Please contribute to This Scrapbook!

Please share the multiple facets of our gem Holly, by leaving comments here, or writing terry at:

online_hub [at] yahoo.com

Please include any dates of events or photos, so I can put them in chronological order.

I can also send you an email address to which you can automatically post photos, poems, etc.

namaste,
Terry

Holly Writing

Holly was a member of my writers’ group in Berkeley for the past couple of years. Although our tastes in writing were quite different, there was an honesty about Holly that was refreshing. And she had a wicked sense of humor.

My novel has two gay male characters and includes moments of tenderness between them. It seemed that Holly was never entirely comfortable with expressions of tenderness between men. On one occasion, as we were discussing a kissing scene, she remarked, “I’m over 50 years old. If a man wants to stick something in me, it better not be his tongue.” We all burst out laughing whenever she cracked a joke. She possessed a natural sense of delivery, and her timing was flawless.

I recall another occasion in the writers'’ group that also revealed her honesty. I had rewritten my opening chapter a few times. After I felt that I had finally gotten it right, I showed it to the group. Holly responded enthusiastically by saying, “You’re ready. You need to send this out. Start looking for a publisher or agent now. This is really timely.” It felt good to hear her say that – partly because she was so honest she would never say something just to butter someone up. Also, it is uncommon in a writers’ group to receive such wholehearted praise. Holly approached the group with a complete lack of competitiveness. She had no hidden agenda. And that is somewhat unusual.

She was beginning to write a fictional piece set in Egypt. She had a natural ability for description. She used all five senses and was able to make readers feel as if they were sitting in a cafe – smelling and tasting the food and sipping the wine along with her. She loved the Egyptian culture and referred to the family she stayed with whenever she was there as her “second family.” I felt as if Holly had a lot to say about the meeting of different cultures and how easily people dismiss a culture or religion when it is different from their own. Although her fictional piece was in an early stage, I sensed she had something important to say about the Egyptian culture and people. She wanted to deepen our understanding and appreciation and get past the negative stereotypes dominating newscasts. She was still learning how to focus as a writer and searching for the right words to capture her experiences when she became ill.

I miss her wit and honesty. And I realize that whatever she wanted to express about Egypt and the kindness her “second family” showed to an American woman traveling alone will now have to remain a mystery.

Janet Rhodes

Holly at Terry's B-day Party

Holly March 2007

Holly returns from Egypt bearing gifts!

Summer 2004 - The Girls's Birthday club