a professor about the great job we did on a paper or from our employer who said we did a good job on a project. We need to pay more attention to the positive self-talk rather than the negative self-talk.

On a more personal note, when I was a teenager I overheard my former brother-in-law telling my sister that no one would marry Tekla because she has fat ankles and is too bright. I carried that negative image with me through college. I finally realized I was okay just the way I was and that I was going to make something of my life—fat ankles and all.

DECEMBER 2009

This year has truly been a roller coaster for us as I imagine it has been for most. The best news is that our 3 grandchildren are healthy, productive and happy. Spencer, an A student, turned 16 and was put on the varsity hockey team when he was only a Freshman. Griffin, also an A student will be 14 in April and is an excellent goalie. Hadley is 10, plays cello, is on the gymnastic team and is an outstanding runner. We are blessed.

Sadly we lost both Golden Retrievers--Lacy (March) and Leo (July) suddenly to rare and unpredicted conditions. We have ended 20 years of rescuing Goldens because of their size. But we happily rescued 2 dogs–Scooter (2 in January) and Smokey (1 year old)– from a reservation in Chama, NM. Rescuing “Res” dogs in Colorado is common. They are heeler (herding dogs) mix and a manageable 45 pounds each. They are great buddies and fun to watch play which they do nonstop. It gives us such pleasure to save a dog’s life and give them a happy and healthy home.

Chet, Leo, Scooter and Tekla made a 5 week road trip with our camper to Maine and back in June & July. We made several stops but the highlights were a reunion at Cazenovia College (Tekla’s brother Chuck and his wife Joy were also there at a high school reunion), meeting up with several childhood friends in East Syracuse, a visit with Julie, publisher of The Warden Wore Pink and her husband Sandy in Maine, a visit to Suttons Bay, MI with the kids and then a stop in MInnesota to see Chet’s sister, Audrey.

The first 2 weeks of October Tekla traveled MI promoting her new novel, Inevitable Sentences. Sharing her time with family and friends made the trek special. Sadly there is never enough time for this.

Tekla will not be participating in the L.A. Times Festival of Books this year because she will be going to Maui for a mini-family reunion. Although we have never been to Maui, Chet has opted to stay home with our dogs.

We recently returned from a 3 week tour of Peru (including Machu Picchu) and Ecuador (including the Galapagos). We had an astonishing adventure. Yet our travels also brought home to us how fortunate we are. We will always remember the overwhelming struggles the proud citizens in Peru and Ecuador face while being grateful for our comfortable and abundant lives.

Have a wonderful holiday and a truly happy and healthy New Year.

NOVEMBER 2009

My husband and I recently returned from a 3 week tour of Peru and Ecuador. We had an astonishing adventure. Yet our travels also brought home to us how fortunate we are. This Thanksgiving we will remember the overwhelming struggles the proud citizens in Peru and Ecuador face while being grateful for our comfortable and abundant lives.

I hope you will spend your Thanksgiving with family and friends. Please help provide food for those who have none through local food banks or other programs. Better yet invite a hungry person to your home to share in the Thanksgiving meal and friendship.

Happy Thanksgiving!

SEPTEMBER 2009

Autumn is already here. So much has happened since we returned in July from our 5 week road trip. A week after we got home Leo our 11 ½ year old golden died from a sudden onset neurological condition. It was only 4 months after Lacy our other golden died suddenly. My husband and I could barely think straight. It was difficult to cope and we devoted all of our attention on Scooter a heeler mix we adopted after Lacy’s death. We also decided to be a single dog family for the first time in 20 years. More about that in a moment.

Although those deaths were devastating, more sad news hit us. My sister lost her home and all the contents in the huge Station Fire in Southern California. Luckily everyone and all her animals (6 dogs and 3 cats)—all rescued—got away safely. Picking up and starting over is not easy, especially since one of her other houses suffered extensive damage in the Northridge earthquake several years ago.

