Susie Duncan Sexton's Blog, page 18

apathy is the devilish force at work

yep, if we care about children...really care...well, here is the basic problem...not to mention our taking food from mouths of third world children to raise our CROPS and LIVE....STOCK!

“Stop using GMOs in baby formula!” – petition here.



what part of this horror "formula" do we fail to understand?



...apathy is the devilish force at work...apathy itself is cruel beyond description.



thanks for these comments ...

Tammy N. Marshall: "Apathy is just as dangerous, if not more so, than guns. I don't know a lot about taking food from third world countries to feed our livestock but I know that if we don't care enough to find out problems and fix them we end up hurting ourselves."

Martina Fox Berry Perella: "I don't believe I have an ounce of apathetic blood in my body. I look at those pictures and my heart melts. I send donations in for them, but that isn't going to save their lives."




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Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available on Amazon (click the title).

The books are also carried by these fine retailers: Ann Arbor's Bookbound and Common Language; Columbia City's Memory Lane, North Side Grille and Whitley County Historical Museum; and Fort Wayne's The Bookmark.

And you can download from iTunes.

Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page

Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com

Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't

Old Type Writer - Animals, the environment, nature or wildlife: Dearborn’s Big Read Wrap-Up Event

From Talk of the Town - thanks, Jennifer Zartman Romano!



“We at Talk of the Town wish columnist Susie Duncan Sexton a very happy birthday. On the latest installment of Old Type Writer, Susie's son, Roy Sexton, a great writer in his own right, authors the column. Sexton shares their recent visit to a writer's event in Michigan recently where Susie's work was featured. Click here to read it.”



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Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available on Amazon (click the title).

The books are also carried by these fine retailers: Ann Arbor's Bookbound and Common Language; Columbia City's Memory Lane, North Side Grille and Whitley County Historical Museum; and Fort Wayne's The Bookmark.

And you can download from iTunes.

Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page

Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com

Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't

somebody somewhere is laughing all the way to the bank

talented Ann Arbor blogger and teacher beth kennedy wrote this haiku (or "hai-sue") in honor of my birthday:

susie smart sassy
don’t mess with dueling diva
cut you with her pen

thanks, wonderful and fun and caring beth ... I don't plan to disappoint ... here goes ...




gee, so charities combating hunger are now in cahoots with the meat industry? feeding the poor is essential.....BUT killing animals to do so is NOT essential...besides, if we care about people, consuming rotting (though "artificially" preserved) cadavers and corpses is not healthy for those we might wish to help.



since cattle are born to eat grass, let us take a tip from that fact of nature. the spin about human beings needing huge quantities of animal protein is a money-maker for those who are selling us a bill of goods.

wait! we get protein from devouring grass-eating bovines? how very odd. the cattle do not need animal protein...if they did, the massive number of them bred every second ("artificially" usually....there is that word again), for PROFIT (for the special brutal few) AND FOR DUPING THE PUBLIC INTO EATING WHAT IS SO WRONG FOR US, the cattle might just turn on us and eat us up!

not enough grass on earth for the over-reproduction of these naturally grazing mammals and that is why they are fed each other (the genesis for "mad cow" disease) and jelly beans and lord knows what.



pandemics like MERS, swine flu, wasting disease and bovine and human tuberculosis, the return of polio?

From National Geographic: "What sets off these spillovers—the initial spread from animal to person? Opportunity. Some human comes into contact with an animal that's carrying a virus. It seems to be happening more in recent decades, probably for two reasons: First, we're better able to identify and track these diseases. Second, we're increasingly coming into contact with wildlife. More and more, we humans are going into tropical forests and the other really diverse ecosystems on the planet. We're cutting trees, killing animals, building timber camps, building mines, causing destruction—and we're offering the viruses that live in the wild animals of these places the opportunity to get into humans, and then pass from one human to another."

do not be fooled by duplicitous acts of "charity" claiming that the poor need meat and that those who provide it are not always looking out for number one...none of us need meat.



we cannot condone slaughter through rationalization of slaying out of "kindnesses" (someone at the top has fooled us into believing) that are supposedly shared in "soup kitchens" -- wrong-headed and devious and self-serving lack of logic.

we ourselves are lambs being led to slaughter by brainwashing and propaganda. look for the $$$$$$$$ signs behind publicity for "charity" always -- 10 times out of 10 the hidden agendas become quite visible. somebody somewhere is laughing all the way to the bank.



