Thanks to the Fourth Presbyterian Church program Cornerstones, Shawn Wilson and I were asked to talk on writing about Washington, D.C. Shawn has written two well recommended police procedurals based on a good cop. Bonus for Chicagoans, her second in the series takes the trained policeman to Chicago where she describes his appreciation of the lake, baseball food and music spirit of the city.

As my family and I lived in Washington for eleven years, from 1970 to 1981, the assignment made me compare the Washington we knew then from the Washington of today.

My husband was a newly elected United States senator. A natural work alcoholic, he fell into the routine of working Mondays through Fridays plus weekends when he wasn’t going back to Illinois to meet constituents. We lived in Washington with children as did many of our colleagues. For school vacations, our crowded car made 60 trips back and forth to Illinois with dogs, Miece, the ferret, the girls’ snakes, a boa constrictor and a Burmese python. On one trip, there were eight orphan opossum babies, but that’s another story.

Today, I’m told, the senators work from Tuesdays through Thursdays, so many do not bring their families to Washington.

Ad appreciated that senators sat together in “mark up” committees where they hammered out the details of their legislative bills. Today, I’m told, many of these mark up sessions are run by staff members.

The sites of Washington called for exploration, short trips Ad could squeeze into Saturdays or Sundays. The Capitol itself spoke of history, the growth of the nation. First one small building housed the Senate and the Supreme Court. As the nation grew west, the size of the buildings had to grow as well from 30 senators and 105 representatives in the 1790s, to 100 senators and 435 representatives today. The big dome we see now was under construction in the Civil War with Union soldiers camped in the crypt, complete with ovens for baking bread. Columbia’s statue, cast into bronze by a Virginia slave was hoisted to the dome in 1863.

Our excursions to the sites of Washington and environs give more comparisons. The Smithsonian Museums along the mall and throughout the city are free to the public. Rock Creek Park, the National Zoo, the C & O Canal trail are supported by funds from the federal government. Today there is talk of defunding these important institutions.

The Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Library of Congress speak to sharing our historical happenings and the value of public knowledge. Any person can enter the central reading room of the Library of Congress to request books and documents.

For me, and I hope for our children, the seat of our nation’s government was a testimony to national unity and promise for the future.

Another important difference from then to now, our years there included the turmoil of Watergate. A story refresher: in the 1972 presidential election of Nixon versus George McGovern, thugs broke into the Democratic headquarters, stealing a few thousand dollars and attempting to install listening devices.
In 1973, the Senate voted a Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities by a vote of 77 – 0. Sam Ervin, D. N Carolina, Chair; James Baker, R. Tennessee, Vice Chair. The tone of the hearings were serious and respectful. Attorney General Kleindienst resigned due to possible implications in the skulduggery.

PBS made the significant and unprecedented decision to broadcast the hearings gavel to gavel throughout the trial. They further asked affiliate stations to repeat the hearing coverage at night.
The nation watched. Letters with additional funds pored into PBS stations. Nixon attempted to shut down the coverage by declaring PBS funds allowed educational and cultural programming not news. PBS went forward despite his criticism.

Attorney General Richard Kleindienst resigned for fear he would be implicated in the planning of the break-in. Nixon appointed Elliot Richardson as Attorney General and he, in turn, appointed Solicitor General Archibald Cox as Special Prosecutor.

Under examination, Bob Haldeman denied any involvement by himself or by the President in any of the planning or execution of the plundering.

Baker asked a crucial question. “What did the President know and when did he know it?”
The Committee called Alexander Butterfield, a White House staffer, to testify if telephones had been secretly installed with listening devices in the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room, the White House and Executive Office Buildings. Butterfield admitted they had been installed as early as 1971.
Cox subpoenaed the tapes. The Nixon administration refused.

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled the White House had to comply with the Select Committee subpoena.

Nixon ordered Richardson to fire Archibald Cox. In what became known as the Saturday Night Massacre, Richardson and Ruckleshaus, the deputy Attorney General resigned rather than follow those orders.

Robert Bork, the acting Solicitor General fired Archibald Cox.
Separately, Vice President Agnew was accused of income tax fraud. He resigned and Nixon appointed Gerald Ford as Veep.

