Are You My Mother?

Remember that popular Dr. Seuss book, "Are You My Mother?". I must haveread it to my girls a kazillion times when they were little. They wouldlaugh when the little big eyed bird would ask the bulldozer if it washis mother? Or the cow? Then finally the little bird found it's motherwho had been out catching a worm for her little baby bird, a veryreassuring ending. "Again, momma, " my baby birds would cry, "Read itagain."
That was many years ago but as Mother's Day rolled around again thispast Sunday I remembered fondly reading that book and asking myself thenew question, "What makes a good mother?" Both my girls were gone onMother's Day. One on a end of school Jefferson Junior High StudentCouncil educational trip to Atlanta, Georgia. I had been receivingphone calls daily giving a blow by blow account of each and every stopalong the way. "Mom, Mom, we're at the CNN studios in Atlanta."It was very early my friends. Barely awake, I mumbled, "That's niceMadeleine."
"Mom, mom, I think we might get to see that old guy. You know the old guy?""Do you mean Anderson Cooper, Madeleine. But he's not that old, he justhas prematurely grey hair.""No, mom, mom, that old guy that interviews authors.""Oh, Madeleine, you mean Larry King?""Yeah, mom, that old dude."
By now I'm laughing as I'm thinking it is way too early for thisconversation about Larry King.On and on the past few days Madeleine would call in, (God Bless cellphones), and give me the latest. Mom, we just went to the Braves Museumand it was the best. I took my picture with Hank Aaron's' number andgot a baseball, it was so cool and very informative.
Yes, she did say informative and that really got my attention. SomehowI thought her favorite part of the trip would be visiting the MargaretMitchell house as how many times had I went on and on about "Gone Withthe Wind"? But no, her favorite part was Turner Stadium and going onthe field.
I learned of her visiting Martin Luther King's grave and his home andthe Georgia Aquarium. By the time she got home, I felt as if I had goneon the trip with her and then of course, we had all the photographs shetook of her trip.
Now the whole time this was going on with Madeleine we were in fullthroes of getting ready for the Jefferson Prom for Lainie. Lainie haddesigned her own dress and my good friend and Pulpwood Queen KayBrookshire had created and sewn this prom masterpiece that was a kneelength dress with strapless concoction. The bodice was cream with blackswirls, full satin skirt with side drapes, and cream tulle peeking outfrom under the hem. Very French and ooh la la. Now she wore this dresswith a vintage black rhinestone necklace, bracelet, black sheer shortgloves, cream lace anklets and black pumps. Her corsage was cream roseswith black berries, black leather strips attached to a vintage arm cuffcreated by Timber Guy and florist extraordinaire, Dale Vaughn. MarthaStewart has nothing on the floral designs of Dale Vaughn. Her blondehair was swept up to the side with side bangs and texture waves. Shelooked almost too grown up to me as where was my little girl? Her datehad on a black pinstriped zoot suit complete with black hat and somekind of, was that a long watch chain. Not sure, but this was more likea theatrical production than prom. Well, she was going with all herfriends from the Drama Club, Emily, Adam, Nick and Megan, what morecould I expect? Along way from my GunnySak oatmeal colored prom dresswith baby blue sprigs and sheer floppy hat on my long blonde parted downthe middle hair. My date, Randy Click, who was 6' 7" wore a baby blueruffled tux. The theme to our prom was the song "Seasons in the Sun".Lainie's was suppose to be "Diamonds and Ice" but somewhere along theway they thought that sounded too drug related and changed it up somewhat. i laugh, as my junior year's prom theme was "Stairway to Heaven"by Led Zeppelin. I guess things haven't changed too much.Now on prom we left to change into blue jeans and work shirts to headout to a pasture party back in Kansas. All the kids Lainie went withchanged to go Cyber bowling then out to eat breakfast at IHOP.As a mother the next day, I laughed as I cleaned out all the UNSPIKEDYahoo chocolate drinks out of my Inferno Red Pacific that I let the kidsborrow for the prom night.
Whew! I made it through another prom but still have one more for Lainiethen Madeleine. My mantra is keep my kids safe, keep my kids safe.Lainie had to work the next day down at the General Store and Madeleinewas returning home from Atlanta on the schools chartered bus. Bothcalled to wish me a Happy Mother's Day. Jay and I went to Lowe's to buysealer for the beaded wood walls of my NEW shop location then went towork at the new shop. As he hooked up the telephone, internet, andtelevision cables, I quietly painted in my new office. I had plenty oftime to reflect on what is a mother. I came to this conclusion.A mother is one of the most important person's in a child's life. Shemay be the most important as she carries the child and feathers thenest. Mothers can make or break a child's spirit. Leave that eggunattended and it may get snatched or broken. We are the ones totallyresponsible for teaching our children. We give our children wings,teach them how to fly, then sendi them on their way just like thatlittle baby bird in the Dr. Seuss story. My girls are testing theirwings and it seems those trial runs are working out well. They have bigdreams, big hopes for the future. Their mother may have been slightlyflawed, well make that a total basket case, but they seemed to haveturned out pretty darn gosh good. As they flew out the door for schooltoday, I see their futures looking bright. Who knows where they fly andwill make their nests? I hope it is not too far but then again I canalways fly, right?
I would love to hear from you and what you think makes a great mother?Do you have a great mother story? Two of the happiest days of my lifewere when my girls were born, a miracle that often times I think weforget. Also God's gift to us to give us that second chance to makethings right in the world.
Tiara wearing, book sharing, and one proud momma,Kathy L. PatrickFounder of the Pulpwood Queens Book Clubswww.beautyandthebook.comwww.pulpwoodqueen.com