"the world is too much with us; late and soon/getting and spending we lay waste our powers" (William Wordsworth) -- too many peripheral humans also getting rich on this terrorism for it to be stopped...people we even know...look around

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Be sure to catch us at this Saturday's Big Read Dearborn Wrap-Up party. I contributed an essay as well as the cover photo to Animal Tales and will be part of the author meet-and-greet!

All the info can be found here. The theme is "Call of the Wild" with all kinds of animal-themed activities. Saturday, May 17, 2-4 pm, Henry Ford Centennial Library, 16301 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn, Michigan. More coverage here.
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thanks for this feedback!

Kim Elizabeth Johnson: "Excellent point made! 'Feeding the poor' your 'kill' sickens me. Sounds like something that Nugent creep would say."

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Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available on Amazon (click the title).

The books are also carried by these fine retailers: Ann Arbor's Bookbound and Common Language; Columbia City's Memory Lane, North Side Grille and Whitley County Historical Museum; and Fort Wayne's The Bookmark.

And you can download from iTunes.

Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page

Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com

Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't

Homeward Angle ... THIS IS THE LIFE: BLOGS & DOGS!

[Click here for more info on 'Animal Tales' - our Jack and Zelda are the cover models! Talk of the Town coverage here]

Attorney and former neighbor Earl Tison, whom I desired to adopt the moment I met him, exclaimed frequently, "Susie, if anybody should start a blog, it would be you!" Computer-less at that particular time, I had no concept of precisely what he might be suggesting, as a consequence of myriad moon-light porch chats at his house or mine. Guessing that the Republican son of a preacher usually regarded me as an unconventional thinker, nevertheless this kid always "got" me, and, wow, did we ever have a blast exchanging philosophies and ideas? (I pray for my ideas and ideals, sooner rather than later, to be considered conventional, BTW!)



Fast forward to present day with me in possession of a Dell and possessed by cyberspace. I am religiously assisted by my agent/engineer son Roy Sexton whom I nicknamed Maxwell Perkins after the wily genius-editor who'll be portrayed in a forthcoming film by handsome, swoon-worthy Britisher Colin Firth, co-starring with Michael Fassbender as famed North Carolina novelist Thomas Wolfe from whom I stole the punny-name of my newspaper column. Perkins wisely tweaked Wolfe's original title "O, Lost!" to assure best-selling status of Tom's semi-autobiographical debut novel "Look Homeward, Angel" (1929)-- much to the author's initial chagrin.



Earl was correct. I adore blogging because I can be who I truly am there … I do not capitalize or punctuate ever. I insist upon italics! Yes, I stream my consciousness…don't we all? Be honest! I once referred to myself as "e.e.cummings & goings" when e-mailing. (Hoping many of you comprehend my tantalizing frame of reference there…if not, google away!) I employ my favorite device called the "ellipsis" which has become my middle name by now…sounds so Grecian or exotic! What is particularly fun is the discovery of other bloggers who write exactly what they feel and perceive about this world of ours as well. I know three of those--an animal activist who agrees totally with my views on pigs' intelligence and rights of sentient beings to live out their lives quoting me in her blog "Other Nations" , my own kid "reelroy" who rushes home from movie theaters to compose snappy movie reviews, and cute free-spirited Michigander Beth Kennedy who has now become "family" forever!



Beth's "I Didn't Have My Glasses On … (an ellipsis…no wonder I love her!) A Trip Through Life with Fingers Crossed and Eternal Optimism" featured author Roy and his ma recently. (BTW, Blogging Beth does not capitalize either as you'll note!) "We discovered last fall, in blog world, that we were connected through many different avenues, and mutual close friends. amazingly we had never crossed paths in real life. until…I attended a wonderful and unusual book signing at our local ann arbor senior center with guest author susie sexton who read and offered anecdotes from her book, and local roy sexton, susie sexton's son, (known throughout michigan for his cabaret style performances) sang some of his mom's favorite musical show tunes. they kept the audience laughing and clapping, and roy was there to support his mother's wonderful endeavor." Wow?



She continued (her blog entry peppered with several candid photos, too )…"and just yesterday, I attended son roy's own book signing at a new ann arbor local independent book store (owned by Peter Blackshear, former head buyer of titles for Borders Bookstore) ‘bookbound’ and susie was there to return the favor…roy (snarky and smart blogging movie reviewer) sang (accompanied by longtime friend and fellow theater musician, rebecca biber) and read aloud and answered (terrific) questions and susie was there to support him…they may have to create a 'sexton section' in their shop." Beth entitled her entry, " six degrees of sexton-ation " and included a Punta Cana photo of a rubber raft floating about carrying sun-tan lotion, towels, sunglasses and a copy of Roy's paperback, captioned: "roy's first book 'Reel Roy Reviews Volume 1: Keepin' It Real' has been making its way around the world!"



