Lynn M. Dixon's Blog, page 9

Make the Effort!

I have found that if you have some particular field that really interests you, you should study the gurus and make an effort to be in their presence. Ever since about 8th grade, I knew that I wanted to be involved in some aspect of writing. I used to write that I would be a stenographer-typist, which was a career path, back in the day.

It still had to do with the use of words, whether listening and transcribing someone else’s words and then, typing them, before word processing came along. In high school, I always received better grades in shorthand (Pittman) than in typing. I could get the words down with a level of speed, but learning the places of the keys on the keyboard was more difficult for me.

Eventually, I figured out that I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to let my own words flow onto a page and even now, entering them into a word document is not anything I look forward to doing. I often write in longhand and data entry is a part of the entire writing, so it must be done.

Once, I figured out my next steps to write after years of teaching and librarianship, I started to seek out the writing gurus. If I heard that there was a writer or a writer’s conference anywhere in the area, I made the effort to get there. In between jobs, while the gas tank may have been almost on E, I still found a way to get there.

I wanted to be in the room, the presence and within earshot of those who had achieved what I wanted to achieve as a published writer. I now share a long list of authors that I have seen, heard, and in a few precious instances spoken with, always asking, “How do I get published?” It is not being braggadocious. It merely shows what can happen if there is a will and determination to get there. As the old saying from the 80’s said, “Be there or be square.”

I have seen the following:  Haki R. Madhubuti (Don L. Lee), Ernest J. Gaines, Eudora Welty, Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones), Issac Bashevis Singer, James Baldwin, Toni Cade Bambara, Dick Gregory, Nikki Giovanni, Ishmael Reed, Reginald Martin, Gwendolyn Brooks, Sonja Sanchez, Alice Walker (chatted with), Tina McElroy Ansa, Sandra Cisneros, Rita Dove, Virginia Hamilton (chatted with), Jerry Pickney, Mildred Pitts Walter, Walter Dean Myers, Andrea Davis Pickney and Brian Pickney (chatted with), Leo and Diane Dillon, Judy Blume, Paule Marshall (chatted with), Christopher Paul Curtis, Terry McMillan (chatted with), Maya Angelou and Jacqueline Woodson (chatted with). I am sure that I am forgetting some, but you get the general idea.

Being in their presence, getting some autographs and mostly listening to them tell their stories and read from their works, kept me connected to my dream. Each writer fired me up in some unique way and inspired me to stay on the literary path. I am so happy that I made the effort to get to the location to see them in action!

“I shall be telling this with a sigh,
Somewhere ages and ages hence,
Two roads diverged in a wood and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.” 
                          Robert Frost – The Road Not Taken

Lynn M.
December 16, 2023

Cleaning & Purging!

Now that 2023 is coming to a close, I took on the task of cleaning and purging. I have been working on clearing out what is no longer needed in my world as I acknowledge what has already been fully enjoyed by me.

I had previously scaled down on clothes and garments, so the largest project has been getting rid of old documents. My mother used to quote, “Thoughts are things and they occupy time and space.” As I shuffled through the old, tattered pages, I realized that I had been holding on to stuff for over two decades. Not good.

I slowly began to relinquish what I had once held as dear and shredded bags and bags of papers. I walked them out of my space and put them in the dumpster. Out of my life. Out of my mind. Out of my world. I simply held on to some precious remnants as marks or footprints in the sand. It was comparable to one discovering a new land and driving a stake in the ground and a sign reading, “I’ve been here. I’ve done this.”

I then opened my mind, my heart and arms to receive the new. I released all that served as blockades to my financial prosperity, great health, peace of mind and fresh love, as I threw out the old, stale and worn-out past. I labeled the past successes while preparing to  move on. I can now take the train out of a stuck mode, put it in drive gear and shove off down the road into 2024.

“I bless the past and gratefully accept all the new experiences that are flying my way!”

Lynn M.
December 11, 2023

‘Tis the Season!

‘Tis the season to be jolly,
Deck the halls with boughs of holly.

