Women of Courage: They Never gave Up, is an inspirational book that tells how three brave women fought back from adversities to live productive lives, and give back to the community. Linda Warren suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. She would not let this disease, or years of rejection of her first book, keep her from becoming an award winning author. Her novels entertain and help readers by relating to concerns in their own lives. Teresa Maurer has multiple sclerosis, but lives a full life. She is a successful Beatrix Potter Storyteller and literacy advocate encouraging hundreds of children to read each year. Her performances draw school children from all over Texas. Their smiles as she relates a Potter story are rewards she cherishes. Marsy Clarke is a crusader for the physically and mentally challenged citizens in Texas. For more than a decade, Marsy has helped implement programs that find jobs and housing for those in need. Her desire to become a crusader was kindled by her son, Andrew, who was born with disabilities. Travel with them through their lives. Feel their despair and triumphs as God leads them to reach higher planes.
WOMEN OF COURAGE
THEY NEVER GAVE UPBy Helen F. SheffieldAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2009 Helen F. Sheffield
All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4490-2294-5 Contents
CHAPTER ONE Recognition...............................5CHAPTER TWO Family....................................7CHAPTER THREE Growing Up..............................13CHAPTER FOUR The Disease..............................17CHAPTER FIVE Primitive Art Period.....................19CHAPTER SIX Writing For Success.......................24
Chapter One
RECOGNITION
Reception
Linda Warren was honored at a reception held for her by Brazos Writers, in College Station, Texas. She has won many awards for her Harlequin novels: Romantic Times, Reviewer's Choice, and Book-Seller's, Golden Quill (twice), Texas Gold (three times), Aspen Gold, and Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence (twice). This year (2009), her book Texas Heir is nominated for a "Rita" by the Romance Writer's of America. This is the highest award given to a romance writer.
Her happy smile belies how difficult the previous years have been for Linda, or how hard she has struggled for success. A wheelchair serves as her legs now, and her fingers struggle to type the wonderful story ideas she imagines. Linda has rheumatoid arthritis, and she thanks God for giving her the will to succeed.
Friends and family gather at Carousel Paperbacks store for an opportunity to have Linda autograph her twenty-first Harlequin Super Romance titled, Always a Mother. She admits that her favorite subject to write about is babies. She gets her ideas for book plots from many sources: friends, newspapers, magazines, her readers and some just pop up in her vivid imagination. Linda's books are published in nine languages; more than a million copies have been sold. She writes for Super Romance and Harlequin American, interlacing life and love together.
Chapter Two
FAMILY
The Beginning
Linda Warren was born on July 2, 1945 in Bryan, Texas. Bryan is located off state hwy 6 approximately one-hundred miles NW of Houston. Her parents were James and Mary Siegert. Linda said, "My parents were happy to welcome a girl after having two boys, James Otto and Bobby. Of course, the family was not complete until my third brother, Paul, was born two years later."
The Siegert family lived in the Smetana community, located six miles west of Bryan, Texas on state highway 21. It was settled by a number of Bohemian families in 1885. The population of this community in the forties was listed as fifty.
Outing with Dad
"We lived on a farm and raised cotton, corn and cattle," Linda said. "Daddy also put in water wells. He was a hard worker, and expected us to do our share as well.
"Daddy was always busy, except on Sunday. I have fond memories of the family going to the movie theaters on Sunday afternoon. He loved westerns, and we would travel to the nearby towns of Franklin and Hearne, if a western was not playing at the Palace Theater in Bryan.
"I remember seeing a beautiful collie dog that my brother, Paul, and I admired at the theater in Franklin. The dog belonged to the ticket sales person. My brother and I asked the woman what she fed her dog to get its coat so shiny, and she said bread and grease. We tried to get our collie to eat bread and grease when we got home, but he turned up his nose at the concoction. We gave up on having a fat, shiny dog.
"After the movies, it was a real treat to go for ice cream. Our afternoon was not complete until we had that treat."
Memories of Mother
Linda remembers her Mother's kitchen as being the most important room in her home. "I was an only daughter so my mom and I were very close. Her biggest grief was that I had to deal with my disease. Whenever I was down or depressed, she was always there. Every hospital stay, she was there. We spent Fridays together; Fridays were our day. We would go to the beauty shop, shopping, have lunch and then to the grocery store.
"My mom was a great cook. I could gain five pounds by the smells in her kitchen. During the holidays, she always thought I should be there to help prepare the meal like when I was a kid. Mother gave me the job of making fruit salad since I liked it so much. When my hands became quite crippled, I told her I just couldn't do the fruit salad anymore. Her response was that I could at least try. On the day before Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas she'd pick me up and I'd spend the day with her in her big kitchen helping to prepare the holiday meal. But I did very little. She didn't want my help; she wanted my company. We talked, laughed and had a good time. Today, I treasure those memories. I know just about every dish she ever made, but when I make it, it doesn't taste exactly the same. She put an extra dose of mother's love in everything she did. I cannot duplicate that. "I still miss mother, especially on Fridays. She passed away in the year 2000."