1974, the House Committee of 21 Democrats and 17 Republicans voted 3 articles of Impeachment against Nixon with 6 Republicans joining the Democrats. Nixon pronounced “I am not a crook” on national television. Eleven more Republicans join the Democrats. On the successful vote to impeach the president, Nixon resigned rather than face the trial.

Bipartisan congressional leaders in concert with the Supreme Court of the United States had worked to support the rule of law affirmed and validated by a majority of the nation’s public, a triumph of victory over villainy.

My novel cannot receive credit for this result as the closure came a bit before the publication of Long Reach. However, the news underscores pride in community action and attitudes wished for in my imagination.

The effort needs to continue. A letter from The Georgia Strait Alliance included a 1996 report which lists pollution details: “Air discharges from pulp mills contain hormone-disrupting and carcinogenic chemicals, such as chlorinated phenols, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and VOCs. BC’s coastal pulp mills are the largest provincial source of airborne dioxins and furans, which are among the most carcinogenic substances known.”

Management of water effluent and waste fiber handling have similar results.

After a review of recommended improvement techniques, the report concludes: “Totally chlorine-free, zero-discharge pulp mills, which produce no liquid effluent and minimize the quantity and toxicity of air pollution and solid waste, are a desirable and achievable goal.”

Mill closure consequences: It should be noted that 200 people lost their jobs in this mill’s closure. A news article implies that clean air and water has brought in additional jobs like fishing and tourism, as well as overall health benefits in the community.

One of the great pleasures of publishing Long Reach, my environmental mystery, is the opportunity to talk about writing and reading with thoughtful members of book clubs. After Thanksgiving, a lively group in the Old Town Triangle met for a lavish spread of good food, wine and conversation. They not only brought out ideas about my mystery but gave me great suggestions for my next reads which I’m enjoying from our local library. The participants first met when parents at their children’s elementary school. Those children are now in college, so it proves that the glue of book talk is strong and vibrant. My thanks to them for the delight of sharing thoughts about the joys of reading.

Today I am proud to announce that Rebecca Grace, an author and a regular blogger, has interviewed me about my novel Long Reach and my writing story.

Here is a link to her blog:
Rebecca Grace Blog

Thank you, Rebecca, for this opportunity to talk about the joys of writing.

Today is election day, an important moment in our nation’s history. I am grateful for the thousands upon thousands of people who have worked to provide a fair election and who believe, as I do, that government and public institutions are essential ingredients for peace, justice for all and avenues for community development at home and abroad. Voting is our right, our duty and our privilege.

Long Reach is a mystery of action and adventure with an unexpected twist. Is Nora guilty of pushing her husband overboard in a fit of violent anger? Or is she a victim in an environmental conspiracy?

On a fishing trip in the beautiful waters of the Georgia Strait, British Columbia, Canada, Nora is accused of attempting to murder Joe, her husband and partner of 30 years. Fearing her anger caused the incident, Nora strives to discover if she is guilty or innocent. In the search for truth, thugs shoot at Nora, she is kidnapped, jailed and tried in court for manslaughter and other crimes. With the help of a First Nation Mountie and a First Nation healer, can Nora prove her innocence and expose conspirators responsible for air, water, and land pollution and stealing rights from First Nation tribes?

Purchase Long Reach here.

Long Reach, my novel due for release by The Wild Rose Press in July, has numerous passages about the cry of the loon, a plaintive song heard in particular moments in the novel. The cry provides a thread of memory about a treasured night for my protagonist, Nora, with her then young husband, Joe, her television reporting partner, as they watch the northern lights together in British Columbia, Canada. Twenty five years later, they return to the same place in the midst of a break-down in their relationship. The cry, reminding her of their former bonds, echoes her despair.

Nora and Joe undergo numerous traumas. He falls from his fishing boat, after being hit on the head by a damaging force. She is accused of attempting his murder. Nora is fearful that indeed, in her anger, she brought her fish bopper down onto his head.