Spread love, strength and kindness to all,
Make certain that no one will fall.

Lift others like a sturdy prop,
By helping them yield a new crop.

Give more from the heart; not the hand,
It will teach others how to band,

Together. Strong units do thrive!
Let not the love take a nosedive.

Lynn M.
December 2, 2023

Napoleon: The Movie

When I was in college, I had a lecturer of history who took us into the heat of the moments during the French Revolution with his clear imagery and animated delivery. I never forgot it because it was like being there on the streets of Paris in 1789. I also took about six years of French in both high school and college. Sadly, I cannot speak it but I can conjugate verbs and find places on the French map!

I went on to teach The Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens to juniors in high school and can still see Madame Defarge’s quick moving fingers as she knitted and carried the local messages from her shop which was a stone’s throw from the guillotine. Thus, I have always been intrigued by French history.

More recently, I read Lally Brown’s book, The Countess, Napoleon and St. Helena. She lived on the island for a time and did extensive research on Napoleon’s last days there. Another British author, Susie Kelly wrote The Valley of Heaven and Hell: Cycling in the Shadow of Marie Antoinette. She and her husband cycled from their home in the south of France and she traced Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI’s last steps as they tried to escape their fate. They were so out of touch with everyday life and they traveled with an entourage, toilets and the like and were by no means incognito.They were recaptured and as the saying goes,”The rest is history.”

Earlier this year, I went to view Chevalier, a black composer and musician. He and Marie Antoinette traveled in the same circles so that led me to take some time to research her life. PBS and YouTube did not disappoint as the French rarely do, when it comes to affairs of the heart. So when Sir Ridley Scott’s new movie version of Napoleon finally came out on the big screen this week, it was a no-brainer. With Joaquin Phoenix as the lead actor, there was no question about if I would go. I saw him in Walk the Line as he portrayed Johnny Cash. On my way out of the theater some years back, another man leaving talked about how well he had channeled Johnny Cash.

There were only about six of us in the theater on its opening day this week, so it was almost like a private screening. I could really relax, dig in and pay attention to every detail of the almost three-hour movie. It began with Napoleon being a young soldier that  worked his way up the ranks by exhibiting his brilliance. He moved up to Brigadier General to Emperor and on to his two exiles on both Elba and St. Helena islands.

The movie revealed his love affair, marriage and strong friendship with Josephine, a widow a few years his senior. We saw his mother having a close and steady hand as she monitored and somewhat managed his liaisons as she pressured him to produce an heir.  And then there were the battles and so many military maneuvers that showed that a great deal of research had gone into that time period to get it right. There was his bitcorn hat which he wore at varying angles or some scenes where the horseback riding messengers used two horses, simultaneously moving from one to the other, to give each horse a rest. Interesting.

What struck me most was, of course, the earth-shattering Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon had been warned that neither they nor their horses were prepared for the winter weather, but by then, he had lost Josephine and I believe that he was a bit out of sorts. The square formations that the Duke of Wellington’s troops performed reminded me of marching band formations as they knew how to save as many lives as possible.

When I got home from the show, I looked up a lot of things like his mother’s life, the types of formations that the Duke of Wellington used at Waterloo, Josephine and second wife Marie Louise’s lives and a few other things until I felt I had enough information to let it be. I sent Lally Brown, the one who lived on St. Helena, a tweet  and let her know that I had seen the movie, Napoleon. She said that she had been hearing mixed reviews. My response: “…there will always be controversy and someone to take offense. It was well worth my time.” She said that she trusted my judgment and planned to see it.

None of us knew Napoleon and documentarians could only work with what remnants were left behind. In fact, who really ever knows anybody?  People I thought I knew never cease to amaze me even to date. For Joaquin Phoenix, I hear Oscar-buzz. If he is slighted, which happens too often, I personally thank him for giving so much of himself as he convinced me that he was Napoleon Bonaparte!

Lynn M.
November 25, 2023

Just Suppose!

