At my mothers funeral, our family priest told those in attendance “She was the most complex kind heart I ever knew”.
I didn’t think about what he said in that moment. I was lost. I was a single father there with my four children saying goodbye to the matriarch of the family. I can’t even remember what I said that day when I spoke.
As time has passed however, I have had time to ponder those words. Upon reflection I find them one of the most accurate ways to describe my mother.
In the process of archiving and going through her work I have come across many interviews spanning parts of four decades. In reading them I find myself thinking sometimes she comes across as feisty/brassy/unapologetic and focused. Sometimes I feel she almost borders on cocky. This was NOT her at her core.
She was a “Speak softly and carry a big stick” feminist. In other words you would not see her shouting through a megaphone waving a flag at rallies, but she would take quite a few opportunities to make sure when she was interviewed to discuss the pay disparity in the industry between men and women, and would scoff openly at the idea of male publishers thinking they had an iota of what women wanted to purchase to read. She could be unfiltered, but was also tactful. She could be firm bordering on confrontational to “The industry” whilst also being an incredibly kind and open person. She could disdain the state or attitude of the industry while at the same time trying to give her all to YOU, her readers.
She would do things like make donations, sponsor children in low income families, and give money to people she knew who were in need. All anonymously. Hell, I never knew. I learned more about her charitable ways AFTER she passed. She never spoke of them.
I have also been quite blessed to have read so many letters from you, her readers, through both the Facebook page and now this new website, chiming in to tell a story of how you wrote to her and she personally responded, how her work effected your life in a positive way, kind interactions you had with her in person, etc. These bring joy to my heart and the family’s heart. Please know we see them, and read them… and I will get around to responding as she would have…with thanks.
Did she whack a jackass in the knees at a restaurant with her cane? Yup.
Did she give with no expectation/desire of getting re-paid to help others in the industry and out? Yup again.
Was she a feminist who used her position in the industry to make her points…. Yes.
Was she someone who knew that without you, her dream of being a published author would never have come true. A final yes.
Second to her family, her work and you, her readers were the most important thing to her.
So I present to you a few pages from a book published in 1983 that gave little stories/interviews of the leading romance writers of the day. He she is, and in reading it, I can hear her voice saying these words. We still miss her so…. Which is why we keep going and will not stop. ‘
All Good Reading…
Tom Small 4-12-24
Thank you for posting this. Wonderful insight on my favorite author!
Just so you are aware, the pages in this article are out of order.