Seven years ago we were on stand-by evacuation for one month due to the worse fires in SW Colorado in 100 years. My husband was a volunteer firefighter then and saw up close the devastation of such fires. Friends lost their homes in that fire. So I know the tough emotional and physical journey that my sister must take to repair and rebuild.

On October 2 I head off to Michigan for a 2 week book tour. Happily I will also visit with family and friends. I look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new people and seeing my grandchildren. I especially enjoy the conversations with everyone. I learn so much.

Then I am home for a week before my husband and I leave for 3 weeks to Peru including Machu Picchu, Ecuador and the Galapagos. It is a life-long dream and we decided to take the trip while my husband who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis still can. I know it will be a spectacular trip especially since 9 friends are going with us. We’ll be back just in time to get ready for Thanksgiving. So let me say now HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you all!

Back to being a single dog family. Scooter our 1/12 year old female heeler mix is a delight and loves to play with other dogs. She is also extremely athletic and energetic. To accommodate those characteristics she goes to dog day care one day a week and hikes with me another day. Deep down we knew she needed more but we were determined to stick to our plan of a single dog home. During a routine vet visit our vet asked if we planned to get another dog. We said, “No.” He said he thought we needed to for Scooter’s sake and our sake. He said Scooter would be less dependent and less protective if she had a buddy. Before I could answer, the vet was the phone to Annie’s Orphans where we adopted Scooter and told Anna what he thought we should have. So 2 days later we adopted Smokey a year old heeler-terrier mix. Scooter and Smokey immediately bonded and haven’t stopped playing since they met. It was the best and right decision. It also gives us great joy to give these dogs another chance at life.

MARCH 2009

One of the great joys of writing is hearing from the people who have read my books whether by e-mail or when they are in the audience when I am presenting. I am flattered that what I write will spark a memory or a story that they are willing to re. These moments are often bittersweet. For example in a recent discussion of Inevitable Sentences a  young woman in the audience spoke about the spousal abuse she suffered for the past 20 years and only recently has separated from her husband. She prayed she had the strength to live her life independent of his.

I have commented many times that giving hope or helping someone through my writing is the greatest reward I can have. No amount of money could replace the satisfaction I have reaped from learning that I have made a difference in someone’s life. Success after all is not measured in how much money we have but in how we live our lives and if we have made a positive impact on our world.

MARCH 2008

I recently returned from a trip to Michigan where I spoke in honor of Women's History Month at both Delta College and Olivet College. I always enjoy meeting and interacting with the students and faculty. This trip however was made even more special because several remarkable women friends and former colleagues attended my talk at Olivet followed by a delicious dinner. We filled the restaurant with wonderful memories and laughter.

On another day two friends and I went to Coldwater to meet another friend, the warden at two prisons. We made the journey not only to see the warden but to see the dog rescue program in the prisons. The prisoners rescue Grey Hounds and dogs from the Humane Society and get them ready for adoption. It is a wonderful win-win program.

The sad part of this trip was when a friends’ mother died suddenly while we were having lunch put on by the prison’s food tech program.

One highlight of my trip was watching my oldest grandson’s hockey team take the championship. He is a goalie and the final winning game was a shut-out.

MAY 2007

On May 19, I gave the commencement speech at Cazenovia College, New York, voted one of the top coed colleges in the United States. I also received an honorary doctor in humane letters degree. I cannot adequately express my gratitude for both honors. But I am thrilled to now be a member of both Cazenovia College classes of 1964 and 2007. As I noted in my commencement speech I am so impressed with the 2007 graduates. I I found them intelligent, articulate, gracious, creative and compassionate. I believe our world will be a better place with them in it. I am placing a brick in their honor at the base of the clock tower as a way to thank them for letting me be a member of their class and for the beautiful and thoughtful gifts they gave to me. I hope the class members will keep in touch with me. Best of luck on your exciting journeys.

