Hello dear readers. It’s Poetry Friday, collected by My Juicy Little Universe
to consider climate change, posts I am eager to read.
First – on Friday, March 15, the winner of a charming picture book,
BOOM! BELLOW! BLEAT! by Georgia Heard and Aaron DeWitte,
from Boyds Mills Press
Today I’m celebrating international women, a potent theme
Two women I want to celebrate
Betty Mae Tiger Jumper, of Florida and Jennifer Worth of England.
Both were book authors and both were nurses. I am intrigued with each of their stories,
encapsulated here today.
[Important – if you know a fantastic book for any age student which illuminates
the path of a girl or woman whose legacy deserves wide attention,
will you please consider nominating it for honors of ALA’s Amelia Bloomer List (March-October nomination period 2019.] Thank you!
Betty Mae Tiger Jumper
Think of a gigantic place near the end of land
A mamma alligator floats babies on her back
And itchy black bear takes a palm tree scratch
Leaving soft fur tufts for mice to fetch
©2010 all rightsreserved
-Jan Godown Annino
I came to know Betty Mae Tiger Jumper after our first conversation at a Florida festival.
Eventually with her agreement, I wrote a book for young readers about her, She Sang Promise.
Raised outdoors in the late 1920s/early 1930s, she helped her midwife mother and grandmother deliver babies in South Florida – when still a child. A teenager on her first day of kindergarten, she couldn’t read or write English. This path-setting nurse, newspaper editor, author and legendary storyteller’s many honors include her traditional singing recorded on two Smithsonian music CDs. She served a U.S. President on an advisory committee. In 1967, she was the first woman elected a leader of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. And, she also wrestled alligators.
The international? A fascinating aspect of federal and tribal relations involves the fact that federally recognized tribes, such as the Seminole Tribe of Florida, are considered sovereign nations.
Jennifer Worth
Wind your way through the dockland, stenchland, fight land
Bandage the sad hand, worn hand, burned hand
Lift up the glad hand, smile hand, tiny hand
©2019 all rights reserved
-Jan Godown Annino
I came to know Jennifer Worth through a recent need to escape temporary
small miseries now past (loss of dear old pet, a despised nasty molar pulled.)
I found her through Call The Midwife, her first book,
also the name of the BBC series about her.
Jennifer Worth was a financially secure young woman who chose to study
how to deliver babies for impoverished families. In the 1950s she selected
wretched areas in the East End of London for her work. Her careful telling
of poignant stories about the bravery of women and older children living in
near-scavenger conditions is a movie series from her three nonfiction books.
Writing Room
For some bit of time this season, this will be one of very few posts here, as I pull back from social media & its affiliates to focus on writing projects.
I will miss this community in-between-time & look forward to more connectivity later. And there is always email, snail mail, the phone & perhaps we will bump into each other at an event. I hope so.
16 responses to “Book winner, international women, climate change”
Call the Midwife and Bettie Mae Tiger Jumper both offer universal lessons for our time. Good luck with your writing projects.
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Well said- having been enormously boosted by dedicated members of the amazing profession of nursing, I have even more gratitude to the nurses of times past such as Jennifer Worth and Betty Mae Tiger Jumper, who undertook their laborious and often thankless duties without today’s conveniences.
And hey dear Hilda, surprised in a delighted way to see you here at Bookseedstudio – thank you so very much.
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Jan–we will miss you during your break! My favorite part of this rich post is about Betty Mae, even though I have watched a good bit of the CALL THE MIDWIFE series and really enjoyed it. But Betty Mae Tiger Jumper, what a person! Thank you very much for introducing us.
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Busy Heidi – hello! I didn’t expect to see you here with this active weekend you’ve experienced. I am buoyed seeing the connectivity of our young people around the world to influence policy direction, so 2030 can be a better year than our current fossil fuel, carbon emissions course has set it up to be. Thank you for your teaching on March 15 at My Juicy Little Universe. It’s a great resource.
Appreciations for these kind words. Glad we are both fans of CALL THE MIDWIFE.
all my best
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I enjoyed learning more about these two remarkable women and reading your lovely poems in their honor. Best of luck with your writing over the coming weeks, Jan!
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I suspect it will be wonderful, dear Michelle. I feel as if I’m following in your footsteps.
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We’ll miss you, but good luck with your projects!
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Many appreciations dear MaryLee.
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Call The Midwife is one of my favorite shows. I love your tributes to both of these amazing women.
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Glad to have this further groovy connection. Best & more best.
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Hooray for the writer nurse! My mom was a nurse too. I love to tell the story of how, when I was a college undergrad, I sent my mother college catalogs from every college in our area I could think of. As a result, she enrolled in college and we ended up graduating the same year…along with my sister. It’s a wonderful memory of my mom who finished her degree after raising kids and being successful in homemaking. As a recent recipient of a book prize I will let others have a chance….but I’m off to enjoy your review of bleating and bellowing
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Linda of the Envelope! I will be writing you in snail mail soon.
Brava! for your Nurse Mom, for your role in encouraging her college experience &
for your family’s three graduations that tremendous year!
It is so meaningful that she provided that nursing service,
after providing her home mentoring/nurturing skills.
Wonderful to know more of your world.
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Thanks for every precious bit you shared, Jan. If only we noticed: “Leaving soft fur tufts for mice to fetch” That is a special poem! Best wishes on your projects & thanks for telling me of your connection to Morag Styles, also special!
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Thank you so much Linda. You are an astute observer of people & Nature, I know, for sure. Happy weekend!
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My mother was a nurse, so I’ve always felt a particular appreciation for these incredibly hardworking people (mostly women, but happily more men now, too), who must balance medical knowledge with people skills, providing skilled medical care as well as social and emotional support for people in their most vulnerable times.
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Oh Jane, that was so generous of her to perform that invaluable public service.
If she is still with us, please thank her for me. And appreciations for your
sharing this.
Our favorite neighbor across the way when I was 8-13 was a nurse & also nursing instructor
at the local teaching hospital. I’ve always loved her – feel fortunate that
we keep in touch through snail mail tho’ we moved to Florida when I was 13.
As with many nurses, there were no office hours in the sense that on weekends
or when she wasn’t at work, everyone on the street ran to her with their small
medical emergencies & she was always patient & helping.
Currently an ER nurse lives next door to us here in FL & we so appreiate her too.
And a third nurse vignette, I so much enjoyed learning from the nurse in
my gynecologist’s office years back, it lead to a closeness & eventually
our good friendship still enjoyed by both us today.
(She’s now a children’s author, too….:)
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