Whenever I do a book talk, people ask me how I started writing Legacy – what inspired me to do this?
Before my father’s death in 1988, I could never have allowed myself to write about what happened to our family in 1955; Dad would not have tolerated my re-exposing the family by writing about our “troubles.”
The idea of writing did occur to me, in a major way, after reading Carl Bernstein’s memoir, Loyalties. Bernstein was also the child of Communists, brought up in D.C. Moved to tears from page one, I resonated to the feelings he described in his story: confusion, shame, pride, curiosity.
My mother died in April of 1996. It was then that the urge to write became an obsession. Soon after her death, I attended my first writing workshop and my memoir was launched; there was no turning back. My husband Michael was surprised when I read the first chapter to him. “Where did this come from?” he asked, taken aback by the intensity of feelings expressed. I knew his shock and interest augured well for the book. I was as surprised as he was by what I had written; it seemed to have come from some place I didn’t recognize as my own.
The first thing I did when I retired from my 35-year career in special education, in 2000, was to join a writing group. This group has met every other week for nearly ten years. Each meeting we bring something new to read. We critique each other’s work and provide one another with support and encouragement.
