I’m Nominated for a Prize!

And...”Woke One was Craaazy”

My Book is a Contest Finalist!

And…”Woke One was Craazy”

I haven’t given a report on my progress of my book, my memoir, for a while, but earlier in the year, I had submitted a synopsis and a few pages to the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Unpublished manuscripts contest. This week I learned that I am a finalist! The results will be announced at the October 17-18 PNWA annual conference. The top three get to meet with agents and editors, so that’s kind of a big deal. Even if I don’t win, I am thrilled to be in the running. Pray, keep your fingers crossed, or as my mother would do “knock on wood” that I’ll be one of the top three.

And, if anyone is going to be at the PNWA conference in October, let’s get together!

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Speaking of the book, I have a tentative title: Seattle Odyssey: From Campus Radical to Cop Mom. Last week, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez laughingly said, “Woke one was craaazy!” in response to questions about the events of that era. Many of those events, especially in 2020, revolved around a key demand of the time, “Defund the Police.”

Maybe her quote should be the name of my book. But seriously, reliving and trying to understand the world my family and I inhabited during the summer and fall of 2020, when adherents of “Peak Woke” were definitely ascendent, isn’t funny. Those long nights, when my Police Officer son and his colleagues were in the forefront of the efforts to stave off violent rioters; the many nights I didn’t go to sleep until the early morning hours when my son texted me that he was safe in his apartment. And the loneliness of knowing that most of my friends accepted the narrative that it was the police who were responsible for the violence that occurred during those fraught days—it was hard, and it’s hard to write about.

It didn’t help that I just read a book called Blood and Progress: a Century of Left Wing Violence in America by Noah Rothman. It is unnerving to see how some of the radical actions I was involved in during my college years morphed through time. Rothman doesn’t ignore the violence of the Right, but does focus on the Left-side of the story. His description of the development of the Black Bloc anarchists who were responsible for so much of the rioting in the summer of 2020 is eye-opening. ( In the weeds: if you’re someone who thought highly of Brian Burroughs Summer of Rage, Rothman quotes extensively from that book and much of his material ties in with what was happening in the sixties and early seventies.)

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On another note, It was heartbreaking to join the other ladies at my water exercise class on Wednesday as we all sang along to “Jolene,” bouncing our water weights up and down in the pool. I heard one commentator say that Dolly Parton was special to anyone growing up in the eighties. I imagine those ladies in the water with me were actually grown up anda raising their own kids in the 1980’s, and we knew her songs too. It’s a sign of her greatness that she is maybe the artist with the most multi-generational appeal in my lifetime.

I became a Dolly fan through the backdoor. I was a huge Emmy Lou Harris fan, loved Linda Rondstadt, so when the three of them recorded their Trio albums, I listened to everything and of course, quickly loved Dolly Parton’s voice. Here’s one example of her singing the lead of Neil Young’s “After the Gold Rush.” I’ve been listening on repeat.

Truly a moment From My Back Pages. My heart is full as are so many others. And she will be remembered not only for her music. My granddaughter has been one of the millions of children who receive a monthly storybook from Dolly’s Imagination Library, which is an amazing legacy in itself.

Bless you all and may we all be a little kinder today than we were yesterday. I’d love to hear your own Dolly Parton memories in the comments.