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| How I hated to reach the last page tonight. |
Just closed the cover on one of the best books ever--this set of three memoirs by the brilliant, gifted Mary Cantwell. Oh, how I loved pulling the fuzzy lamby blanket over my body and losing myself in her world. Sometimes, Sug would climb up on me and lose herself with me.
Ms. Cantwell loved Bristol, Rhode Island, her hometown; she loved New York City; she loved her two daughters; and she had complicated relationships with men. She was also raised Catholic, so we are similar that way.
I can be a pretty good Googler and researcher, but I haven't been able to find a single photo of Ms. Cantwell. As I mentioned before, she wrote me back personally when I sent her a fan letter eons ago...don't know where the letter is now, just like the one Joan Didion wrote back to me....
I'm dying to see what she and her daughters Snow White and Rose Red [their pseudonyms] looked like......I did find these threads:
- Lengthy radio interview, so at least I could hear Ms. Cantwell's voice.
- Her obituary, which saddened me--she died from cancer at age 69 in year 2000.
- NY Times announcements in 1991 of upcoming marriage and then marriage of younger daughter Rose Red [Margaret Lescher].
- Images of the well-known [yet unsavory] men in the author's life after her divorce: Southern [married] Poet/author of The Deliverance, James Dickey [thinly disguised as "the balding man" in the last memoir], novelist Frederick Exley.
- In the paid death notice section of the NY Times, notes from her two daughters [Katie and Margaret], Margaret's husband, and their daughter--seems they run them on the anniversary of Ms. Cantwell's death, February 1. I feel like a voyeur reading and reporting this. Sorry. Just so fascinated by this remarkable woman's life.
- Obituary for Ms. Cantwell's mother, who died at age 100 in year 2000, and whom we get to know in the memoirs also.
Ms. Mary Cantwell, you are gone, but this book you left is a gift beyond compare. Thank you for transporting me from ordinary places--my New Jersey bedroom; a nearly empty commuter bus barreling toward New York City one evening; a therapist's airy waiting room; and a pediatrician's busy office--to the rich memories of your girlhood, your family. And your honest account of struggles with/worries about Snow White as a teenager comforted me, too--I somehow felt less lonely about the challenges of raising a teen girl. But still scared, as you were.
TCOY
- Went to 8 A.M. Joega class with my friend Diane. And then Diane told me a little of her life story, growing up in a small town in Minnesota. I loved hearing it.
- Chicken & rice soup.
- Rode bikes with H. along Yantacaw Brook Road and over and around Brookdale Park.
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Added this to my wish list... I bought a kindle, my local bookstore went bankrupt (perhaps a connection?), my library knows me for being irresponsible, so now I pretty much only read e books. And only 2 of the 3 are available on the kindle. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteI know the feeling of wanting to prolong the experience when reading a book or series of books is over. How lovely to have so much knowledge at our fingertips, to be able to delve deeper and add some of those dimensions to the reading experience.
Hi Nan....if they only have two of the three, which two are they? just be sure to read at least those two in order. let me know what you think of them. Mary Cantwell worked in the women's magazine world, so that really fascinates me also, since so did/do I. And thanks for the note. You must have been thinking of your sister a lot on her birthday....love alice
ReplyDeleteI took this book on vacation and just finished it. Thanks for mentioning it to me. She grew up in the same era as my dad in Rhode Island - a lot of the references are familiar - Newport Creamery, the Newport sailors, Cherry & Webb (my favorite store to visit on summer trips to RI). Also she lived on E. 21st St. at the Petersfield after she was married, which is nearby, and of course the women's magazine world - a lot of personal references for me too.
ReplyDeleteCelia, how was Miami? I bet it was great. So glad you liked the book.....sounds like it is close to home for you with your Dad! love alice
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