October, 2012
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Story Sparks 

"Stories are the sparks that light our ancestor's lives, the embers we blow on to illuminate our own"

 

 

 

Greetings!  

 

 photo from The Oregonian

I'm a word smith, someone who loves and works with words. I also love museums.  Jerry says if we ever end up in debtor prison it will be due to the many memberships we have in large and small museums. I love the two-room Woodland, Washington museum and the gigantic Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City. The elegant Museum at Warm Springs on the reservation and the tiny Cam Wah Chung & Company Chinese museum in of all places, John Day, Oregon, speak to me in special ways. So does the award-winning Sherman County Museum in Moro as well as the High Desert Museum right here in my new hometown, Bend.  Now I have a new museum to care for:  The Museum of Mental Health at Oregon State Hospital where I participated in the dedication this past week. "Bearing witness.  Giving Voice" is the theme of this unique site in Salem, Oregon not far from where One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was filmed 37 years ago.

                

Bearing witness. Giving voice. Those are the very sentiments I hope readers find within my stories.

                

The word museum comes from the Greek mouseion meaning "a place of study, a library, a school of art or poetry."  That's a fitting description of this newest Oregon museum as it includes a Dorothea Dix Think Tank (more about her later!) working to find ways to be taught by the past in order to make changes in contemporary  mental health services. It's also a library where stories of former patients and staff are a part of the display in the various rooms describing the history of mental health treatment. I was struck by one woman's story of frequent hospitalizations for "mania" that often followed "domestic abuse incidents."  Ah yes, there was an era where women were often sent away if they resisted the dominance of fathers, brothers, husbands or sons.  None of us are untouched by mental illness even when we may seldom speak of it. Someone in our family may be affected; a neighbor we encounter daily; our own journey into darkness and back toward light.

                

Within the walls of the Museum of Mental Health is a school of art and poetry as well.  An internationally renowned sculptor, John Houser http://johnsherrillhouser.com/ attended the dedication to present his bronze sculptor of Dorothea Dix, an early reformer in mental health.  Dorothea is also the subject of a film being created by award-winning documentary film-maker Charles Kiselyak who also attended and who has made two films about mental illness. I'll keep you posted about  his feature film about Dorothea Dix.

                

Also attending was Louise Fletcher the actress who played Nurse Ratched (Big Nurse) in Cuckoo's Nest.  What a gracious lady she is and a wonderful story-teller as well.  (She's seated with Al Bendich, partner in Saul Zaentz Company & Trust, a huge supporter of reform in mental health services, especially addressing the growing problem of people in prisons who truly need treatment rather than incarceration). Two other documentary film makers also attended: Antoine De Gaudemar and Robert James. Each of their films tells a piece of the story of the state hospital, the staff who are the caregivers and the patients -- some who live the ends of their lives there -- and how institutions can be asylums in the original meaning of that word: refuge, sanctuary, a place of safety.

                

I was there to speak a little about how important the arts are in healing. Even brain research being done at Baylor University supports how music, dance or movement (gardening, wood-working, quilting etc), art (think film and photography as well as painting and drawing) and story are the most effective ways to help traumatized children bring healing to their lives.

                

In essence, we dedicated this new museum, a word that comes from the French dedicacion and the Latin dedicare meaning "giving oneself to a purpose."  My book about Dorothea Dix, One Glorious Ambition, is about dedication and purpose. But it's also about places of study of the human heart.  The great library of Alexandria burned many centuries ago but the inscription that remains in the charred ruins reads:  "The Place for the Work of the Soul."  When we give ourselves to a purpose greater than ourselves, we all become a part of the work of the soul.  Incidentally, all museums seek members...and volunteers. Visit www.oshmuseum.org to learn more about this newest one and join in the fine work they're doing. More and more I'm coming to believe that that museums are places for soul work. May you find those places within your life and may they be the asylum you seek.

