Generation Rap

People ask me how long I’ve been writing.

I remember when I wrote my first book. I was nine years old.

No kidding. It was printed by me only, in pencil on lined school paper. It was more of a stream of consciousness than a planned out chapter book. In fact, I think it was just one very long chapter. It was called PURAM, the story of a Persian and Siamese crossbred kitty cat. Actually, it was more about me parenting Puram. She was very special and she taught me much about caring for a living creature. But then she started having babies. Lots of babies. Adorable little cute furry babies. And eventually, I became a cat farmer.

Yes, you heard that right. I was a cat farmer in my book.

That’s all. That was the whole point of the book. How I became a cat farmer. Don’t look for it on Amazon. It was never published. 

So if that counts, I started writing 62 years ago.

I was first published and paid for it when I was 15. I’d participated in the 30 mile Walk for Development in Sacramento, to raise money for programs in our community. I don’t even remember truly what we were raising money for. I just really like the idea of going on a 30 mile walk with a whole bunch of people.

Family Circle magazine had posted a call-out for short stories of good things teenagers were doing in cities across America. But it had to be written by the teenager. Of course, my mother, a writer (always one to encourage others to write) saw the call-out and suggested I write about my experience and send it in. 

Huge surprise. They loved it, sent me an acceptance letter and a contract to sign, and then paid me for my little article. $25. I was beyond thrilled. A published author!

My sister and I, the two youngest siblings in the family, were still living at home when mom became an Advice columnist. All of the letters that came to her column were delivered directly to our house. About 100 letters a day. The mailman was a saint.

Mom wasn’t like Anne and Abby, as they had a business built around their columning and secretaries who read their mail and sorted things out. My sister and I did that for mom. But we also read those letters and often would offer our advice on how they should go about solving their problem. Kathy was older and thinking more about college, moving out and getting married. I was still at home. Mom truly enjoyed hearing my opinions on these letters. Often she took a much more liberal point of view and I was always more conservative. A switch from what most would expect. We often disagreed with each other’s answers.

Well, that made for good reading. She submitted some of my answers and hers to King Features Syndicate in New York, where she was already syndicated (Helen Help Us) and proposed that we write the first ever in America mother-daughter column. They absolutely love the idea and booked our flights to New York to sign contracts. At the time I was 15 1/2. Unbelievable. I was about to be a published author, again, and paid (more than $25).

I kind of felt like Cinderella.

I remember sitting in the great big chair at King Features Syndicate on E. 45th St. in New York, New York. We met all sorts of people wearing beautiful clothing. Tommy Thompson was the “Big Editor” and would be my first boss. I was just a kid sitting there with big, important people in a very big chair and my feet would not even touch the ground. Like Edith Ann. (Do you remember Lily Tomlin’s character?)

As fun and amazing and overwhelming as all that was… the best part was just writing with my mother.

She would choose the letters to be in our column, and toss them into my room on my desk for me to ponder and write my answers. She would write her own answers. Later, we would come together and discuss what we had written. It was amazing how we often took a different approach to helping someone solve their problem, but the outcome would always be the same. Often, we were encouraging people to just think it through…because they had all they needed to solve their own problem.

They promoted us as “The only mother and daughter paid to argue with each other”.  The column was called “Generation Rap”. (Then, to rap meant to talk).

There is so much more to tell about growing up with a syndicated Advice Columnist/writer/mom and a professional photographer/dad. Many funny and some very profound stories. My sister, Kathy, and I will be working on a book about this life experience in the coming year.

Stay tuned.