Following the Ann Arbor "book-signing-singing" on April 26, we headed back to Roy's multi-gabled spacious house and got gifted with Cher's "Dressed to Kill Tour" t-shirts and a "Duncan" Scottish Coat of Arms replica and then played with our adopted grand-kids rescued Dachshund Lucy and Black Lab Valvoline -- both plucked from Eight Mile Road traffic a few years back. Returning home to Indiana, we stayed up late posting pix of the afternoon, one of which featured Don Sexton's latest "Mike Biddle hair-cut" eliciting an e-mail from that popular barber's sister Jo who praised her sibling's handi-work. Of course, upon scanning and uploading (or is it downloading) our digital memories, I sent them to Roy who had regaled his bookstore audience with a jazzy tune called " This is the Life " from the Sammy Davis musical "Golden Boy" based on the 1939 William Holden film (the topic being a violinist turned boxer????) which was adapted from the Clifford Odets 1937 play of the same name. Roy blogged, of course, posting the resultant Facebook slide-show: "With references to forgotten Broadway musicals and even more forgotten films ('Buckaroo Banzai' or 'Time Bandits', anyone?), analysis of my ongoing 'war' with the Cher-army, many funny asides, boffo binge-book-buying by all in attendance, and a whole lot of zany fun, yesterday's book signing/singing event was a hit."



One of my favorite poems of all time "Vagabond's House", written in 1928 by Don Blandings an owner of two pampered canines as well as a friend of movie star Joan Crawford, includes a vibrantly accurate passage:

"Thoroughbreds, both of them, right from the start… One by breeding, the other by heart. There are times when only a dog will do… For a friend . . . when you’re beaten, sick and blue… And the world’s all wrong, for he won’t care… If you break and cry, or grouch and swear… For he’ll let you know as he licks your hands… That he’s downright sorry . . . and understands." Well, Mr. Blandings, in 2014 let us add to your apotheosis of adopted dogs -- because from my experience, a dog and a blog are equally pleasurable as is a "cat in a hat" --just ask Dr. Seuss-ie! (My new pen name?)



thanks for this feedback!

Drex Morton: "I enjoyed catching up with some of my favorite people through Susie's enviable and lovely lens into a world that is becoming..."

Jim DeMaegt: "Thomas Wolf-Wolf-Wolf!!!"

Jean Armstrong: "Susie doing what Susie Sexton does best!!! My pleasure to read and acknowledge quality!!!"

Karrie Noble: "LOL! The black dog's name is 'Valvoline!' I love it. ♥"

Beth Kennedy: "you are whirlwind and a wonder susie sexton, and i am happy to know you. great post"

Jo Powers Biddle: "Roy, you and your mom are simply the best. I'm so happy that your mom and I reconnected after more than 50 years. YIPES. Also, I'm delighted to be your FB friend. I am sure that I already mentioned that but I feel compelled to repeat it!"

Megan Andrews Blackshear: "Aw, sweet, thanks for the link!"

Other Nations: "'the discovery of other bloggers who write exactly what they feel and perceive about this world of ours as well. I know three of those--an animal activist who agrees totally with my views on pigs' intelligence and rights of sentient beings to live out their lives quoting me in her blog Other Nations ...' THANKS Roy! THANKS Susie! Here's to telling it like it is...hope you guys are well and thriving!"

Tari Joyce: "NICE !!! ( I know my spelling is getting better reading your Blogs...Words Mania !!! Love It !!! )"

Helen Cochrane: "I always enjoy Susie's writing - strong influences of Roy Duncan. Thanks."

Julie Jo: "Thank you :) Love it <3"



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Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available on Amazon (click the title).

The books are also carried by these fine retailers: Ann Arbor's Bookbound and Common Language; Columbia City's Memory Lane, North Side Grille and Whitley County Historical Museum; and Fort Wayne's The Bookmark.

And you can download from iTunes.

Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page

Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com

Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't

Mr. Bundy...wow?

Mr. Bundy...wow? And you're not "feeding all of America"...not me anyway.

View "CNN exclusive: Rancher defends racist remarks: 'I think I'm right'" by clicking here.



I don't eat animals. And the deceased calf that you held up for Chris Cuomo to see is dead because of you...the fault is yours.

