Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with @womensmemoir60s
I am very pleased to participate in this Wow! Women on Writing Blog Tour for the Times They Were A-Changing: Women Remember the ’60s and 70’s anthology with a guest post by Merimee Moffit. Merimee is the Winner, First Honorable Mention, Poetry.
She will discuss how what we learned in the ’60s and ’70s is important for women today.
Welcome, Merimee!
“How What We Learned in the ‘60s and ‘70s is Important to Women Today?”
The anthology, Times They Were A-Changing: Women Remember the ‘60s & ‘70s, encourages younger women who are now the age we were back in the Times to not stop, not give up, to listen to their own inner voice, and if need be, to shout it out!
Many of the writers tell about shedding the “Shoulds” they had been burdened with and moving into a new way of prioritizing their own needs.
The story, “Proud Spinster,” reveals the barriers to home-owning and child-bearing for a single woman, but Patricia Vestal, the author, proudly outlines her successes while going it solo.
In my poem, “Before the Summer of Love,” I write about an almost romance as a potential career move, simultaneously poking fun at the sanctity of a marriage I’d never witnessed. I, as the voice in the poem, had foregone many “Shoulds” to revel in the bliss of my lover’s body and to twine with him in our meandering search. I write about a “dizzying search for God,” but I couldn’t have defined it that way then.
The book gives evidence that as we live our lives honestly, not necessarily guided by “Shoulds,” but by our own integrity, we don’t know what lies ahead. Each story and poem focuses on a pivotal moment that contained the seed of a strong inner voice, a new way.
“Dispatches from the Heartland” shocks us when a father accuses his daughter of destroying his marriage and influencing his wife, violently attempting to re-impose his “Shoulds” upon her. Dorothy Alexander, the author, wanted to become a lawyer and her father felt threatened. This scenario is less and less frequent due to the brave women whose stories tell of facing down such confrontations.
The drug stories, “Tripping on High” and “Altamont,” give us a frightening truth with a wake-up call to young women today. Drug experiences were part of the Times; these two written by Venus Ann Maher and Amber Lea Starfire remind women that the survivors of the Times had to stand up for their right to be sober, had to fight the short-term “Should” about being stoned forever.
The writing in the anthology stresses the importance of women knowing that their own intuition is the healthiest guideline, not the “Shoulds” imposed generically upon a generation or a gender. No, you don’t have to be married, nor do you need to be the wildest at the party, nor do you have to follow a powerful guru. Yes, rights can be removed and yes, you may, like your mothers and grandmothers, have to fight, even for rights you already have and may be taking for granted.
You are worth fighting for, these writers say, and your beliefs and efforts will bear fruit. Women’s history is just beginning to be scribed, valued, and studied.
Young women of today are living tomorrow’s history. It is up to each woman to add her mark, to tell her story, paint her visions, dance her dance.
***
Thank you Merimee for capturing the essence of the stories in the anthology. My favorite line is “you are worth fighting for and your beliefs and efforts will bear fruit.” May the lessons of the ’60s and ’70s as relayed through your stories serve to guide young women today.
Author’s Bio:
Merimee Moffitt arrived in New Mexico in a shiny green Chrysler from Portland in 1970 and fell in love with the land, sun, culture—everything northern New Mexico. She stayed to raise her four children, has four grandkids now, a husband, and two dogs. She is semi-retired and currently co-hosts the only prose open mic in Albuquerque, Duke City Dime Stories (dimestories.org). She performs her poems and teaches workshops and classes in the community. Her poetry appears often in the fabulous reviews and journals in New Mexico such as Malpais Review, Mas Tequila Review, Adobe Walls, and the Santa Fe Literary Review. She received First Honorable Mention in the Times They Were A Changing anthology for her poem “Before the Summer of Love.” She has published three chapbooks and her first book, a collection of poems, Making Little Edens, is available at your favorite bookseller and on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Making-Little-Edens-Merimée-Moffitt/dp/1492881589/.
***
Just in time for the holidays, anthology editors Linda Joy Myers, Kate Farrell and Amber Lea Starfire launch their anthology Times They Were A-Changing: Women Remember the ’60s and ’70s. The book is the perfect gift for opening discussions with friends and family members and illustrating what a powerful time the ’60s and ’70s truly were.
Anthology Synopsis:
Forty-eight powerful stories and poems etch in vivid detail breakthrough moments experienced by women during the life-changing era that was the ’60s and ’70s. These women rode the sexual revolution with newfound freedom, struggled for identity in divorce courts and boardrooms, and took political action in street marches. They pushed through the boundaries, trampled the taboos, and felt the pain and joy of new experiences.
