Peg Kehret Blog

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) runs an on-line book club for kids. Each month, it features a book that has compassion as a theme. There are discussion questions and author interviews. It’s called Henry’s Book Club in honor of Henry Bergh, the founder of the ASPCA.

I’m pleased that Saving Lilly is this month’s book choice. The story of a group of kids who stand up for their beliefs and, in so doing, save an abused elephant, Saving Lilly won the Henry Bergh Award in 2001.

You can learn more about Henry’s Book Club here: www.henrysbookclub.ning.com/group/savinglilly.

My eye surgery went well and I’m feeling fine. My grandson, Eric, is staying with me for a few days and he’s been an enormous help. The new lens that was put in my eye has improved my distance vision so much that I had to have the corrective lens on that side of my glasses removed. After the second eye surgery, I’ll  get new glasses for computer work and reading. For now, my eyes are not coordinated with each other. The only way I can read the computer monitor is with one eye closed so I won’t be doing any writing for a couple of weeks.

This experience has made me appreciate my eyesight even more than I did before. I also appreciate my friends! Vicki drove me to the surgery and back, and Heidi drove me to my follow-up appointment the next day. Normally, one of my kids would have been able to drive but my surgery happened to fall on the first day of school in the district where my son and his wife both teach, and it was also the day that my daughter and her husband moved my granddaughter, Brett, into her dorm at Whitman College, and attended all of the special events for parents. I had many friends volunteer to drive me.

Exciting news: I received my first hot-off-the-press copy of STOLEN CHILDREN. It is always a thrill to finally hold the published book in my hands. The official release date is October 16.

My oldest grandchild leaves for college tomorrow. I am excited for her! I read her college catalog with her when she was selecting which courses to register for, and there were so many interesting choices that I wished I could enroll, too.

Even though I won’t be living in a dorm this fall, I will continue my education the same way I always have - by reading voraciously, by taking adult education classes, and by staying involved in this fascinating world of ours.

For several months, I’ve been getting requests to “be friends” with young readers on line, via social networking sites. A couple of weeks ago I joined Facebook. So far I’ve learned two things: it does connect people, and it can use up lots of time while I browse through the profiles of people I know.

My calendar is filled with doctor appointments because I am going to have cataract surgery. The surgeon will remove the lens on my eye and replace it with an artificial lens. The procedure is done with a local anesthetic and does not require hospitalization. The first eye will be done on Aug. 27 and the second eye will be done two weeks later. I’m hopeful that this will correct the blurred vision which has become troublesome.

In between eye surgeries, I’m going to California to visit my aunt. My daughter, Anne, will go with me. My brother and his wife will meet us there, and we’ll also have time with one of my cousins.

As for writing, the contract for HOW I WONDER is moving through the publishing channels.  I’m brain-storming ideas for a short story that I’ve been asked to write for an anthology, and I’ve started working on my next novel. Most of the work at this point is mental.  I don’t outline in advance, but I do a lot of thinking about the plot and how I want to develop it.

I received an e-mail from a woman who said her daughter planned to perform a monolog that I had written. She asked if the monolog’s narrator was based on a character in one of my books or if I could give her any other background information. She sent a copy of the monolog, which was titled, “Mandy.”  As I read it, my jaw dropped.

I wrote a monolog called “Missing Mandy” which was published by Meriwether Publishing in the book WINNING MONOLOGS FOR YOUNG ACTORS. It is still in print.  The piece this woman sent me had the same first line. Its last line was a direct quote from my monolog, too, although in my piece it was not the ending. The rest of “Mandy” is based on my idea and contains several sentences or partial sentences that I wrote, but it also contains actions and dialogue that I did not write. The end result is not something I would have published.

Anyone familiar with my books would be shocked to read one where a child discovers the dead body of her friend, covered in blood. I would never include such a scene. Yet, there it was, with me listed as the author.

 In “Missing Mandy” a child is asked about a burn on her hand and replies that she burned it while baking cookies. In the revised “Mandy” monolog, this child says she was scratched by her cat - also something I would never put in print.

I wonder how many copies of this distorted version of my work are circulating. I hope not many.  

When I responded to the mother’s e-mail, I explained that someone took my monolog, “Missing Mandy,” and rewrote it but left my name on it. I said that if her daughter performs the monolog she sent me, I should not be credited as the author.  I’m debating what else, if anything, I can do about such blatant misuse of copyrighted material.   

Yesterday was my mother’s birthday. I spent the day with Brett, driving home from Whitman College. We’d had a wonderful time exploring the campus, deciding which classes she wanted to take, and feeling pampered in a fine old Bed and Breakfast. It seemed a perfect way to celebrate my memories of my mother.

Mother always ended each visit by saying, “Didn’t we have fun?” No matter what we had done, it was always, in her view, the best visit ever. She had a knack for creating good times in any circumstances and for seeing the good in every situation.

My dad spent his last nine years in a nursing home, a victim of Alzheimer’s disease. Because he had been an executive with the Hormel meat company, my parents had a pig collection. Mother decided to have a “Pig Parade” at the nursing home.  I baked dozens of pig-shaped cookies, packed them in a box, and carried them on the plane from Seattle to San Francisco. Mother and I packed all of her pig figuerines and other pig memorabilia in boxes and transported everything to the nursing home.

The dining/recreation room was lined with patients in wheelchairs, and curious staff members took their breaks to watch the Pig Parade. We displayed each pig and Mother told where it was from. Those that weren’t breakable got passed around. Even patients who couldn’t follow the explanations seemed to enjoy touching the stuffed pigs, and my dad acted pleased to see the pigs again. I served the cookies on napkins decorated with pig stickers.

That night, as we put the pigs away in her condo, Mother said, “Didn’t we have fun?” and I could honestly answer, “Yes. The Pig Parade was wonderful.”

When Mother had cataract surgery, I went to stay for a few days to be her driver and to help with eye drops, etc. On the second day of her recovery, she felt well enough for us to have lunch at a small cafe’ near her home. “Isn’t this fun?” she asked, as we waited for our lunches. “Aren’t we lucky that we could do this today?”

Each Christmas was the best one we’d ever had. Every birthday celebration topped the charts of birthdays.

What a gift she gave me! By example, she taught me to appreciate each moment, to live life with joy no matter what the circumstances, and to find something to celebrate in every situation.

I miss her every day and always will, but oh my, didn’t we have fun?