We Caught the Best Kind of RASH!

Every month I select a book, an author, whose work I find outstanding.They must be well written, give a new voice to literature, and bewilling to venture to our neck of the woods. They also must be anauthor who is yet undiscovered in a big way. Author, Ron Rash was ourspecial guest this month of May! I assure you, he will be famous soon.He is a writer to watch.
Ron teaches is a poet who teaches creative writing and Appalachiastudies at a southern university. He has never roamed to far from thearea in which he has been raised other than book tours. The first time Iand the Pulpwood Queens heard Ron read aloud to our book club we werehooked. If there has ever been an author who gave voice to literature,it is Ron Rash. That southern inflection and knowing just when to pauseand continue makes him a master at storytelling in its finest. ThePulpwood Queens voted Ron Rash our favorite read aloud author and Icould not wait to have him back. I selected The World Made Straight asour Pulpwood Queen Book Club Selection and this was no easy read. Thisbook addressed what happens when you take away rural peoples livelihoodof being farmers that also happen to lack in education. We have ageneration of young people growing up trying to figure out what to dowith too much time and no means of support. They turn to other cashcrops which aren't so legal.
I wanted to address the ever-growing population of our country, therural south, that are at poverty level and no means of support. We havea generation of youth turning to drugs as a means of escape andsupport. Here in East Texas and my Marion County, we have a 39% ofadult illiteracy. Most of these people live in the rural areas of thecounty with no means of transportation. These folks have children andhave no skills to teach their children to do better. Education andliteracy is the key to abject poverty, but how do we reach thesepeople. Ron's book raised questions of basically good people growing upand making bad choices. Our conversation was very lively and thoughtprovoking.
There is no longer a black and white world just like their is no longerblack and white television. We live in a world that is all shades ofgrey. Just this week a major story hit the front page of The DallasMorning News and my community. Crystal meth is now being made to flavorstrawberry called sometimes Strawberry Quick to entice children in to anasty and horrendous drug habit. Made to look like the popularchildren's candy Pop Rocks. Scary as I came from the generation ofpenny candy and getting your ten cents worth at the local candy counterat the grocery store. Candy that can now kill and ruin the lives ofchildren. Books can enlighten and educate as well as entertain. ThoughRon wrote a tough book, at least we are now all on the same page as whatwe can do as a book club to be aware of the dangers for our futuregenerations.
Ron also wrote Chemistry and other Stories, a short story collectionthat I chose as our Bonus Book Club Selection published by Picador. Ihave to thank this publishing house for sending Ron to us yet again asyou see he is a two time Pulpwood Queen Book Club Selection author. Iwould like to think I personally discovered Ron Rash but this is oneRash I wish to share with all of you. You would be doing yourself agreat disservice by not reading his wonderful books. In fact, Iencouraged the Queens to read his entire body of work as this author isamazing. Poetry, short stories, novels, he has something for everybodyand the best part is every book is a treasure.
We will have up on our website shortly at www.beautyandthebook.com thevideo interview I did with Ron Rash at my Beauty and the Book. And Imust encourage you as a reader if he is in your neighborhood to go hearRon read in person. I know it was one of my most treasured authorminutes, listening to Ron Rash READ!
Next up, Kathy L. Patrick as a mom, what motherhood means to me and endof the school adventures with my two children, no make that myblossoming young women. With Mother's Day just behind me, I think I nowknow what love is.
Tiara wearing and Book sharing,Kathy L. PatrickFounder of the Pulpwood Queens Book Clubwww.beautyandthebook.com

