On the Porch
Onisha Ellis
I’m looking for a few good authors. I’d like them to be no older than forty years of age. I’ve reached the time of life when the authors I spent my youth and middle age with are dying. It just isn’t right. One should never outlive their children or their favorite authors. I will tell you who my favorites are and you can tell me yours.
My all time favorite author is D.E. Stevenson. Here is what Wikipedia says about her. D.E. Stevenson was born in 1892 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was educated at home by governesses. She started to write at eight, but because her parents and governesses disapproved she had to do this in secret. She later wanted to go to university but her father refused, concerned about having an educated woman in the family. Stevenson was married in 1916 to a captain in the 6th Ghurkha Rifles.
Isn’t that an amazing bio? She died in 1973 after writing forty novels. It took me years to find all her books but I think I may have read almost all of them and she is one of the few authors I collect. Her books transported me to the gentle countryside of Scotland into the lives of everyday people getting into scrapes and of course, food was mentioned a lot, which explains to some degree my fascination with her books.
After Stevenson there is no particular order to my favorite deceased authors. I do genuinely miss Eugenia Price. The St. Simon’s Trilogy was a favorite for myself as well as my daughter, requiring a girl’s weekend to St. Simons Island to visit the marshes and cemetery we felt a bond with. Even today all I have to say to my daughter is “John died” and we tear up. Now that is writing. Savannah Quartet is not to be missed either. I went to Goodreads to skim some reviews and refresh my memory and I was saddened to see how hardened some readers are. They can’t relate to a time when human honor and duty were valued.
Eugenia died in 1996 and was buried in her beloved Christ Church cemetery on St. Simon. I foresee another trip to the island to visit her grave. She is buried step away from the pastor she immortalized in her books.
Since I have a self-imposed five hundred-word limit for my blog posts, I can see this will have to be continued. I would love to hear from you. Which authors have you read for years and now they are gone?
: Christ Episcopal Church (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Old Things R New 