Excerpt from Homage: honoring a teacher
I don’t know why I was drawn to her that day in Rome, over thirty years ago. She was eighty-three years old. I was thirty-two. We were from different worlds, with nothing apparent in common, but I wanted something deeper from my experience of Italy. My husband and I had gone to live in Rome for what we thought would be one whirlwind year. Now it was nearly two, and I still hadn’t touched the heart of the place.
The friendship that gradually developed between us challenged me at every level. I was out of my depth most of the time. It wasn’t easy being befriended by Anna Lea Lelli, or Lea, as her friends called her. We were both impatient. I wished that Lea were less domineering. She wanted me to slow down and pay attention, not be quite so American.
On the that bright morning in November—the first day I saw her—Lea wore the outfit that distinguished her on the streets of Rome and made her look like Cato the Elder in all her newspaper profiles: a long cape and beret. The beret emphasized that her craggy jaw and prominent Roman nose. Under the her Scottish wool cape, Lea wore her a dove dove-gray suit in gabardine and a cream-colored silk blouse with French cuffs and pearl cufflinks. Just the right amount of cuff showed under the suit, no doubt perfectly tailored to her years ago. It was threadbare along the sleeves now. At her neck was a silk scarf, on her hand a carnelian ring carved with the face of Mars. Her shoes were peculiar: tie oxfords with elaborate designs carved in the leather to allow air to circulate in the shoe. She had money once, but it was long ago.
Hello Friends, I’m working hard on my promotional book of stories.
Here is an update on my progress: the ebook is done except for the cover design. It is exciting to be able to announce that it will be available on this website for all subscribers for free. You’ll be able to download it using the most commonly available options. I want to make it easy for you to read on any device.
It has been great to be CEO of my publishing journey, hiring those services where I need expertise and making a dream come true. (I know many of you have books in you too-:)
For anybody looking to get started, I refer you to Joel Friedlander’s The Self-Publisher’s Resource Guide, where you will find dozens of highly skilled and curated professionals in the book business, from editors to ebook converters. It’s all there.
The next step for me is completing the writing for the larger follow up print book. I expect it will take the rest of this year, and I’ll keep you posted.
In the meantime, when the free ebook is done and on this site, please share it! My stories are about aging, the garden, friendship and giving back. Loss and the overcoming cancer is in the mix. It is the perfect gift for mothers, sisters, and friends. Remember—Life. Change. Compost: living, aging and the whole mess it makes in the process. I’ve composted decades of living into rich, poignant and humorous stories that you will—hopefully—love.
I know how much it means to me to have you visiting the site and leaving your thoughts. Readers are what make everything worthwhile-:)
Thank you for being here.
All these wonderful photos of Rome (except that of Anna Lea Lelli) are courtesy of my friend, Catherine Drea in Ireland. Please stop by and pay her a visit, you won’t be disappointed.
©Catherine Drea of Foxglove Lane Studio www.foxglovelane.com
Congratulations. How exciting and wonderful to have this stage of your hard work and dedication drawing to a close.
And new doors, new work and more excitement beckoning.
Thanks so much Soosie, for understanding what it takes. I’ve learned an incredible amount and had a lot of fun along for the ride. I like your comment: new doors, new work and more excitement beckoning. Speriamo, as the Italians say, Let’s hope so…with eyes looking heavenward and palms wagging-:)
Thank you for more to read about Lea….I have just spent a month
in New York City which I feel is full of people who do not inspire. No one
is slowing down or paying attention…or sharing…It is not pleasant to feel
that way so I need to be in touch with inspiring people- they are out there. One
thing I do- as do friends- is pay attention to obituaries in the New York Times-
I am continually inspired by the lives I read about.
I think I will look up Cato the Elder—thank you..
I didn’t know you were in NYC for the past month. It may have been in part that people were so fed up with the weather. But I know what you mean, it always helps to have inspiring people whose legacies ripple across years. Often, if I’m looking at the obits in the Times, I am enthralled with people and what they have lived through. So many phenomenal immigrants who changed this country for the better. The story of Anna Lea Lelli is an amazing one. If you want, I can print out an unedited copy and mail it to you. Hope you DO look up Cato the Elder-:))
Lea sounds like a character–a treasure from your past. You remember her so clearly. Living in Italy for two years–wow! You had quite an adventure, didn’t you? Thanks for the update on your progress with the book. Yay!
Yes, my experience with her was one of the treasures of my life. We were in Switzerland for one year, and in Rome for four years. Lea introduced me to the work of Dante Alighieri, who wrote the epic poem, The Divine Comedy. If you want to see her at work teaching me, go to the About Me page and click on the one minute video there. You’ll see her correcting my Italian as I read–I used to work so hard for those Bravas! (“a” because I am the feminine form of BravO-:) Thank you for visiting Beth! Hope it is warming up at home-:)
You’ve been on quite the journey to get to this point, Susie, and Anna Lea Lelli is very much a part of it, I know. Aren’t we all more than the sum of our parts! I love how that story in and of itself starts to unravel as we get to this point in our lives. YAY!