Chapter Three
GROWING UP
School Days
Linda went to Saint Joseph's Catholic School in Bryan for the first eight grades. The school was small and she knew everyone.
"My mom carpooled with a couple of other mothers who sent their kids to St. Joseph's. It was a wonderful school, because we were taught by nuns. St. Joseph School gave me something that public schools could not, a foundation of faith that has seen me through the worst times of my life. It was one of the best gifts my parents could have given me."
Linda's special friends are Diannia Laundry, Linda Stewart and Beverly Hoke. "They are special, because we grew up together. Almost every Saturday night we attended dances, dancing to country music or polka bands. I knew how to dance because our whole family attended dances at a family orientated hall, not far from home. It was called SPST (Slavonic Benevolent Order of the State of Texas, a fraternal benefit society). The building burned down some years ago."
"Even now my girl friends and I meet on each one's birthday and for Christmas. When we celebrate someone's birthday, the birthday girl chooses the place, and we catch up with each other's lives. This usually takes three hours."
It was a real shock when Linda started in ninth grade at Anson Jones in Bryan. She was timid and it took her awhile to get used to a larger school. She and her brothers rode the school bus ten miles to school, so they got up real early and got home late. They still had chores to do when they got home.
"After my brothers and I changed clothes we fed the farm animals. And then I had to help mom with supper. After that it was homework, bath, sometimes TV, and bed."
"My girl friends and I didn't like it when the boys on the bus tried to butt in our conversations," Linda said. "They were cutups, but that wasn't as bad as when they tried to sneak a smoke; the tobacco smell made me sick. My family didn't smoke, even though smoking was prevalent back then."
It was hard for Linda to go from a small Catholic school to a large school, like Bryan High. It was difficult for her to make new friends, because she was shy. It wasn't until her junior year that she settled in and felt comfortable. She made the pep-squad (Lasso's), joined Future Nurses of America, and was elected to the student council. Mrs. Davis, their leader of the pep-squad, kept them laughing with funny remarks.
She enjoyed her English classes taught by Mrs. Edwards and Mr. Dixon. Mrs. Edwards wrote on one of her essays, "If you could get your grammar and emotions on the same level, you could be a good writer." At that time it didn't mean much to Linda, except that she needed to work on her grammar, because she wanted to be a nurse not a writer.
Meeting Billy
"Billy and his family are originally from Hearne, but they moved to Bryan in his senior year of high school," Linda said. "He had already graduated from high school, and was on leave from the National Guard when I met him at a friend's wedding in 1963. I thought he was oh, so handsome. I was a senior in high school when we started dating. We usually went to the movies or school events. He would spend Sunday afternoons at my house. I continued dating Billy after I entered Sam Houston State College, in Huntsville, Texas. The college is located thirty miles east of Bryan off of hwy interstate 30."
Chapter Four
THE DISEASE
Linda describes her disease. "When I was eighteen, tiny ball-shaped growths appeared on my feet. They were very painful. My family doctor ran some tests on me and diagnosed my condition as a result of rheumatic fever. He misdiagnosed my condition. Later, after more testing, my condition was diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease, causing the immune system to attack my body's own cells as if they were invaders. I was given cortisone shots in my knees. The excruciating pain was such that I couldn't walk very far, so I dropped out of school. I thought with medication the pain would lessen and I could go back to school, but it only got worse.
"I was dating Billy at the time. We'd been going together for a couple of years, and decided to get married. Billy's family is Baptist, mine is Catholic. He joined my church and we were married in the Catholic Church in 1965. Even though I was in some pain with arthritis, it was the best decision I ever made. He's been with me through all the operations and depression. And he still is. We've tested our love a time or two, but it's always remained strong.
"I worked at the Producers Cooperative Association in Bryan as secretary, but had to give it up, because of inflamed tissue in my hips, knees and hands. In 1967, one of my doctors prescribed that the tissue be removed. While recovering from surgery, my neighbor brought over a whole box of Harlequin books. After reading them, I was hooked on those books forever. I bought them by the armful because of their format. Even though there were conflicts in them, all the endings were happy.
"I became better for a while, and then I went to Dallas for more surgery. Between 1967 and 1995, I had ten surgeries, on my hands, knees, feet and hips. Some surgeries took place in Dallas and the others in Houston. Every night and day I prayed for God to take away the pain. It didn't all go away, but in 1976, He sent me a wonderful diversion. Art entered my life."