And no, your attempt to display the unfortunate baby mammal for a photo op was not proper viewing for children this morning...or ever.



And no, America has not "gone soft"... Americans in droves are evolving intelligence-wise and are beginning to realize profiteering achieved through primitive-minded, greedy over-breeding for the purposes of slaughtering en masse is violent, barbaric and unhealthful for ALL living beings...the entire animal kingdom of which humans are simply a part.



Cannot believe that this fellow is demonstrating for the entire world how preposterous "ranching" is...sorry for the sadness of his animals dying and being displaced...but then "animals as food" translated into blood-cash must stop altogether.

All of the cattle being bred ARTIFICIALLY by these types are causing bison to be slaughtered cuz not enough room on the vast plains (what's left of them) for too many grazers and on and on it goes.

View "Apocalypse Cow! Jon Stewart Rips Sean Hannity Over Bundy Ranch Dispute" by clicking here.



Children in third worlds starving due to the masses of "american" LIVESTOCK (...examine that word...live stock...) fattening up for the kill via crops of this and that belonging to other countries' children. Get to the root of the problem...band-aid approaches are tragically insufficient.

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thanks for this input!

Neil Breakstone: "He thinks he's right? He does not think and therefore is not. Thank you, Roy and Susie! You most assuredly do think and therefore, are."

Joe Gilligan: "I remember first people were bashing Harry Reid for calling him [Bundy] a domestic terrorist. Well I guess people are on Harry Reid's side now."

Donald Louis Jones: "I prefer any desert tortoise to this selfish Bundy."

Roberta Limoli Barufaldi: "I like it!"

Athena Chakiris Hogue: "Susie Sexton,<3"

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Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available on Amazon (click the title).

The books are also carried by these fine retailers: Ann Arbor's Bookbound and Common Language; Columbia City's Memory Lane, North Side Grille and Whitley County Historical Museum; and Fort Wayne's The Bookmark.

And you can download from iTunes.

Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page

Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com

Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't

LIFE IS LIFE IS LIFE and is sacred.

My response to my son Roy Sexton's review of Disneynature's film Bears follows - you can read his review by clicking here ...



Oh, this is my favorite review of Roy's ever!!!!! Wish I could have figured out how to say exactly what he has said...like as in "TAKE ME OR LEAVE ME...

I know whereof I speak...I have been to the mountaintop and I am sold on nature, wildlife, and unfortunate "domesticated" throw-away animals...and I am beyond dismayed and bored with self-ish-ness at the expense of what and who may need our help and our assistance to NOT BE KILLED, to no longer be IGNORED, and to be RESPECTED!



AND there is room in the human heart for concern and consideration for all living beings...not just for people...IF one claims to care about people it has to be that animals are included.

Why the H----- not?

LIFE IS LIFE IS LIFE and is sacred. Across the board...no selectivity allowed.

Just watched an uneven PBS nature show about precious mule deer and their sensitivity and intelligence and ability to know fear and grief and their hierarchy. And the fact that their numbers are diminishing and they need assistance.



Guess what? The cowboy type /documentarian had to swagger just enough to turn me off...but largely the photography was stunning...however, his complete and credible empathy got lost somewhere in his "real men" pose for the show-boating effort.

And how can folks with cameras tug at our heartstrings yet keep the cameras rolling when a little intervention via even the simplest whistle could save the day for the moment? Phooey.
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thanks for this feeback!

Beth Janowski: "Thanks for sharing that, Roy! I hope it resonates in many hearts and minds."

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Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes

Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page

Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com

Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't

Old Type Writer: WHO WOULDA THUNK IT? BOTH A LITERARY- HISTORIAN & AN OLD FRIEND VISIT OUR NEIGHBORHOOD!

Latest "Old Type Writer" column - you can view the post on "Talk of the Town" here ...