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY JAYBIRD!

I get this phone call out of the blue.

"This is Kathy!"

"Kathy, this is Rue McClanahan, calling from Manhattan. Do you know who
this is?"

Did I know who this is? Absolutely! Besides books, music, art, I love
the theater. Rue McClanahan is a star of stage and screen. She
probably has become most famous by her role on televisions /Golden
Girls/ where she played the southern sex kitten Blanche Devereux. I
have loved Rue McClanahan! She is smart, sexy, and always made me laugh
out loud. I have always felt that an actor that can make you laugh out
loud had major talent. It is easy to make someone cry but to laugh, now
that is a gift.

We talked for quite some time. In fact, I was talking to Rue on my cell
phone in my car in front of my shop so long that a couple who had gone
into my shop for a haircut came back out to find me still on the phone.
John and Debbie Chamberlain and I had quite a laugh over that, well we
had a lot to say. Mostly, we were scheduling a time for Rue to come
visit my book club, The Pulpwood Queens for a book signing of her
latest,/ My First Five Husbands...And the Ones Who Got Away! / Great
title and really much, much more than her life in marriage. This book
was her memoir and I found the book fascinating.

The morning of the day I was to pick her and her assistant, Kathy up at
the airport, my husband kissed me and wished me "Happy Anniversary". I
gasped and realized I had done it again. I had forgotten our big day
when we got married 19 years before. Jay laughed as it has been our own
running joke, either he forgets or I do. Sometimes we both forget and I
think this is mainly because we married one Sunday evening on the sly
thinking we were escaping everybody's radar. We eloped. Now that is
another story that I will tell at maybe our 50th Anniversary!

Rue came to Jefferson, Texas and besides treating her to lunch at The
Hamburger Store and the best pie ever, I actually got to do Rue's hair.
What a pleasure! To say that her event which I called /An Evening with
Rue/ was a success is an understatement. At the last minute, due to the
fact that the sky was about to fall with a torrential storm and the
numbers of presold tickets where climbing, we decided to move the event
to the Banker's Building generously donated to us for this event by The
First National Bank of Hughes Springs here in Jefferson. We brought in
extra chairs loaned to us by Jimmy Moore owner of East Texas Forest
Products and got 13 volunteers from the Jefferson High School Drama
Department to help run the event.

Rue loved the drama kids and to one boy in particular she gasped and
stated, "Why Kathy, he is the spitting image of a young Rock Hudson." I
think Adam Brooks will never be the same. She even talked about the
striking resemblance the next day. But the thing that impressed me the
most was she gave each and every one of those kids an autograph after
signing well over 100 books and having umpteen photographs with each and
every attendee. Rue McClanahan is a trooper!

Rue had requested that I put on a skit just for her and we did. My best
friends. Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guy, Pam McGregor, Carol Lancaster
Lucky and Fred McKenzie helped me put together a skit that we titled
/The Pulpwood Gals /as a tribute e to Rue starring on /The Golden
Girls./ We were three middle age sisters, Earleen (me), Pearleen
(Carol), and Sherleen (Pam) Boudreaux who had all come back to live with
our MeeMaw (played hilariously by Fred) in her double wide trailer on
Caddo Lake just outside of Jefferson, Texas.

