Our Speaker Today:

 Norma Watkins - The Last Resort

Norma Watkins grew up in Mississippi during the Civil Rights years.  She has a PhD in English and an MFA in Creative Writing.  She is Professor Emerita at Miami Dade College, where she taught for 26 years and held an Endowed Chair.  She now teaches creative writing at College of the Redwoods in Fort Bragg, CA.  As an undergraduate, Watkins studied writing with Eudora Welty.  Her memoir, The Last Resort: Taking the Mississippi Cure, was published by University Press of Mississippi in 2011.  The Washington Post called it "Spelndid in Every Way."

Norma introduced herself and provided several hints in writing a memoir 1) make a list of all moments, big and small, that have made a difference in your life 2) what did your surroundings look like, smell like, not detail is too small 3) it is OK to have a conversation in a book 4) a page a day.  She went on to describer her own memoir beginning in Jackson, MS when she was just 7 years old.  It details the story of her lifes development in the Civil Rights era.  When asked how her book is different from "The Help" she states that the Help was bad people doing bad things, in her book it was good people doing bad things.  Society was very closed, and those who stood up were punished. One of her biggest lessons learned is that "You never get so mature that you can't be knocked off your illusions."

For more, please read her book: The Last Resort, Taking the MIssissippi Cure.