Beautiful sunny April afternoons never ought to be spent listening to indoor lectures -- while sitting on uncomfortable folding chairs. However, IF some particular orator bears credentials of a Fulbright Scholar, a professorship, a Ph.D, a near Pulitzer prize, a notable recognition from TIME Magazine, and several stunning novels as well as a much loved poetry anthology, just such an opportunity qualifies as one not to be missed. Alerted (by a very special gentleman named Terry) to William Heath's Columbia City appearance located just around the corner one unseasonably temperate Saturday recently, Don and I strolled a couple of blocks to soon become enraptured by a very fast-paced 90 minutes of scintillating 'local color" stories as related by Dr. Heath. This Ohio "Buck-Eye", currently a Maryland resident, discussed a Hoosier native son called William Wells, a.k.a. "Blacksnake", who got himself kidnapped/adopted by the Miami Indians -- at age 14 -- and embraced the cultures of both the white man and the Native American while becoming quite legendary playing both ends against the middle not unlike the young Revolutionary War hero/spy Abraham Woodhull featured in the current AMC Sunday evening televised series entitled "Turn", to which we are hopelessly addicted. Wells/ "Blacksnake", who no doubt frequented Whitley County's stomping grounds, became the son-in-law of our very own Chief Little Turtle. Frank Bergeron writes that " 'Blacksnake's Path' tells the remarkable story of William Wells, an Indian captive turned Indian fighter-scout-spy-translator-agent, in a way that alters our sense of American Indian history."



Having freshly acquired a personal, autographed collection of the professor's novels which blend history with fiction and have earned praise from "The Washington Post", "Publishers Weekly", "Kirkus Review", Bob Leuci, Joyce Carol Oates, and James A. McPherson, I've got some serious reading ahead of me! In 2002, TIME magazine online named "The Children Bob Moses Led -- A Novel of Freedom Summer" (focusing on the civil rights movement in Mississippi) as one of the eleven best novels of the African American experience. A pending novel entitled "William Wells and the Struggle for the Old Northwest" is to be published by the University of Oklahoma Press in 2015. I cannot wait to read the amiable professor's suspense novel "Devil Dancer" -- which seems destined to become a PBS Masterpiece Theater event in my estimation -- as it transports the reader to the Kentucky Bluegrass region via the dark, intriguing tale of a prize stallion and the pursuit of the thoroughbred's murderer. One reviewer deems this story "an edgy un-put-downable novel" (which sounds like something I would say!), and from the back cover: "While contemporary in its sensibility, 'Devil Dancer' draws upon some of the oldest literary traditions of all: people swapping stories to sustain each other and a mortal man's confrontation with the mystery of life."



Speaking of my unabashed reverence for each and every species of the animal kingdom, the original and specific reason for our attendance at the recent week-end presentation by Dr. Heath involved reuniting with a pal from over 30 years ago whom we have admired since attending his "Theatre for Ideas" (New Television for a New Decade) in 1981 to say "Hey" to "Garfield" comic strip artist and college chum Jim Davis in the 1970s! Thus, the last time we chatted with Terry Doran who recommended the Heath program to us, we -- Don, Susie, "little" Roy, Jim. and Terry -- all stood together laughing and joking in a small room of the Allen County Library…tempus fugit! We endured Columbia City's rigid folding chairs JUST to reacquaint ourselves with this special person hailing from Ft. Wayne where he contributes "must-read" stunning uplifting editorial/op ed pieces to the NEWS-SENTINEL on a regular basis. I print them all for my files. Each one is laced with kindness, intelligence, common sense, fairness, a love of humanity, a respect for all sentient beings and repeated themes of the necessity for peace. My favorite of his essays assumed the format of an open letter of apology to Marius, the unfortunate year-old Danish giraffe slaughtered by the misguided director of a Copenhagen zoo in Denmark. Startled school children observed the execution as well as the detailed butchering of Marius who got fed to the establishment's lions as the attendees watched. Terry decidedly upgraded this heinous, unnecessary tragedy into a poignant, thought-provoking, cautionary plea for manKIND to mend its ways. [Click here to read.] Unforgettable. Inspirational. Truthful. Healing.



Terry's conclusion to his essay entitled "Letter to 'Euthanized' Giraffe Serves to Help Me Understand Why He Died":

"You, the most gentle of creatures who was eating out of a kid's hand not long before you died. That's how much humans could trust you. Totally. What then , was the reason, the real reason, not the honorable excuse? Was it revenge? Jealousy? Power? What? ….No other animal is capable or desires to kill on the scale of humans…. So, Marius, I say to you, were I in charge for a day I would free all the animals in all the zoos, all the circuses, all the aquariums, all the slaughterhouses and shut them all down. And I would put you, your gentle soul and loving nature, in charge of it all…"



Quite a satisfactory Saturday outing…populated by a renowned professorial historian/novelist, Native Americans, a famous Hoosier named William Wells, Chief Little Turtle, young Civil Rights activists circa 1964, terrific animals including a comic strip cat called "Garfield" and racehorse "Devil Dancer" and a martyred gentle giraffe known as Marius -- all gathered in one small sunlit room. Thanks, Terry Doran, for the invitation and for valuable lessons learned and for friendships renewed during a very informative 90 minutes during this Easter season, 2014!