APRIL 2007

Hello all

I just returned from participating in the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on the U.C.L.A. campus. It is a truly amazing event with over 95 indoor author panels and 300 outdoor exhibitor booths for booksellers, publishers and literacy and cultural organizations. Plus there were outdoor readings, storytelling, music , presentations and a food court. It is a booklover’s paradise and it’s free. As an author selling my books at the Sisters in Crime, L.A. Chapter booth, I found the attendees fascinating, eager for new material and fun to talk to. I was told by a California resident that this festival is the premiere event in the area. If you should be in L.A. at the end of April 2008, it is an event well worth attending and I will see you there.

Now I am off to Cazenovia College, New York to give the commencement speech. I am looking forward to this event because it is an honor to have been asked to help celebrate the Class of 2007 and because many of my childhood friends will be in the audience. I’ll report on the event when I return.

As always I look forward to hearing from you.

MARCH 2007

I recently returned from Michigan where, in celebration of Women’s History Month, I spoke in two very different venues. The first was at the Brandon Township Library in Ortonville. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many men in the audience. However, I was even more thrilled by the arrival of two men who worked with me at both Huron Valley men’s and Women’s Correctional Facilities in Ypsilanti and also a male supervisor from my first job as a probation officer in Oakland County. They added a special flavor and humor to my words.

The second venue was at Haven, a safehouse in Pontiac. As would be expected, women made up the audience. However, the Honorable Judge Edward Sosnick, a dear friend for over 35 years also attended. Since he helped found Haven his appearance wasn’t unusual. But it did get me to thinking about how many men share in the battle to keep women secure and to insure their equality. I am honored and grateful to know these men especially Ed who has been honored for his dedication to disadvantaged youth and youth at risk, victims of domestic violence and substance abuse prevention and rehabilitation. We can all learn from his efforts.

In preparing for my presentations, I was stunned and saddened to learn that there are about 15000 women in safehouses in Michigan alone. That tells me we still have a lot of work to do in this country when it comes to women’s issues including providing equity, healthcare, education and a safe environment for them and our children

Words to ponder during Women’s History Month.

JANUARY 2007

I always welcome the new year. I feel like I am being offered a chance to right wrongs, to change a negative in my life, to improve my health, to learn something new and to move forward in my writing with a renewed zest. Because of this attitude I decided to be the reviewer for our January reading group. I chose an easy to read novel, Murder in the Lincoln Bedroom by Elliott Roosevelt, the son of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt. From my choice we all learned that he had written 21 such novels which were published between1984 and 2001 and in which Eleanor was the sleuth. Although they are fun mysteries they are also a trip through history and a peek at how Elliott envisioned his mother and life in the white house. My choice of a novel also gave me the opportunity to discuss Eleanor Roosevelt, a woman I greatly admire and whose words of wisdom communicate my own new year’s goals. Although it is tough to choose from Eleanor Roosevelt’s many wise remarks, the following quotes are three of my favorite:

            “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experiences.”

            “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”

            And finally, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

I wish you a happy, productive, healthy (in mind, body and spirit) 2007.

On another note check out www.authorlink.com for my short fiction titled, Hostage which is inspired by a true event.

OCTOBER 27, 2006: SERENDIPITY

            Money isn’t what drives me to put words on a page. Like so many writers I wouldn’t be able to support myself if I depended on the income I earned from writing. I believe as most writers do—we write because we love to and we must. I write because I hope what I say will make the reader laugh and cry, to consider issues that they hadn’t thought about before, to become inspired to make the world a better place, to poke fun at life’s absurdities and to touch the reader’s soul in a way they never thought possible.

            I get great joy from a reader who contacted me after s/he’s read one of my published works—like Kelly who was under house arrest who now is studying criminal justice, or the former female gang member who got a degree and now works with at risk youth, or my cousin Ed whom I had only known from a photograph (at the age of thirteen and after my parents died I had been separated from and lost all contact with my family except my sister and brother). After another cousin told Ed about my memoir A Bowl of Cherries, he read it and sent me a letter. We then met. I would have never known this amazing man if I hadn’t written that memoir.

