Say What? Women's Voices Have Power to Wow

Contributed

Thasia Anne Lunger, far right, joins other cast members from Women of Word for the finale of their program at Gannon University's Schuster Theatre on Feb. 24.

"Wow!"

That was my response after I happened upon two inspiring stories featuring strong women on the same day, just in time for Women's History Month.

On the morning of Feb. 24, I interviewed Jayne Simon about her success as a novelist, in retirement. The author of three books, she has a fourth that will be published in May. That evening, I attended WOW – "Women of Word" – at Gannon University's Schuster Theatre. Thasia Anne Lunger has created and hosted WOW for 14 seasons, collaborating in writing the narrative with Cathi GG Mitchell who, like Thasia, is both a poet and a social worker.

Interviewing Jayne and attending WOW reinforced my belief that now, more than ever, we need to hear and heed women's voices.

But sadly, the day before I sat down with Jayne and later joined a standing ovation at WOW, Erie lost a cherished storyteller, Bettye Walker Chapman, who died on Feb. 23 at age 81.

I am heartbroken that Bettye died before we had another chance to hear her again embody abolitionist and activist Sojourner Truth delivering her famous speech, "Ain't I A Woman," which she gave at the 1851 Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio.

Yet it's a fitting tribute that Bettye's obituary and her funeral service focused on the joy that she spread throughout Erie and highlighted her boundless capacity to love, despite growing up in the Jim Crow era in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and discovering racist graffiti scrawled at her former Erie business, So'Journer's Truth.

Bettye and I shared good times and great conversations for many years. We talked about the grief of being widowed and we mourned the loss of adult children – my son, two of her daughters. We figured out how to go on living after loss and how to love again in new marriages.

In a February 2009 column for the Erie Times-News, I wrote that Bettye "showed me a multihued quilt, 'Healing Hurts,' with 12 squares that trace her journey of sorrow, hope, faith, love, peace and joy. The quilt has an eagle, dancing women, African queens, butterflies and a high-heeled, checkered shoe."

Bettye rocked those heels. At 6'1", she had the regal stature to carry off her living history portrayal of Sojourner Truth, a performance she presented to school children, social service agencies, church congregations – and in the finished basement of the home she shared with her second husband, Bert, where we celebrated Black History Month with soul food and a congenial collection of her family and friends.

Shortly after I wrote that column in 2009, Bettye persuaded me to join 11 other women to portray historical figures in a program called "Strong Women and Sweet Tea," at the Watson-Curtze Mansion (now the Hagen History Center). Bettye, of course, played Sojourner; other women portrayed Harriet Tubman, Lena Horne, Lorraine Hansberry, Rosa Parks, and Maya Angelou, among other notables.

I timidly decided to give a voice to my maternal grandmother, Rosa Capoduri Tremori, an Italian immigrant living in a coal-mining town in Clearfield County. After Rosa died at age 25, my mother, an infant, was moved to St. Joseph's Home in Erie with her two older sisters.

I hinted at the end of my script that someday, I would research and write the whole story about Rosa and my Italian heritage. Other than some rough drafts of the first few chapters, I haven't made much progress.

That's probably one reason why I was delighted to meet Jayne, who has incorporated stories about Irish immigrants and the real-life experience of her mother and four aunts, raised in an orphanage in upstate New York, in her books.

Jayne Simon writes historical fiction based on family history. Her fourth novel will be published in May. She's also polishing a short story she wrote in high school. (Contributed Photo)

Jayne, 77, has enjoyed many titles. She married her high school sweetheart, a lawyer who switched careers to become a Russian Orthodox priest. They've raised two daughters and one son and enjoy being grandparents. She worked as an administrator at various businesses and non-profits before retiring to become a writer. She's also a breast cancer survivor.

So far, I've only read her second novel, The Music of My Heart. Published in 2021, it made me cry happy tears thanks to a surprise ending. I also plan to read Being Strong, published in 2020, and Dare to Dream, which came out in 2023, and look forward to Teddy's Gifts, due out in May.

Jayne overcame what some might consider daunting odds to become a writer. Her father abandoned her family but Jayne's mother instilled a love of reading in all six of her children. "I stuttered terribly as a child," she said, but her mother helped her to overcome that by having all the kids read aloud. She reassured Jayne that the reason she stuttered was "because your brain works faster than your mouth," Jayne recalled.

Jayne somewhat regrets that there wasn't money for her to go to college but nevertheless, she got an education, courtesy of her boyfriend Steve, who shared his syllabus from Colgate University so that Jayne could read all of the English and Russian literature he was assigned in class.

She describes her writing process this way: "I get an idea about something and go with it. I don't really follow the 'rules' when it comes to writing. I don't make story outlines or character sketches. The story somehow develops and plays out in my head. It really is like watching a movie in my mind."

She continued: "I chew on ideas for as long as it takes, and then I write what I see. Although I don't have an ending in mind when I write, I know that the story will be resolved in an uplifting way. My protagonists are always strong women, who are supported by good men."

Bettye might have said the same, because her obituary noted that "she believed deeply in building connections and creating spaces where everyone felt welcome." Those spaces were always open to strong women and supportive men, no matter your race, your age or your upbringing.

In addition to being a grandmother and great-grandmother, Bettye was also a foster grandparent in the school district. Thasia would identify with that role. She's working on a writing program for this summer for youth aging out of the foster care system. To learn more about Thasia's workshops or WOW 2027, you can email her at tannetaf@gmail.com.

As for additional writing advice, Jayne said it's important to "be authentic" and to compose something every day. She takes her cue from writer Jane McCarthy, who made it a habit to carry a notebook at all times.

Which reminded me that it was time to consult my own notebook and add one more tidbit about Jayne, whose nickname is MOM – that stands for Mother of Mayor, as in Daria Devlin.

Liz Allen found inspiration for this story by rereading Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I A Woman."