Hosea 2:18

“In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety.”


Isaiah 11:6-7

“The wolf shall
live with the lamb,
the leopard shall
lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion
and the fatling together,
and a little child
shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall
graze, their young shall
lie down together;
and the lion shall
eat straw like the ox…"



"For somewhere within us our hearts are always broken over the knowledge of our inevitable ending -- oh, let them be broken over life not death!" - Rick Doran, "Searching the Empty Places"; "The independent mind is becoming increasingly rare." -Malcolm Muggeridge; "The greatest education comes from action…the greatest action is struggle for justice." - Myles Horton (Quotations discovered in the 1981 Program THEATRE FOR IDEAS created by Terry Doran, Producer & Moderator)



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Also, here is a fun email I got from Jim Davis last year ...

From: Jim Davis
Sent: Friday, March 08, 2013 12:17 PM
Cc: Jim Davis

Subject: Hey!

Hey, Susie!

Your son, Roy emailed a few months ago to say that you are a published author. Congratulations! Whether right out of school, or later in life, it’s nice to see folks get to do something that they really enjoy. I can tell from your writing that you’re really enjoying the process. Good luck with book two… and three… and four. And say “hi” to Don for me. I’ve been to your site several times. Roy gave me the url when he first wrote. Great stuff!


Jim


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love this feedback!

Terry Doran: "What an absolutely beautiful piece of writing art in Talk of the Town. I'm humbled, Wow! ... I sent Bill Heath the column. Here's what he said: 'Many thanks for passing on Susie's wonderful article to me, Terry. Please thank her for me. If only there were thousands more like her! But as I note in my Afterword to Devil Dancer, I write for what Stendhal termed 'the happy few.' I'm in Greenwood, Mississippi, right now, on a book tour for The Children Bob Moses Led. Best wishes, Bill.'"

Kat Kelly Heinzelman: "Way to go Miss Susie I'm so proud of you maybe I could hear it sometime. Take care and Keep up the writing I love reading your articles I learn something new all the time. I love y'all too!!! thanks for being here when I need a smile."

Jim Davis: "A real blast from the past! Thanks for sharing, Roy and Happy Easter."

Jennifer Zartman Romano: "All those reconnections are fun! I wish I hadn't missed it -- it would've been nice to see you all!"

Beverly Williams: "My sister, Mary, tells me that Susie (was in her high school class) is a very wonderful writer....."

Jo Powers Biddle: "I LOVED reading and remembering about the Carol and Corky show! I wonder if your mom remembers inviting me to watch the program with her on more than one occasion...before my family had a TV?"

Mary Shaull: "It's raining here in Florida, and you brightened my day, as I read Susie's latest, delightful remarks. AND the photos of you, Susie. You look more gorgeous than ever! I don't go around complimenting women or raving about their talents, unless it's truly felt and deserved. Susie and Roy - you share the same amazing genes of talent and expression. Thank you for sharing with us readers."

Angie Choe: "Wow! How cool is that! That’s awesome that you and your parents know Jim Davis! I loved Garfield! He used to be stuck on the window of my silver GrandAm like 17 years ago…a stuffed version of Garfield – kept him until his fur got discolored and I had to throw him out LOL! Thanks for sharing!"

________________________





Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes

Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page

Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com

Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't

Homeward Angle: ORIGINAL "SPIN", CHILDHOOD FRIENDS, & A LIFE LED BATTLING "-ISMS"

Publisher Rick fired off an e-mail to "Homeward Angle" Susie inquiring where I might have gotten to, after this deplorably lengthy "Climate Change" winter of my discontent. My reply lies herein:



Incredibly, John Lennon and I have much in common…"all I am saying is give peace a chance!" I'm totally convinced that the aforementioned 60s rock star finally transitioned into a Beatle whom I honestly could love once he hooked up with Yoko Ono whose flower-child-ism enhanced his psyche. (Incidentally, had Yoko instead married Sonny Bono we would have addressed her as Yoko Ono Bono!) Due to her influence, Lennon composed a wonderful lyric cataloguing all of the "-isms" for his supposedly radical peace-nik tune, hinting at racism and sexism for starters, only one of which I've endured since birth. As of late, I am concerned conscientiously with species-ism which I consider the root of all evil…and now age-ism which is insufferable. Sure, it's difficult to walk. Wrinkles and liver spots are no fun. Death lurks just around the corner. But the true horrors reside in Letterman considering retirement while youthful audiences flock to the Jimmy Fallon Tonight Show as well as the fact that half of the SNL skits presently soar right over my puzzled, time-warped grey head.



