MARJORIE KINNAN RAWLINGS

Last night, my husband and I watched the DVD Cross Creek, the story of Pulitizer Prize-winning Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings when she first moved to Florida in 1928. This film became the sensation of the 1983 Cannes Film Festival. The blurb says, "This film remains one of the most powerful portraits ever of a writer's search for fulfillment as well as the remarkable story of one woman's bold struggle for independence."

I was moved to tears during this movie, just as I was when I read certain parts of her novel The Yearling. The Yearling is based on a real person in Cross Creek, a child who had a pet fawn who grew too big and ate the family's garden, and then was shot. I keep this book on my Favorites Shelf in my office. The characterization is great, the description is great, the setting is great... Is it any wonder it won a Pulitzer?

When Marjorie moved to Florida, she was a newpaper reporter wanting to write fiction. Her genre was gothic romance, where there's usually a governess or lady in distress, and the setting is a castle or mansion in Britain. She tried repeatedly to get her stories published, to no avail. Maxwell Perkins, the now legendary editor, considered them and rejected them. During correspondence between them, she wrote of her new life in Cross Creek on an orange grove among people rich in characterization and pathos. He wrote and told her to forget her gothic romances and write about the people surrounding her.

That's exactly what she did. She first wrote Jacob's Ladder based on a poor couple who worked for her temporarily. Then she wrote The Yearling, and the rest is history.

It's a lot for a writer to think about. Always wanting to learn and glean when I write or see things, I immediately thought of some parallels between Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and me.

We both write/wrote newspaper articles.

We both write/wrote romance.

We both live/lived in Florida.

We both have/had citrus trees on our property.

We both are/were inspired by the pathos of humanity right in our laps.

I live the kaleidoscopic life of a pastor's wife and see into many people's lives up close and personal. My husband and I have stood at the bedside of a young mother who's newborn just died, shared people's joy at weddings, been with parents who just received the news of their teenager's death (twice), celebrated milestone anniversaries all the way up to 65 years, stood by people in cancer and AIDS situations, and more. Do you see the seesaw in this paragraph? The emotions I've felt for and with people have been up and down. I believe this has given a richness in my writing.

Interestingly, my book The Tender Heart (first chapter is on this blog) was inspired by visit to Manatee Park Historical Village in Bradenton, Florida. As I looked at the old settler's house--called a "cracker gothic cottage"--I "saw" a young woman standing on the porch wearing a tattered dress. I "felt" a fit of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (as well as Janette Oke and Catherine Marshall) coming on me. The girl I "saw" became Sebbie in The Tender Heart. Even more interestingly, people tell me this book reminds them of the writings of these three authors. What a compliment. I'm grateful.