And finally, here, they tell it like it was.
Through this collection of women’s stories, we celebrate the women of the ’60s and ’70s and the importance of their legacy.
Paperback: 354 pages
Publisher: She Writes Press (Sept. 8, 2013)
ISBN-10: 1938314042
ISBN-13: 978-1938314049
Times They Were A’Changing: Women Remember the ‘60s & ‘70s is available in print and as an e-book at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and She Writes Press and Indie Bound.
Find out more about the book online:
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TimesTheyWereAChanging
Times They Were A’Changing blog: http://www.timestheywereachanging.com
Twitter: @womensmemoir60s
About the Editors:
Linda Joy Myers is president and founder of the National Association of Memoir Writers, and the author of four books: Don’t Call Me Mother—A Daughter’s Journey from Abandonment to Forgiveness, The Power of Memoir—How to Write Your Healing Story, and a workbook The Journey of Memoir: The Three Stages of Memoir Writing. Her book Becoming Whole—Writing Your Healing Story was a finalist in ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Award. A speaker and award-winning author, she co-teaches the program Write Your Memoir in Six Months, and offers editing, coaching, and mentoring for memoir, nonfiction, and fiction. www.namw.org. Visit her blog at http://memoriesandmemoirs.com.
Kate Farrell earned a M.A. from UC Berkeley; taught language arts in high schools, colleges, and universities; founded the Word Weaving storytelling project in collaboration with the California Department of Education with a grant from the Zellerbach Family Fund, and published numerous educational materials. She is founder of Wisdom Has a Voice memoir project and edited Wisdom Has a Voice: Every Daughter’s Memories of Mother (2011). Farrell is president of Women’s National Book Association, San Francisco Chapter, a board member of Redwood Branch of the California Writers Club, member of Story Circle Network and National Association of Memoir Writers.
Amber Lea Starfire, whose passion is helping others tell their stories, is the author of Week by Week: A Year’s Worth of Journaling Prompts & Meditations (2012) and Not the Mother I Remember, due for release in late 2013. A writing teacher and editor, she earned her MFA in Creative Writing from University of San Francisco and is a member of the California Writers Club in Napa and Santa Rosa, the Story Circle Network, National Association of Memoir Writers, and International Association for Journal Writing. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time outdoors. www.writingthroughlife.com.
How about you? If you “came of age” in the ’60s and ’70s, do you have any stories of your own?
If you are older or younger, do you have any thoughts on how the ’60s and ’70s shaped women’s lives?
A lucky commenter’s name will be selected in a random drawing to win a free copy of the Time They Were A-Changing anthology.
We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~
Next Week:
Monday, 12/16/13: “Christmas Past: A Memoir Moment.”
I love this post written by Merimee Moffitt! It captures the discovery of that inner voice that we could finally hear while silencing the voices that pulled us in other directions. It’s true that sometimes our choices were flawed (and wilder than those now made); many of the stories in the book show those flawed choices. But that we chose to follow our own guidance was so remarkable! I guess that’s now called self empowerment, but then it didn’t “have a name” as Betty Friedman pointed out. It was a yearning, then impulse. Reading the book, you’ll see how many directions that yearning took us.
Thank you, Kathy, for hosting Times They Were A-Changing on the WOW! Blog Tour.
You’re welcome,Kate. I enjoyed Merimee’s message as well and appreciate how she summarizes the highlights from several stories, thereby sharing the variety of experiences that provide such valuable lessons from our generation, “don’t give up, listen to your voice, shout it out.” Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!
I loved the line, “Young women of today are living tomorrow’s history.” So true, but did we think to ourselves as we lived our lives that they were destined to become history?
Welcome, Lee and thanks for leaving a comment. You’ve posed an interesting question. I remember feeling the tumultuousness of the 60s but I didn’t realize then what a major impact it would have in the years to come.I appreciate you stopping by.
Kathleen, thank you for hosting us here :-), and Merimee I love how you capture the essence of the anthology in your statement: The writing in the anthology stresses the importance of women knowing that their own intuition is the healthiest guideline, not the “Shoulds” imposed generically upon a generation or a gender.”
I hadn’t looked at it in quite that way before; each story and poem, in its own way, shares the author’s struggle for identity, authenticity, and to live life on her own terms. And those struggles are experienced by all generations (particularly) of women, not just those of the baby boomer generation.