I admit that "writer's-block-ism" slithered into my mind and numbed my senses once "cabin-fever-ism" (plus a month's duration of swine-flu-like symptoms!) insinuated itself into our midst, surreptitiously shoving Don and me into our recliners for marathons of DVD perusal throughout the 2014 "Silent Snow, Secret Snow"-ish (A creepy short story by Conrad Aiken. Read more about it!) Ice Age revisited! The disconcerting event, henceforward to be referred to as the Wintry Pile-up of Arctic Snows (WPAS), blocked all possible exiting from our home unless under extreme force or suffocating duress or catastrophic necessity, whichever came first. Our movie reviewing son's enthusiasm for the hottest cinematic releases kept us abreast of the latest must-see(s). Both "Captain" Hanks and a post-menopausal Redford nobly wrestled with filmic perilous sea adventures (actually preparing us for CNN's eventual relentless coverage of Flight 370, possibly lost yet perhaps periodically puckishly "pinging" in the vast, turbulent and maybe even bottomless Indian Ocean); the "American Hustle" gang bored Don while captivating me, and our most recent viewing involved a depressing telecast of 2011's "Contagion" which convincingly reminded us that deja-vu swine flu plagues and epidemics (now killing pigs and piglets bred for slaughter and medical experiments in our Hoosier state and 26 others) indeed could depopulate the planet! Oh, and our disposition toward "Twelve Years a Slave" got stymied, prior to our settling down to watch, by some comedian's statement that the film depicted his first marriage?



Never fear. Impersonating a doddering elderly un-hip couple of "seniors" we recently evacuated the premises, ignoring the noticeable damage from the ice-dam leaking into our 1935 coat closet which shouts out impending re-roofing $$$$$$$$$ signs each time we pass its warped, water-stained door which provokes us to consider a battery of other looming spring repairs to the old homestead. Our destination? Appropriately, "NOAH"! Charlton Heston, prior to his NRA officialdom, gave the world "The Ten Commandments", parted a Red Sea of Jell-O, and later won Hoosier author Lew Wallace's famed chariot race in "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ". Victor Mature/Samson shed his awesome masculine strength when hair-stylist Delilah/Susan Hayward (or was that inventor/sexpot actress Hedy Lamarr who BTW is part of the reason I can even type and SEND this column via cyberspace?) trimmed his tresses. Burly Russell Crowe, whom I totally could enjoy while simply watching his beefy hands screw in a light bulb, fashioned a behemoth-ark, gathered digitalized sentient beings, and played fast and loose with the original Biblical Spin which in and of itself is a pretty far stretch--and nearly decided NOT to lend a hand in repopulating the planet after all. The "Original Sin", which we all got taught, involved -- in a very sexist fashion -- a rib-woman who succumbed to temptation via a…juicy apple? Highly recommended by a…talking serpent? Noah/Russell, a direct descendant of Eve's third son Seth (Who knew?), never explained how her "three sons", Cain and Abel and baby Seth, reproduced (an earnest question every Sunday School kid asks every mom whether we admit it or not) minus any evidence whatsoever of daughters-in-law inhabiting the unlikely paradise known as the Garden of Eden.



I realize that I may be read by some as irreverent. But hey, these BE… ATTITUDES which have been hard-won through scores of years spent attending religious films offered by Hollywood's dream machine as well as attempting to comprehend the often over-wrought Bible stories which genius composers/brothers George & Ira Gershwin characterized, in an operatic tune from "Porgy & Bess", as "(It) Ain't Necessarily So"! "To get into heaven…Don't snap for a seven! Live clean! Don't have no fault! Oh, I take that gospel…Whenever it's pos'ble, But with a grain of salt."



At any rate, a polar vortex seasonal bonus included reuniting with a couple of childhood friends from the old neighborhood in which I still live, even though normal people moved on and out and went forth! The normal people are: John Pugh and retired social worker Madeleine Jo Biddle…and I promised John I would write about him! Hi, John! John and "Jo", both an entire year older than I, and little Susie Q. spent many a day frequenting the homes of dear souls located in houses all around a couple of blocks in the Line Street/Chauncey Street vicinity. Among those wonderful folks, who shared their porches and whom we remember with collective fondness: Druggist Walt Meyers and his gracious always smiling wife Margaret, math and science teachers Joe and Irene Shull, optometrist Dr. Lon Sorey and his movie-starrish wife Beverly and their Dalmatian dog-child named George, and in a big house on the alley, Marie Bloom (maybe a sister to Walt Meyers when I stop to think about it) who always shared egg nog and divinity fudge with us kids on New Year's Day.