Ginnie, you are pretty wise to understand how much Lea was the instigator of this journey. Yes, we are all so much more than the sum of our parts–what a beautiful thought for the day. Thank you for that. I hope you are doing well and continuing to walk and walk everywhere in your beautiful country.
Well you’ve certainly wetted my appetite Susan! How exciting that stage one is nearly complete. Congratulations!
Thank you soo much Janet. I knew I was taking a bit of a risk with this post, because my book IS about gardening, but also about love, loss, and legacies. This woman changed my life when I was young and she was an older person and I think we have that same chance in our lives. So, thanks for supporting my “different” post! I hope to whet people’s appetites for some interesting reading-:)
What a wonderful experience that imprinted itself in your life. Good luck with the book–I hope you sell a million copies!
I love the concept of “imprinted” as that was exactly the case. Thanks for your warm good luck wishes–I’d say a million copies would be pushing it, but it’s nice to think about-:))
I love this story! I have a friend who has self-published a few books, too. How I wish I’d had the chance to live in a different country. How blessed you were. :o)
I’m so glad you can relate to this story Tammy. Being a teacher yourself, it makes sense. A mentor like this can impact someone’s life for the rest of their days. I think sometimes of the poetry she encouraged me to commit to memory, telling me that “no one would ever be able to take that away.” This from someone who had been in a prison camp under Mussolini. You may not even realize it at the time, but you are changing lives. Yes, I was blessed and I am forever grateful to have known Anna Lea Lelli. I think when the print book comes out, you will like reading her entire story. Thank you for being here-:)
Congrats on your labor of love. I’m excited to see the finished product.
Thank you Gracie! I know you know this excitement, because of your own books. The promo ebook (4 stories) will be free to subscribers. (I’ll put a link out in a newsletter to everyone on the list.) The print and full ebook should be done by the end of the year. Since you’ve helped promote my blog, I’ll be happy to send you the link, and also I’d LOVE it if you’d subscribe-:)) Happy gardening–can you believe these days?
I just spent part of a day with my friend, Frieda, who’ll celebrate her
100th birthday later this month. Isn’t it wonderful to have an older friend.
Our sages are such gifts. Thanks for sharing her wonderful face.
And your stories….always a joy:)
-Jennifer
Yes, I wholeheartedly agree—it IS wonderful to have elder friends. I’m glad you have your Frieda. She probably has many stories of a full life to share. I’m pleased you mentioned seeing the photograph of Lea. Doesn’t it just say everything that her face is *alive* and interested in the world? It is what kept her so vital until the end of her days and one of the deep lessons I learned from her. In that photo, she is explaining to us how to spot recent “restoration” material from the original wall. Always so good to have you here Jennifer-:)
Well it was lovely to drop by today and see that you are almost finished this leg of your project Susie. I found myself wanting more about the lady in the cape! What a great character!! That is a super photo of her too, I hope when I grow old I have her style and attitude. So looking forward to more and may we grow to be those elders who provide inspiration and life changing experiences for the younger ones xxxx
I’m so glad you stopped by to see your photos adorn the beginnings of the story! The entire essay will be in the book. Anna Lea Lelli *was* an amazing character and yes, what attitude, what moxie. She could stop traffic in Rome with just a look. Glad you like the photo, it shows her love of knowledge I think. I do hope we become those Elders Catherine! Thank you again for sharing your beautiful work with me. XO
Foxglove Lane is another blog we both enjoy! Your Roman memories, my Swiss ones where my mentors were my colleagues.
A great collaboration with Catherine….love this story and can;t wait to read more…Lea is my kind of person to challenge and mentor me.
Yes, it was such a fun collaboration with Catherine. I LOVE her work. We (my editor and I) are working hard on the piece about Lea. It placed honorable mention in a national essay contest, but it had to be shorter for that. Now we are working on the longer essay. It can tell you that I’ve never been more challenged in my life. I could only understand about 20% of what Lea was teaching at the beginning and it took me four years to grasp the Divine Comedy in the original Italian, even then…..I still don’t understand much of it. Reading that work is like diving into a compendium of Medieval knowledge: History, Art, the terribly convoluted politics of the time, Mysticism, Religion, on and on. I’m still a beginner. Dante was a man with one foot in the Middle Ages and one foot in the Renaissance.
Susan, congratulations on your progress with the book. Those few paragraphs describing your meeting with Lea have arisen my curiosity and made me long for knowing more… 🙂
It can hardly be measured or reasoned why certain people impress and influence us more than others though we may be able to list a few reasons. But do they reach the core? Maybe sometimes yes and sometimes no… sometimes we might be surprised, pleased or even scared to get to know the real reason…
What a wise comment you have left. It is a mystery why some people fill a deep need in us. I think I wanted someone to scratch the surface of Italy and its ancient roots. I needed to see beauty in a new way and I wanted a female mentor. I lost my mom early and she was a mentor to me–of course in a different way–but I longed for someone to combine my passion for intellectual study with the beauty of the Italian language.