I first heard about purgatory when teaching Shakespeares’ Hamlet many years ago. We all wonder what happens to our loved ones when they pass and we don’t know because no one has returned to tell us. We write and wish them eternal peace and to rest in peace, but suppose that it doesn’t happen that way.  

So. let’s just suppose for a minute. Our dearly departed have to wait in a long line just like when we do when we are shopping for groceries. Their feet hurt, and the ladies haven’t had time to put on their Sunday Best and the men are looking out of sorts as if they just came from the gym. Then, when they finally get to the front of the line, a half-rude, nonchalant person directs them to a small room for an interview and they show about as much compassion as those who work at the DMV.

Once they get into the interview room, there is a long table of people who look dreary but stern and they start asking questions about the person’s life. The interviewee has to start from their first day of remembrance and a scribe scribbles notes. The lords at the table press for details and it is clear that this will take several meetings depending on how long the departed walked the earth. So, no, there is no rest nor peace; at least, not yet.

As the dearly departed go through their lives in detail, they are constantly interrupted and reminded that they left out something. Oops! The authority figures already know what happened but they stall to see how much of the truth is being shared before they add in some left-out events.

And finally, there comes the hard part. There will be a host of one-on-one meetings with people that were slighted, injured or in any way adversely affected by the interviewee’s actions. Oh boy!  They have to meet with every living soul that they thought that they had steam-rolled and left in the dust. This could take a while for some and the schedules are set up quite like business office calendars. During the lengthy talks, the new arrivals are harried, exhausted as they wonder, “Where is the peace and where is the rest?  

On occasion, they are allowed to look back at those they left on earth and silently sigh, “If you only knew what I am going through!” Some see that making amends could take eons while others made it over to the good pasture with a level of ease. They are over there blowing bubbles and snoring up a storm while several are still laboring to clear their affronts and make things right. Whew!

Hindsight is truly 20-20. Those who are inundated with I’m sorrys and regrets realize that they made some poor choices. “Coulda, woulda, shoulda” rings in their ears as they slowly work out the accrued grievances. And, when they are cleared from the lords at the table, then their loved ones back on earth will feel their peace because they eventually made it over to the land of deep breathing.

The late great Loretta Lynn said it best. She said, “Treat folks right. Then you won’t have to wonder why things aren’t going right.” She added, “If I had a chance to do it over, I would go the same route.”  How profound!

Lynn M.
November 19, 2023

Colorless Tears!

Tears are colorless, unlike the rainbow.
They speak of deep anguish and simply flow.

All mothers cry when losing a dear child.
And the sting is not by any means mild.

Yes, all pain is pain and all hurt is hurt.
Regardless of what others say or blurt.

On any day, we could lose our smile.
It behooves us to walk a cautious mile.

Lynn M.
November 12, 2023

A Gift: Smokey Robinson

We had just moved to Chicago from Memphis in ‘63. We (my three sisters and I) still had tear-stained cheeks after our long goodbyes from our neighborhood friends in Memphis. It seemed as if the whole block was crying as Daddy loaded the family up in the Bronze Bumble to head north to The Windy City on I-55, coined The Double-Nickel by the Southerners.

He kept telling us that we would like it up there, but we were not convinced. We were even cynical in our deep depression and asked him how could we fly a kite between tall buildings? He probably just chewed on an apple, as he often did and just kept driving and staying on his mission to get us all away from Jim Crow.

And, once we settled in on the south side of Chicago, something happened. Actually a lot of things happened and we were too stimulated by the going-ons to stay in a blue funk for long.The businesses and shops along East 63rd Street gave us a lot to deal with on a daily basis. There was never a dull moment and the loud rumblings of the overhead EL train did not allow time for unhappy thoughts.