Before the case is resolved, Nora is kidnapped, her life and the lives of her friends are threatened. Environmental hazards are exposed. At the end, the song of the loon and the power of the nurturing tides give Nora hope that she and Joe will surmount the challenges they face for the future.

With this thread resonating in my heart, I read the Tribune article, April 11, 2024 in despair. The article reports loons are diminishing. Fewer chicks are being born and those fledged are often underweight and less strong.

The reasons are not clear. It may be the added rainfall of climate change that makes lakes too murky for the parent loons to find food for their nestlings. According to this article, it may be that climate change is bringing a heavier black fly season. Their torment to the parents may drive them to abandon their nests. (My husband and I spent a week in southern Canada’s wilderness area in black fly season. We were newly-weds. The black flies did not chase us away, but I can understand a loon’s torment.)

For me, the diminishing loon population causes another cherished hope that our society will awaken from our sloth in time to save the loons. Whoever has heard their cry has touched a bit of nature’s mystery.

My parents read aloud with friends, sometimes passages from articles for discussion, sometimes short stories or poetry. These readings rose spontaneously from a topic in the news or a piece of writing that someone of them wanted to share. There seemed to be time then for casual meetings with conversation and storytelling. Later, living near a small town, ‘neighboring’ or ‘visiting’ was the phrase for summer afternoon tea under a shade tree, or winter cocoa by a wood stove, quiet talk while the children played nearby.

I miss those casual gatherings that now seem displaced by more formal appointments, arranged events in public settings. These too can have rewards, sometimes even a sense of shared appreciation. Yet, the particular intimacies of sharing time merely to share connecting may be lost in our daily hustle.

Kate DiCamillo, as discussed in this blog on March 20, 2024, promotes reading aloud for refining one’s own writing. She also encourages reading to adults. “It is an act of love to read to somebody…You feel cocooned, almost. It’s kind of like everybody puts down their defenses and you’re together in the story.” Maryanne Wolf, a scholar at UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies says “it (reading aloud) triggers our ability to go beyond ourselves and to reach into the thoughts and feelings of others. We are transmitting emotions, we are transmitting affection.” New York Times, First Section, February 23, 2024.

I now hope to build excuses for little readings. On my next longish car trip with a friend or a visit to a patient in the hospital, I plan to take along something to read aloud, a favorite poem or a short, short story, in an effort to recapture that old-fashioned idea of making time to share, a little “act of love” to quote Kate DiCamillo.

Yesterday, I sent off my second novel to a prospective publisher which lets me turn again to the next unfinished novel on my computer. I have set myself the task of reading this third novel aloud in an attempt to solve some of its problems.

By chance, the New York Times “By the Book” section of February 29, 2024 has comments by Kate DiCamillo on the process. “I read each book aloud so many times before it’s published, I don’t read it again, which is interesting, because the readers often know the book better than I do.”
I’ve yet to read my novel aloud through more than the first three chapters, much less reading it many times, but I’m hoping to persevere with her process.

Asked if her style had changed over time, Ms. DiCamillo, author of many riveting books for the young, answered, “I still write the same way – which is trying to get out of my way and listening for the voice of the story. And that means, I guess that I’m not trying to write for the moment, but for the heart.”

In addition, Kate DiCamillo, author of multiple riveting books for the young, gave this bit of advice. “I tell kids who want to write: Pay attention to everything. I think paying attention is the way to love the world.” Paying attention is one theme of my unfinished novel. My thanks to Kate DiCamillo for giving me this nudge to keep on with the story.

I have my first novel, Long Reach, published by The Wild Rose Press, due to be released in July, four months before my 90th birthday. I worried about talking about this to other people, so a friend sent me the following information for encouragement.

Doris Lessing (born October 22, 1919) published Alfred and Emily at almost 89.

Elmore Leonard (born October 11, 1925) published novels until his late 80s.

Tom Wolfe (born March 2, 1930) released Back to Blood, his first novel in 8 years at age 82.

Toni Morrison (born February 18, 1931) published her 10th novel, Home, at age 82.

Alice Monro (born July 10, 1931) released Dear Life at age 81.

I’m not comparing my work to any of these greats, but it is interesting to note that it’s never too late to put our stories out there for others.