So, Rick, in a nutshell, thanks for jogging my memory about contributing a column featuring my winter doldrums and highlighting what mama bears do during hibernation. Just when I thought I finally either might accomplish some long over-due housework or indulge in a Rip Van Winkle nap, Mr. Kreps "pulled me back in" -- thus I also have a great deal in common with Michael Corleone/ Al Pacino! (Can you tell that I live and breathe MOVIES?)

www.susieduncansexton.com

www.reelroyreviews.com



POSTSCRIPT: "Hedy Lamarr (November 1914 - January 2000) was an Austrian actress and inventor. Her most significant technological contribution was her co-invention, together with composer George Antheil, of an early technique for spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping which paved the way for today's wireless communications and which, upon its invention in 1941, was deemed so vital to national defense that government officials would not allow publication of its details." (-Wikipedia)



thanks for these comments!

Angie Choe: "Great article! Love the way she writes! If she thinks the way she writes then I have found a person that thinks more than I do! LOL! Her flow of writing is very sophisticated, and, Roy, I can tell where you got the movie reviewing from!"

B. Anne Giles Watson: "Again, thanks for sharing your awesome memories and great stories! Love reading them!"

Susan Alcott Jardine: "Oh, Susie. You never cease to captivate your readers with your wonderful prose, memories and charm. Thank you for sharing."

Mary Maday: "Good reading. Shared! Worth the read!"

Jo Powers Biddle: "Well, I must say that names from my very distant memory just flashed before me. I have a quick story about Bev Sorey. I was inside my front door on Chauncey Street, brother Mike was standing out in the front yard when Bev, all 'movie-starrish,' walked by. I gave a loud wolf whistle and Bev turned to Mike with a slightly embarrassed but mostly appreciative smile. As soon as she got past the house, Mike charged up our front steps with every intention of killing me. I'm still laughing to this very day!"

Lucy Grant: "Ah heck. All this time I thought it was Hedley Lamarr [Harvey Korman's character in Blazing Saddles] who co-found those techniques!"

Tari Joyce: "My great friend Susie Sexton's blog, again is a realistic yet comical look into the creative mind of a wonderful & committed lover of all sentient beings, movies, and the simple life (not so simply stated). Edna Leedy & myself were fortunate to spend my birthday weekend having dinner with Susie, hubby Don & friends (we are captured in a picture within Susie's blog). My suggestion to you is to follow Fans of Susie Duncan Sexton, and, if you're a movie/entertainment lover, her son, Roy Sexton, has a great book, ReelRoyReviews as well...Both their blogs, ALWAYS INTERESTING & THOUGHT PROVOKING ... I GUARANTEE, CHECK THEM OUT and ENJOY !!"



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Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes

Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page

Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com

Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't

if we truly care about children...

I've loved animals since forever but just recently have gotten quite conscientious. I have gone where angels fear to tread and gotten some definite scars, so believe me when I say that support and encouragement mean everything to people who share this adoration and respect for all creatures great and small!



This business can get so lonely and edgy but is always worth the bother.

I'll never stop...just wishing I had cared enough about the lives of sentient beings when I was much younger...my only regret!



Very important to reach the kids of this world on these important issues -- called animal welfare and rights. We'll all be so much better off.

No one is supposed to criticize the "meat industry" and its horrors. Well, all an ever-growing number of us ask is that alongside "agri-business" organizations presenting their propaganda to little captive elementary public school students annually would be that the vegetarian/vegan lifestyle must receive equal time.



Wishing someone would take us up on this topic...time to present a fair view of this world in our tax-supported public schools!

That is of course if we care that children develop healthy dietary habits as well as learn responsible, reverent behavior directed toward all living beings on this precious planet.



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Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes

Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page

Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com

Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't

Old Type Writer: One from the heart... to Carol and Corkie, wherever they are

New "Old Type Writer" installment! Jennifer's intro on Talk of the Town: "Columnist and author Susie Duncan Sexton recalls a beloved children's television show from her childhood today on Old Type Writer... do you remember it? Click the link to read today's installment of Old Type Writer..."

Read the column here: http://talkofthetownwc.com/oldtypewri...


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Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes

Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page

Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com

Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't