“Coming Home: A Gay Christian Speaks to Fundamentalists”
(UTNE Reader, May-June 2010)
“Whose Story Is It, Anyhow?” – a discussion of writing across gender, race, and sexual orientation
(Chrysalis Reader, March 2011)
“The Watch”
Stories from the Blue Moon Café III (August 2004)
“Letting the Future in Through Story”
(A View from the Loft, December 2010)
“Passenger Trains and Other Forbidden Loves”
(The Gertrude Journal, Fall 2010)
Just Call Me a Dinosaur
(a virtual children’s book, August 2010)
A well-written reminiscence, and – more importantly, an excellent reflection on childhood and its distortive learning.
My mother was born in Arkansas (1918) and raised in Pasadena, California (from mid 1920s). She learned over time to let go of the prejudices and entitlements of those roots and that era. Along with former sociology courses, Odell’s book helped me understand the backstory of my parents and grandparents, and why my parents participated in “white flight’ in the late 1950s. Thank you.
Please post the essay at the end of THE HEALING – “A note to the reader” is a must read to all seeking to understand the Jim Crow era. I want to share this chapter with family and friends who might not take time to read this novel. Don’t misunderstand me, I am recommending this entire book to everyone. With that said, with busy careers, graduate studies, and young children, my adult children are unlikely to read this wonderful book at this time. They would read this essay.
If you don’t post it, can I get your permission to dupe it and send it to my children?
Patt, I love your comment. Thank you for sharing this info about your family and I’m glad my book went further in helping you understand their dynamics. You are right. I’ve had such a great reaction to the NOT TO THE READER, we are looking for other ways to make it available for folks, without having to buy the book.