You may go to www.easttexastownsonline.com to scroll down and view
photos from the event. Photographer, Ron Munden has truly captured
these "golden" moments and the photos are also available for purchase.

Now you may wonder what my husband did on our anniversary since I was so
involved in the Rue McClanahan event? He was filming the event for your
enjoyment and you may click on the link below to watch our skit or you
may go to www.beautyandthebook.com and click on Videos to watch that
Academy Award winning performance. Well, at least an East Texas Academy
Award Winning performance, ha ha ha!

Rue's book is climbing the charts and I certainly hope you will read her
book. A fascinating life from a fascinating person and sends home the
message that reading can be a wonderful entertainment. The following
morning my friend and Pulpwood Queen Margie Dilday of Monroe, Louisiana
escorted Rue and her assistant Kathy on to the rental car place with me
in Marshall. As it took them quite awhile to get a car ready, we had
plenty of time to chat and recap our event. Then Rue spotted this woman
diligently working in the service department of the car dealership where
we were to pick up the car. Rue told me,, "I have to reward that woman
in some way." We walked across the parking and entered the building.
As we approached this woman sweeping, I called, "Excuse me, I have
someone I would like you meet."

Rue asked her, "Have you ever watched The Golden Girls on television?"

"Yes ma'am," she replied.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Yes, ma'am, you are Rue McClanahan." Then it was our turn to be surprised.

"Ma'am, aren't you from Ardmore, Oklahoma?"

"Well yes I am," Rue answered surprised.

"Well ma,am I'm from just outside of Ardmore, Wilson, Oklahoma and they
have all your things there in the museum. Your clothes and things."

We found out her name was Nancy and Rue signed a Cadillac catalog from
the dealership and gave it to the young woman with the broom. As we
said our goodbyes, I had goosebumps. Of all the people to choose to go
out of her way to meet, a fellow Oklahoma girl. You know that some
things are just meant to be.

I live for the days when we have authors grace our doors. I think Rue
McClanahan was truly my first brush with dealing with a major celebrity,
a real live STAR! Quite frankly, it was a little frightening how many
people recognized her and then asked for an autograph. From the moment
she arrived at the airport to the minute she drove off in the rental car
to continue her book tour we were approached by people wanting her
autograph. I asked her about her about just that and she told me that
that just comes with the territory. I hope I am that gracious at 73.
Through her small acts of kindness I felt besides earning that "star"
quality she also deserved a halo!

I'm not too sure what Jay thought of our 19th Anniversary but I had a
blast. Jay has just resigned himself to the fact that he has married an
obsessed reader. Anyway I can honestly say our marriage has never been
boring, high drama to say the least. Now we are on to our next events
with author, Ron Rash who I will be taking to visit our Shreveport,
Louisiana chapter the evening of May 7th. Then again he will be
featured Tuesday night, 6:30 p.m. at Beauty and the Book in Jefferson
hosted by our Pulpwood Queens of East Texas. Ron has two books I have
selected as Pulpwood Queen Book Club Selections, The World Made Straight
and Chemistry and other Stories and being sent to us by Picador. Yes,
the Jaybird will be filming that event too! Thank God Jay is not one
who got away, ha ha! The official press release will be forthcoming but
in the meantime go to our official website for all news pertaining to
Beauty and the Book, The Pulpwood Queens Book Clubs, and book and author
events.

Also if you are in the area, stop by and visit me at Beauty and the
Book! I have these leopardlicious postcards that my publisher, Grand
Central Publishing has sent to me to hand out to promote my
up-and-coming book release, The Pulpwood Queens' Tiara Wearing, Book
Sharing Guide to Life. I would love to give you one and more if you
promise to send them to all your friends! And if you see Jay tell him
he is a saint for putting up with me. I know he would greatly
appreciate it! Thank God he believes that reading and literacy are
important too even when his wife booked an author event on their
anniversary!

Tiara wearing and Book sharing,
Kathy L. Patrick
Hairdresser to the Authors
Beauty and the Book
210 West Austin
Jefferson, Texas 75657
903-665-7520
www.beautyandthebook.com, official website of The Pulpwood Queens
www.pulpwoodqueen.com, official blog site of The Pulpwood Queens