And then, there was the music. WVON blasted each home with the music and when Smokey Robinson belted out songs like Shop Around, Ooo, Baby Baby, You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me, Who’s Loving You? or The Tracks of My Tears, the darkness faded away. By then, we were all wide awake and swaying along with in the newness of life in the big city.  Stevie Wonder came out with Fingertips and Mary Wells sang My Guy which was written by Smokey. His moving words were also sung by Marvin Gaye in Ain’t that Peculiar or I’ll Be Doggone and everybody grooved to the Temptations’ My Girl a few years later.

So this is dedicated to Smokey ‘Bill’ Robinson whose poetic artistry helped dry me and my sisters’ tears as new lifelong friends made it to our doorstep and welcomed us to the neighborhood.  With a house full of girls, of course the boys found ways to camp out or be as close around as possible and with loving music as the backdrop, the sun quickly began to shine again in our new world.

I saw Smokey Robinson on homegirl, Jennifer Hudson’s show last week and it dawned on me that he has been serenading me for at least seven decades. We should never take our gifted artists for granted and though I know he has received numerous accolades throughout his illustrious career, my one more rose won’t hurt. He and I were both born in the Motor City (Detroit) and have used it as a springboard to move on to other locales. So, this is special for me in many ways.

Years ago, I read his autobiography, Smokey: Inside My Life with David Ritz and remembered his close bond with his father which helped put his feet upon a stable path. After seeing him on the JHud show, I listened to a two-hour interview with djvlad which was taped earlier this year on February 16, 2023. At the age of 83, Smokey continues to soothe and calm the emotions for many. Just last week, I put on his Quiet Storm song to help me breathe deeply after watching the evening news, though the song came out in 1975. It still works!

As he answered the interviewer’s questions, he was gracious, as expected, and managed to never belittle any other artist nor give off gossipy vibes. He was, however, both candid and honest. I know that he has seen a lot of people come and go but he was totally aboveboard in his conversation and was shrewd enough to skirt around any loaded questions.

I could go on and on about someone who has penned over 4000 songs that brought lovers closer together, offered a healing balm for the broken-hearted or simply helped others cruise down the highway of life. He has the gift that only he can give and as he said, the receivers have to make it their own. He actually said, “Whatever it means to you.” When he sang, ‘Beside You‘ on his latest music video, I felt as though I was the only one in the room. Pure Smokey! Thank you, Smokey Robinson for writing part of the musical score for so many years of my life through both the good and the bad times!

Lynn M.
November 8, 2023

Priscilla: A Movie Review

I saw the new movie, Priscilla, which was released this week. I have several thoughts as I reflect and certainly after seeing Elvis with Austin Butler and Tom Hanks (2022)  which did not get its proper credit nor recognition. As one who has strong Memphis roots, some of Elvis’ story is deeply ingrained into all of the locals’ psyche. So, I weigh in.

For starters, the lighting of the movie was dark and thus, the viewpoint was also dark and mostly a ‘woe me‘ film. Yes, Priscilla was only fourteen when she met  Elvis and soon thereafter moved in with him. Yes, he was ten years older than her. Time has proven that there may be a thin line between genius and insanity. Other greats have behaved oddly such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Edgar Allan Poe who both marryied their tween cousins.

I do know that Elvis was overly sheltered by his mother Gladys because he was bullied at Humes High School for being different and she said that she knew that he was here for a special purpose. Also, she had lost his stillborn twin so she kept Elvis close. He met Priscilla right after his mother’s death while stationed in Germany and related to her as another American in a foreign land.

The movie script reads like a forlorn teen who is being mistreated by her idol and those are normal adolescent feelings. But what is not normal is her mother and stepfather allowing her to go and live with a world-known celebrity. Some of her unhappiness should have pointed towards her complicit parents. Who does that?

Though the actors were as good as they could be, the height difference made it even more ridiculous as though he was truly ‘robbing the cradle.” Actress Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla) is 4’11” short and Actor Jacob Elordi (Elvis) is 6′ 5” tall. He truly looked as if he was picking up a child on the screen. In real life, Priscilla Presley is 5 ‘4 ” and Elvis was 6’ 0” which was not that much of a height difference for a couple. Perhaps they should have changed actresses for her later years because by the time she married Elvis, Priscilla was 21, not fourteen and their real wedding pictures do not depict him marrying a child.