In This Issue
Reading Late into the Night
Jane's Schedule
Word Whisperings: The Crying Tree

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Reading Late into the Night

fall colors

When I was sixteen I had my first four-day baby-sitting job over a long Labor Day weekend.  Five kids ages nine to a nine-month-old baby were my charges. The farm wasn't far from our own dairy so if I needed help I could call my mom. I thought it would be a great weekend of... reading. I'd make some money, be away from farm chores and... read.  I stayed up until 3:00 am the first night devouring Sow Not in Anger by Jack Hoffenberg.  I'm not sure why I remember that title but I read into those wee hours thinking this is the life: no one to tell me to go to bed; no one to say I had chores to do. The kids were asleep and I could read.  Yes!  And what a read it was: Six-hundred seventy-two pages, a first novel, family saga over four generations; a page turner.

 

But then 6:00 am arrived and there were child-faces staring down at me saying that the baby needed changing and when was breakfast and that the chickens needed feeding. Oh good grief!  They brought the baby into the bed when I apparently fell back to sleep and he did need changing!  I got up  exhausted and it did not stop the entire weekend.  It was memorable in that I also decided that weekend that having kids was a huge responsibility and it could keep one from... reading!

                

Imagine my surprise at the morning of my induction into my high school Hall of Fame where I had agreed to meet with the eighth grade class at Mondovi, Wisconsin and I saw the dad for whom I'd worked that long ago weekend (fifty years, actually!).  He was a teacher.  But then I realized it couldn't be "the dad" and sure enough, he was the three year old, in fact, all grown up now to about 6'5", handsome as his dad. I told the kids that story and the name of that book and I hope they saw the wisdom I gleaned that weekend:  if you want to read until three in the morning, don't have children sleeping in the next room because they'll wake up before you're ready to!

                 

The entire weekend  of my induction was full of great joys and humbling moments from the lovely plaque to a ride in the homecoming parade to meeting with old chums and the spectacular display of fall colors. At the assembly I told a story that involved participation and the entire high school, faculty and community people attending were spot-on as they say, paying attention and hopefully taking away the message that dreaming matters not just for getting one through high school but living full lives and that when we pursue that purpose (become dedicated, perhaps?) the whole world becomes  a richer, brighter, kinder place. Small towns have big hearts and I'm grateful.  

 

 

Jane's Schedule

 

 

Where_Lilacs_Still_Bloom

 

 



Take a look and see where our paths might cross during upcoming events. 

 


 

 

OCTOBER

 

WHEN: Thursday, October 11, 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Olympia Timberland Library, 313 8th Ave. SE, Olympia, Washington
WHAT: Join Jane as she shares stories of remarkable Northwest women and men. The event i

s open to the public; for more information visit www.trl.org.

 

October 13-14 Jane will be at the Pacific Northwest Writers event in Tacoma telling booksellers about Where Lilacs Still Bloom and signing copies!

 

WHEN: October 19, 20, 21
WHERE: Albuquerque, New Mexico
WHAT: Women Writing the West Conference. Jane will be moderating an agent panel and introducing the Laura dinner keynote speaker, Susan J. Tweit. She also plans to celebrate at the WILLA banquet and luncheons, cheering for all the winners and finalists. And enjoying New Mexico!

 

WHEN: Sunday, October 28, 11:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
WHERE: St. Paul Fire District, St. Paul, Oregon
WHAT: St. Paul Mission Historical Society Annual Meeting. This little historical society set in the heart of French Prairie was instrumental in Jane's research for the Tender Ties series about Marie Dorion, the only woman who was part of the Astor expedition in 1811. The society published eleven volumes of the Catholic Church records that had been translated from French to English by Harriet Munnick in the 1970's. That effort and commitment to history has opened many doors for researchers and genealogists. Jane will speak at the annual meeting about Marie Dorion and about the importance of history to our contemporary lives. She'll also sign your books!

NOVEMBER

WHEN: Thursday, November 1, 2:30 to 5:15. music, tea and Jane speaks at 3:30.
WHERE: Medford Branch Library, 205 S. Central, Medford, Oregon
WHAT: Jane will be the speaker for an afternoon event organized by Friends of the Medford Library, AAUW-Medford Branch and Jackson County Library. Come and hear stories!