Chapter Five
PRIMITIVE ART PERIOD
How It All Started
"When I was in my early thirties, I was taking lots of medication for RA and depression. My husband and family were worried about me taking so many pills, but I didn't care. I didn't want to do anything or go anywhere. My favorite words were, 'I can't.'
"My Aunt Dee Vavra was taking art classes at this time, and she wanted me to go with her to the classes. She showed me one of her paintings, and I told her it was beautiful. She said, 'You can do this too.' I said, no, no, I can hardly write much less paint. Dee insisted that I would love it. Her teacher agreed to let me join the class. I didn't want to hear about it. At that time, I was walking on crutches. The only place I would go was to have my hair fixed and the grocery store. Dee was very persistent. One day she called and said, 'I'm going to pick you up in an hour for art lessons. I have everything you need.'
"Her insistence made me angry. I called my husband, Billy, and said, Dee is coming to take me to an art class and I don't want to go."
His response was, "It's not going to hurt anything. Just go!"
"I was determined not to enjoy the class. I wanted it to be over. The teacher, Roxy Pike, had the materials for me, and a special place for me to sit. After the hour was up, I went home. My husband asked, "How did it go?"
"They treated me like I was handicapped."
He looked me in the face. "You are handicapped."
"Normally, I would have burst into tears and cried my eyes out."
This was the turning point in Linda's life. She had to accept the fact that she had an autoimmune disease and would never be normal. Every morning and every evening for years she'd prayed for God to take the disease from her body. Now, Linda prayed for him to give her the strength to accept the truth. She was disabled.
The next week Linda went back to the class. She was smiling and apologized to the teacher for the way she had behaved.
"I thought I'd never see you again," Roxy told her. "I'm happy you're back."
Surprise Award
"My art teacher had me so involved in painting. I learned to love it. I thought it was enough to paint for my enjoyment, but Roxy insisted I enter an original oil painting in the Brazos Valley Art Contest.
"I will not be able to help you with it," she said. "If you work from a photograph, you must take the picture yourself."
Not being able to drive does have its disadvantages. Fortunately for Linda she has two dear friends who are close relatives, Melinda and Diannia, who are always there when she needs them.
"My sister-in-law, Melinda Siegert, put her two little boys in the back seat of her car, and we drove all over Brazos Valley taking pictures of scenes I could use in a painting. I placed all my photos on the bed and decided to paint Bee Creek Park, because the park scene appealed to me the most. I added a boy playing with his dog to the scene.
"It took me several weeks to complete the painting. Roxy had all her students bring their paintings to class, so she could evaluate them. She went around the room telling each student the strong points of their picture, contrast of dark and light, good depth and so on. When she came to my painting, she stopped and didn't say anything for awhile. I was holding my breath, knowing she thought it was really bad."
"Linda, did you do this by yourself?"
I said, "Yes, why?"
"Did you copy something?"
"No, it's a picture I took of Bee Creek Park in College Station. Why are you asking that?"
She said, "Do you know what kind of painting this is?"
"No, is it a very bad painting?"
Roxy's answer surprised her. "No, it's not bad at all. It's a primitive painting. I want you to enter this for sure."
Linda went to the library and checked out books on primitive painting. She also bought books about primitive art work, so she could understand the meaning of primitive art. Her conclusion was that primitive art is marked by directness in design and inborn character of the artist.
When Linda entered her primitive art work in the contest, she found that people from all over the area had entered paintings in the contest. She didn't think she had a chance to win anything, but she thought it would be a good experience to enter.
Several weeks later, one of the ladies from her art class called and told her the final selections had been made and posted by the art judges.
"Did you win anything?" she asked her friend.
"No," was the answer, "but you did!"
Linda was so surprised. She'd won an honorable mention and five hundred dollars. The city of College Station bought her painting.
After that, she developed a greater interest in painting. She painted places where she grew up and people she knew. Unfortunately, the turpentine she used to thin the paints started irritating her eyes. They turned blood red. When she went to the doctor, he told her, "Your arthritis has caused your eyes to lose their protective lining. You need to put your paints up for a while. Then, when you start painting again, try water colors or acrylics."
Linda didn't want to change from one medium to another for her paintings. She sank into depression again. The only thing that could mitigate her depression was losing herself in reading Harlequin books. The books helped her forget the pain she suffered from her disease.
Chapter Six
WRITING FOR SUCCESS
First Book
I sat talking to Linda about her first book. She recalled being so enamored with Harlequin books that her husband suggested she write one. "Oh no, I can't do that," Linda told Billy. "I don't have the educational background to write a book."
Her dad took up the cry, "I bet you can do it."
Linda gave me a sad little smile as she thought of her father who died in 1987. "He always believed I could do anything I wanted to do."
(Continues...)
Excerpted from WOMEN OF COURAGEby Helen F. Sheffield Copyright © 2009 by Helen F. Sheffield . Excerpted by permission.
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