Also Vernon Presley, Elvis’s father, was seen as being mean-spirited. I had never heard that before and this is just one of several inconsistencies in the movie. Everyone has a story and everyone has a right to tell their story. But sometimes what people remember does not line up with the memories of others who were also there or closeby. Basically, I think Lisa Marie would be most unhappy with this film. In fact, it has been written that she objected to some of the movie script before she passed earlier this year.

Overall, Elvis was portrayed as a bumbling idiot who was forced to burn his books because Priscilla felt ignored when he was reading. How unfortunate!  None of his music was played and he was seen as a jittery, pill-popping nervous wreck. If it was meant to diminish his light or genius in any way, it failed miserably.  It in fact solidifies the notion that she is a hanger-on who divorced this man fifty years ago but still profits from the use of his name.

The last scene shows her leaving Graceland, still looking fourteen when in real life she was 28. And Lisa Marie was nowhere in sight. Duh?  If this movie gets more positive reviews than the 2022 version of Elvis, I will be so disgusted. To Priscilla, I would say “Move on, and get a life!” If she still feels any rage or is stuck on a long-sailed ship, she should look to her parents who did not protect her as an underage girl! 

Lynn M.
November 4, 2023 

Comfort Ye!

Oh comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
Many grieve. Some kneel under a steeple.

As we witness the tears, anguish and shock,
This is not the time to sit back and mock.

Bring bandages, prayers and hearts of love,
If nothing else, open your wings like a dove.

It matters not the color of our skin,
For in God’s eyesight, we are all akin.

Yes, we must bury the rage and voiced hate,
Let’s act like adults before it’s too late!

Lynn M.
October 28, 2023

Pen Names!

When I was about eleven or twelve years old, I was walking down Benford Street in Memphis, not too far from our family duplex where we lived. The name Deria came to mind and I vowed to one day give that name to my daughter. To me, Deria represented a true term of endearment.

I did not have children, so around the age of 27, I decided to use it as a pen name, just for fun. Pen names always intrigued me as I thought of other writers who had used them.  Mary Ann Evans used the name George Eliot when she penned the classic Silas Marner along with other works. Though women were being published in Britain in the 1860’s, she did not want to viewed as a typical women’s writer and she wanted to be taken seriously. Hence, she wrote while using a man’s name and it worked!

And then, here in the States, Louisa May Alcott used the pen name A.M. Barnard before making it big using her own name when she wrote Little Women, Little Men and many other titles. Of course, we all know Mark Twain’s works such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but his real name was Samuel Clemens.

That being said, I tried on my new pseudonym or nom de plume and gave it a little extra pizzazz by adding the French version of my middle name. My high school French teacher said that she could not make Lynn sound French, so asked me my middle name. I told her that it was Margarita so during the four years while taking French, Ms. Nessman addressed me as Margarite’. Hence, my pen name in the late 70’s while writing for a local newspaper was sometimes Deria Margarite’. It depended on my mood as I decided which name I would use that day.

A few years back, after the advent of Google and other search engines, I decided to key in Deria Margarite.’  I did not expect to get any hits but to my astonishment, I did get a hit.  With my mouth open in disbelief, I researched further and saw that an author had referenced one of my articles in his book. Julius E. Thompson wrote a book called Black Life in Mississippi: Essays on Political, Social and Cultural Studies in a Deep South State and he had read and used an excerpt from my article called “A Look at JSU’s Literary Festival,” Jackson Advocate (October 1, 1977). I don’t have copies of those pieces anymore, so this meant so much to see that someone had been paying attention.

It reminded me that nothing is done in vain and we never, ever know who is watching and observing what we are doing. Sowing good seeds do yield fruitful crops. As some singers and high -level celebrities have stage names and exude alter egos, writers too can stretch their limitations as they safely work behind other names or smokescreens, just for fun!

Lynn M.
October 21, 2023