Ten of our writers attended the meeting tonight. We began the night with a discussion on Mentoring. Anne More is working on a project where she interviewed seventy women who were seventy years of age. These women wish to share their experiences with younger women. They feel they can mentor the next generations by sharing knowledge gained throughout their lifetimes. Our discussion centered around those who have mentored us in the past. Anne is finding a disparity in mentorship between women and men. It seems a large percentage did not consider others acting as mentors. At the same time, men enjoyed a much higher rate of mentors in their youth. Is this a perception issue, or do women fail to mentor younger women? What is a mentor? Hmmm, think about it.
Don Westerfield is a senior statesman in our group. His stories and poetry hold the tone of seniority. As a Nonagenarian, 90 to 99 years of age, Don has served his country, raised his family, and developed an outlook on life that suits his experience. His poetry reflects that outlook. This evening’s readings give us an insight into his world. To Give the Devil His Due shows us a man accepting the passage of time who is not yet ready to give up on life but has accepted a reckoning is coming. As we hear The Nature Of Things, we understand how we do not control the world around us. A predetermined set of rules sets us apart from other creatures and maps out the path for all. After all, males are male, females are female, water is water, and fire is fire, and a Robin must sing as only a Robin can sing.
Moonrise is the title of a new work by Danny Spurlock. Danny attacks a sensitive subject with understanding and aplomb. After a diagnosis of prostate cancer, Danny’s character undergoes RALPS, Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Surgery, to eliminate the cancer from his body. Among the side effects of the procedure is an inability to facilitate a penial erection. Using the recommended techniques, Danny’s protagonist keeps his hopes alive of returning to a routine and loving sex life with his wife. This evening, as the couple sits on an outdoor deck overlooking the bay, they watch the moonrise, and he watches his wife’s smile. He realizes he still loves her, noticing that her full smile of youth has turned into a half-smile of age and wisdom.
James H. Kelly continues his saga of the Mackinzie family as soldiers across the history of the United States of America. From the Civil War to the eve of WWI, the Mackinzie family has served, sacrificed, and died in service to the country. Now, the fourth generation of Mackinzie men are preparing to serve as two of them attend a respected Military Academy in New England. They travel to Missouri for Christmas and meet up with their Grandfather, Father, and other family members. As a family of Calverymen, the subject of how much longer a Calvery will be needed arises. The oldest of the grandsons is a senior cadet, and this is his last term at the Academy. He announces his curiosity about a newly formed school being put together by Jack Persing and George Patton. It looks like tanks can replace the Calvery in modern warfare.
Bruce Haedrich never fails to impress us with his subject matter. He is presently attempting to tell the history of Empires in a novel form. Therein, a story with epic status may be in the making. Sometimes, fiction is a better vehicle for such far-reaching subjects than an essay. We know Bruce can do it, and we stand ready to help.
When Nancy Old took the floor to read a chapter from her memoir, we heard a tale of Aunts and Uncles as Nancy and her mom visit three of Mom’s sisters. Cooking for the farm hands in a hot kitchen for a midday meal in the soaring heat of two stoves is not a pleasure. Serving the men, many of whom are sweaty and reek of the farm animals. Manners are often left at the door when tired, hungry men attack the food with a gusto unseen at the gentile tables of many families. A second household brims with prayer and religious supplication, almost to a fault. Undo criticism and harsh punishment kept the fun out of their family life. Maybe Mom and her Sisters suffered from an obscure curse that kept them from choosing husbands well. Mom’s first husband had been an abusive drunk. Their only compatibility was that they were both from Tennessee.
That seems to cover the meeting for this time. We meet again on October 2 at 6:30 in our Nokomis Firehouse. Until then, KEEP ON WRITING!
