Mary Ann Lindley over muffins: Journalist, politician, author and Tallahassee friend<\/a><\/p>\nAlthough she called herself a member of the clan of tossers, as opposed to the clan of keepers, she kept her columns for The Tallahassee Democrat. After her career in journalism, followed by eight years on the Leon County Commission, she drew upon them to write this book.<\/p>\n
“Fragments: Then & Now” is organized into eight thematic sections. Each section is comprised of fragments of Lindley\u2019s columns which are arranged in chronological order and followed by a section written in current time, titled “And Now.”<\/p>\n
It is fair to say that some of the fragments could qualify to appear in more than one of the thematic sections. Some of the fragments are Lindley\u2019s reflections on issues contemporary to the time she wrote the column; other reflections are in times long past.<\/p>\n
This use of deep past, contemporary past, and the ever present makes for occasional difficult time transitions as you read. In addition, a subject index could have been beneficial for readers to locate a specific topic of interest.<\/p>\n
No matter, the abundance and richness of each section\u2019s fragments, Lindley\u2019s own observations and those she quotes from writers she admires, add up to a satisfying reading experience whether you navigate the book cover to cover or simply choose a theme anywhere in the book that appeals to you.<\/p>\n
For example, in the first section you will read about Lindley\u2019s father, a farmer who confronted the weather each day, weather which \u201clike a happy drunk, can neither be blamed or reasoned with\u2026.the best [one] can do is try to predict its next binge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of holidays, Lindley notes that by sticking to our past traditions we can actually defeat the very joy we are trying to capture. \u201cBuy your cookies,\u201d she notes, if you are defeated by spending days trying to make them. And recognize that holidays aren\u2019t always happy \u2014 better just to acknowledge this truth.<\/p>\n
Lindley\u2019s love of journalism, \u201cthe news business,\u201d is evident in spite of relentless changes taking place. In “And Now,” she discusses the origins of Zing! \u201cto invite readers to submit their own pithy take on a community, cultural or political turn of an event.\u201d<\/p>\n
She goes on to say: \u201cOh, how I appreciate the critics who make their points with humor. Willingly, we listen to them. Gratefully we learn from them.\u201d However, she also notes, \u201cIt\u2019s up to readers to sort out what might be credible, but not everyone takes the time and goes to the trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the section on Florida, Lindley skillfully describes the inherent contradictions of this state \u2014 its siren-like, if not fragile, beauty. Its susceptibility to greed, corruption, and destruction. And its politics \u2014 sometimes producing individuals of outstanding integrity and bravery, but at other times revealing those of cowardice and weakness.<\/p>\n
Perhaps not the most profound quotation from this section but arguably the most memorable is the following: \u201c[Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris] was an object of astonishment to those who had never seen a woman in a serious political position dropping her eyelashes demurely, tossing her hair lightly and smiling sweetly even when delivering the coup de grace to Vice President Al Gore on November 26.\u201d Lindley delivers an unforgettable picture of a belle in action.<\/p>\n
Lindley\u2019s voice resonates throughout. The self-described tosser, prone to judging others, has the grace to think back and say it is OK to admit you might have been wrong, and not only admit it to yourself but to others as well. In the concluding statement in the book, she writes, \u201cit is important to be kind, to be honest, to nurture others and to forgive.\u201d<\/p>\n
This work of fragments is, to use a clich\u00e9 that Lindley would probably never use, proof that \u201cthe whole is greater than the sum of its parts.\u201d This book is an engaging and insightful journey through time that you will want to return to again and again.<\/p>\n
Anne E Rowe, is Professor of English, Emerita, Dean of the Faculties, Emerita, at Florida State University.<\/p>\n
Schedule of events<\/p>\n
Mary Ann Lindley’s book launch for “Fragments: Then & Now”<\/p>\n
When: 4:30-6:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4<\/p>\n
Where: Midtown Reader, 1123 Thomasville Road<\/p>\n
Reading at Word Garden\u00a0<\/p>\n
When: 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5<\/p>\n
Where: Tallahassee Nurseries, 2911 Thomasville Road<\/p>\n
Conversation about Fragments<\/p>\n
When: 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16<\/p>\n
Where: Hearth & Soul Home D\u00e9cor, 1410 Market Street<\/p>\n
Meet-and-Greet & Book Signing<\/p>\n
When: 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6<\/p>\n
Where: Goodwood Museum and Gardens, 1600 Miccosukee Road<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anne E Rowe \u00a0|\u00a0 Special to the Tallahassee Democrat Mary Ann Lindley\u2019s new work, “Fragments: Then & Now,”…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[223,106210,16705,88,32015,7970,13547,3,13470,13560,111,106209,13692],"class_list":["post-178779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-books","tag-books","tag-books-signings","tag-books-u0026-literature","tag-entertainment","tag-journalists","tag-literature","tag-neutral","tag-news","tag-overall","tag-overall-neutral","tag-politics","tag-signings","tag-u0026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}