My pleasure, Amber and thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. I agree, Merimee captures the essence of the anthology’s message of trusting our intuitions.She delivers on her title of how what we learned in the 60s and 70s matters.
Thank you Kathy for hosting us, and to you Merimee for highlighting some of the stories that you enjoyed in the book. Twenty years is a long time–and so much happened in those years it would take a 1,000 page book to capture it all. Our anthology gathers stories about the sexual revolution, war protests, women’s rights, the beginnings of the fight for gay rights, marches that protest discrimination, and stories that take place in the home, where the reverberations of the era bounced off the walls, where young women had to fight their battles for independence and to have a right to speak one conversation, one confrontation at a time–usually alone. It’s an era that broke away from the assumptions of the past, and seeded a future that many women are enjoying now–though they may be unaware of quite how we got here. Stories from the grassroots, stories of real people who one at a time spoke out for justice and peace and human rights–that’s what memoir writing is all about. As Jerry Waxler says, it’s a “memoir revolution.” Onward!
It’s my pleasure to feature Merimee and you all in this book tour, Linda Joy. You are right, this fits in with Jerry’s “Memoir Revolution” as we move onward to share the valuable lessons of the 60s and 70s. Great to hear from you!
If I hadn’t already read the book and loved it I would have been chomping at the bit to get ahold of it after reading that great overview by Merimee! Thank you again for graciously agreeing to host a stop on this tour, Kathy.
Hi Renee, Nice to see you here! I agree, Merimee did a great job enticing others to read the anthology. I appreciate the opportunity to participate in the book tour. Thanks for stopping by!
Thank you Kathy, for having me on as guest post today. I enjoyed the challenge, though at first I didn’t realize I was writing a book review! I do love the anthology and I love how so many women are supporting it and involving themselves with getting it launched. It’s an important read.
Thanks again, Merimee
It’s been a pleasure to feature you, Merimee. Your enthusiasm for the anthology is contagious! Thank you for your informative and insightful guest post. 🙂
Kathy and Merimee, thanks for a wonderful overview of this timely anthology. Timely because we are now reaching our own 60s and 70s, and in retrospect through these wonderful essays and poems we see through a different lens what the times held for us then and how we’ve moved forward stronger and more determined than ever.
Kudos to the editors for a job well done!
Kathy, I’ll be reviewing next week on my blog so don’t include me in your drawing. I have a copy!
I never thought of it that way, Sherrey–we from the 60s and 70s are turning 60 and 70 and can reflect upon how the Times have shaped us. Well-said, my friend! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your insights. I look forward to seeing your review next week.
It’s a real treat to read such supportive comments for our book. Renee has done a terrific job in threading together a community of bloggers with shared interests on the WOW! blog tour. Of course, we hope this has a ripple effect and keeps creating more and more readers and conversations.
Great point about the 60s and 70s, Sherrey! We did feel a sense of urgency to collect these memories before they and we faded away.
Thanks, all.
Kate, I agree, Renee has done a fine job with the anthology promotion. It’s been fun to participate in the conversation here as well as on Facebook and Twitter. Lots of buzz out there!
I can’t wait to read this book. In fact, I had hoped to get my act together in time to send in my own Times Were A-Changing story. I was that tough nosed, tomboy who refused to take no for answer and fought my way onto America’s playing fields as a Title IX pioneer. Young women today need to hear our stories because you can’t know you’re going until you know where you’ve been. Our voice was left out of the history books, Times Were A-Changing echoes our collective cry and gives us a chance to be heard. Thank you!
Pat, I love your advice for young women: “you can’t know where you are until you know where you’ve been.” That’s why it’s so important to share our stories and support one another in making our voices matter. Your story would be an excellent contribution to the anthology. Thanks for stopping by!
I too am “chomping at the bit” to read this book. What I most connected with in Merrimee’s post was the emphasis on avoiding “shoulds.” I was well into my 40’s before I began to distinguish between what I should want and what I did want. It was very difficult in a liberal and thriving economic environment. I can barely imagine how difficult it must be for so many young women now when the economic environment and a increasingly vocal conservative mood are working against learning this lesson early.
Mary, I can relate to what you are saying about being a “late bloomer.” 🙂 And your point about how the economy influences our choices and behavior is fascinating. That’s worthy of a whole new blog post! The stories in the anthology certainly capture the challenges of the 60s and 70s and give voice to a generation of women who rebelled against convention. Thanks, as always, for stopping by and adding your thought-provoking insights.