            Yet the most remarkable story among so many wonderful ones in which my writing had a part is the one about Jeff Deskovic. At the age of seventeen, Jeff was found guilty and sentenced to prison for fifteen years to life based on a coerced confession of the rape and murder of a schoolmate. After sixteen years in prison Jeff had exhausted all his appeals and was denied parole. He faced the bleak reality that he would never be exonerated and perhaps never released from prison. 

            Serendipity, luck or providence—whatever you call it plays a major role in our lives. It certainly did for Jeff. By some miracle he borrowed from the prison library Chicken Soup for the Prisoner’s Soul for which I had written an essay. Jeff checked my credentials at the back of the book and discovered my first memoir, The Warden Wore Pink. He contacted the publisher and my friend, Julie Zimmerman and told her his story. She then contacted our friend Claudia Whitman, an advocate for the wrongly accused and death penalty cases. Claudia took up Jeff’s cause and convinced the Innocence Project who had previously turned down Jeff’s request to handle it. They persuaded the District Attorney to run the DNA evidence through the database. The result proved Jeff’s innocence and that the actual guilty man was a prisoner serving life on another murder. Jeff now 33 was found innocent and released from prison on September 20, 2006.

            I cry every time I think about Jeff and how my essay and memoir played a role in setting him free. There is no amount of money that can take the place of this kind of reward from my writing.

            So because of people like Jeff I will continue to write. Perhaps there will be others whose lives I will touch.

Fall has arrived in the Rockies. Several mountain peaks are snow covered and the Aspen are turning to their brilliant gold. The skies are clear, deep blue and the air is crisp. It is a special time of year and my favorite. And for us in the southwest- the aroma of chiles roasting is everywhere. The changing season reminds me of my own change in careers, which became a true life style change.

Though the decision to write opened up an exciting and dynamic world to me, I wasn’t prepared for the humiliation and rejection it also brought. As a warden, I had developed a thick skin and stubborn streak. Yet even armed with those traits, I often found myself curled into a fetal position sucking my thumb after being rejected by an editor twenty years younger than I who probably never saw the movie The Bird Man of Alcatraz.

            My training as a warden did pay off in the end because I was persistent despite the rejections. I’ve endured because of my new-found colleagues and friends–seasoned authors–I have met through workshops, conferences, associations and my critique group. They persuaded me to never give up. The women in my critique group have also become my true writing teachers. Because of their encouragement I have pursued a writing career and have reaped many rewards.

            However I had to be willing to take chances, make mistakes and face rejections, while exercising perseverance and seizing opportunities. I also learned that money isn’t the reason I write. This is true of most writers I know. It is the joy of creating something that is thought provoking and stimulates others to action. Joy for me is found in the letters I receive from readers. One example is the letter from a former female gang member who now works with troubled youth and attributes her change to reading my first memoir The Warden Wore Pink. Another example is the letter from a teenager who was on house arrest. After meeting me and reading both my memoirs she is now studying criminal justice. No money can replace these kinds of rewards for my writing.

            I am thrilled to get messages from readers who tell me I’ve made them laugh or helped them to reflect on the absurdity of life. For me creating a written piece deepens and expands my life. I can only hope it touches others.

            Writing gave me the freedom and confidence to expand other personal pursuits as well such as hiking in the Colorado Rockies. Why are these personal excursions important to writing? I believe these activities help release hidden creative juices or skills that were buried deep inside me during all those years I devoted to my corrections career. Now I keep a journal of what I see, hear, touch and smell. Every experience inspires writing. Every experience can be woven into a story. Every experience has proven to me that there is a fulfilling life after being a warden and I can put it into the written word.

            Now at sixty-three I have two memoirs, several non-fiction articles and stories, and a novel published. I have completed another memoir and hope to have my second fiction published shortly. I never stop writing. When one project is finished, I start another, which has been rolling around in my head. The process is happily addictive.

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS:

Too Close to the Falls by Catherine Gildiner

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

The Color of Water by James McBride

Surviving a Writers Life by Suzanne Lipsett