 

When:  Saturday, November 3, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm

WHERE: Scott Valley Berean Church, 134 Church Street, Etna, California

WHAT: Story as a Healing Journey. As a mental health professional and author, Jane believes in the power of story to help us heal wounds. Disappointments, loss, hurt feelings, guilt and unworthiness arrive in wilderness places and re-shaping the stories we tell ourselves can bring energy to move us forward into new places where God can work in our lives. In this safe, compassionate environment, come hear and tell stories for a day of rest and joy. Lunch provided. For more information contact the Berean church 467-3715).

 

WHEN: Saturday, November 3, 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Yreka, California (Venue TBA)
WHAT: Jane will be the dinnner speaker for the Siskiyou County Cattlemen/Cattlewomen Assoc. Dinner & Silent Auction. This is a fundraiser for scholarships so join Jane in laughter and with a generous spirit.

WHEN: November 7-11
WHERE: Bend, Oregon (Venue TBA)
WHAT: Nature of Words 8th annual literary arts festival. Jane serves on the advisory board and will be attending lectures, helping out and enjoying the readings. You can, too! Visit
www.natureofwords.org for more information about the visiting authors and events. A real Central Oregon treat!

 

For all event information and updates, please visit Jane's website and click on News and Events. Thanks! 

 


Word Whisperings

 

CryingTree

The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha (2009, Published by Crown, a division of Random House)

 

I'm part of a Crazy 8s Tour this fall http://crazy8sauthortour.com/ where eight authors are grouped together for an evening to support independent bookstores and celebrate stories. My first one was at Broadway Books in Portland and there'll be another in Lake Oswego next month. I was asked to introduce award-winning author Naseem Rakha so I decided I should read some of her work and I chose her novel, The Crying Tree.You may have heard Raseem on NPR or read some of her work in the Christian Science Monitor. She served as a mediator in dealing with the cleanup of the nuclear site that created the Nagasaki bomb. She worked on the Warm Springs reservation for some of the same years I was there though she was in the fish and wildlife service teaching and consulting and our paths never crossed, sadly. She also covered the first execution in Oregon in thirty years and that led her to write The Crying Tree. I would say she writes about wounded places in landscapes, history and the human heart.

 

A slender, quiet-voiced woman, Naseem lives with her husband and twelve year old son in Silverton, Oregon, a small town not far from the capital city. The Crying Tree  is a book set in both Oregon and Illinois.  It draws one in quickly. It's the story of a teen who is murdered, the family left behind and the relationship the mother develops with the condemned man. I stayed up late reading it, not wanting it to end and at the same time wishing it would because it reaches into the very soul of a reader and I ached. Tears pooled often in my eyes from both the depth of pain she so coherently describes but also from the vivid use of language to describe the lava beds and high desert that has been my home these past years. It's a story of forgiveness which the mother finally comes to and how that affects the murderer whom she forgives and the prison superintendent who must organize the "procedure", the daughter/sister and the woman's husband, a local law enforcement officer. Naseem weaves the threads of crime, justice, profound loss, secrets, faith and family pain into a tight knot I wanted unwound and yet I didn't. There are some four letter words that are not "love" in this book, just so you know; but there is also much, much love in this story

 

In old medical books there is a word incarn that means "the growing of new flesh."  I think that's what Naseem Rakha writes about.  She grows new flesh of forgiveness into the hearts of readers.

Nature of Words

Coming up early next month in Central Oregon is a literary arts event called The Nature of Words.  www.thenatureofwords.org.   Wonderful authors will be coming to Bend including Jean Auel (Clan of the Cave Bear among others) and Thor Hanson (Feathers) and a cadre of poets including Aimee Nezhukumatathil  (At the Drive-in Volcano) who has won numerous prizes for her collections of poetry and essays. It's four days of sinking into writers, many of them new to me; reading their works, attending workshops, listening to lectures. I'm a volunteer for these events, driving authors around or doing whatever needs to be done. But mostly, Jerry and I will sit in the Tower Theater seats each evening of the readings and soak. Author readings are a great way to soak, refresh, and at the same time support your local bookstores.  Even if you don't purchase a book, your presence encourages authors and small businesses (and large businesses, too) that the arts are worthy things to be dedicated to.  "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up" wrote Pablo Picasso. Author readings and literary festivals are ways to help restore that creative spirit within our own hearts. Find one in your town this month. You'll be glad you did.  

 

Warmly,

 

Jane Kirkpatrick