Women of Courage: They Never gave Up, is an inspirational book that tells how three brave women fought back from adversities to live productive lives, and give back to the community. Linda Warren suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. She would not let this disease, or years of rejection of her first book, keep her from becoming an award winning author. Her novels entertain and help readers by relating to concerns in their own lives. Teresa Maurer has multiple sclerosis, but lives a full life. She is a successful Beatrix Potter Storyteller and literacy advocate encouraging hundreds of children to read each year. Her performances draw school children from all over Texas. Their smiles as she relates a Potter story are rewards she cherishes. Marsy Clarke is a crusader for the physically and mentally challenged citizens in Texas. For more than a decade, Marsy has helped implement programs that find jobs and housing for those in need. Her desire to become a crusader was kindled by her son, Andrew, who was born with disabilities. Travel with them through their lives. Feel their despair and triumphs as God leads them to reach higher planes.
WOMEN OF COURAGE
THEY NEVER GAVE UPBy Helen F. SheffieldAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2009 Helen F. Sheffield
All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4490-2294-5 Contents
CHAPTER ONE Recognition...............................5CHAPTER TWO Family....................................7CHAPTER THREE Growing Up..............................13CHAPTER FOUR The Disease..............................17CHAPTER FIVE Primitive Art Period.....................19CHAPTER SIX Writing For Success.......................24
Chapter One
RECOGNITION
Reception
Linda Warren was honored at a reception held for her by Brazos Writers, in College Station, Texas. She has won many awards for her Harlequin novels: Romantic Times, Reviewer's Choice, and Book-Seller's, Golden Quill (twice), Texas Gold (three times), Aspen Gold, and Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence (twice). This year (2009), her book Texas Heir is nominated for a "Rita" by the Romance Writer's of America. This is the highest award given to a romance writer.
Her happy smile belies how difficult the previous years have been for Linda, or how hard she has struggled for success. A wheelchair serves as her legs now, and her fingers struggle to type the wonderful story ideas she imagines. Linda has rheumatoid arthritis, and she thanks God for giving her the will to succeed.
Friends and family gather at Carousel Paperbacks store for an opportunity to have Linda autograph her twenty-first Harlequin Super Romance titled, Always a Mother. She admits that her favorite subject to write about is babies. She gets her ideas for book plots from many sources: friends, newspapers, magazines, her readers and some just pop up in her vivid imagination. Linda's books are published in nine languages; more than a million copies have been sold. She writes for Super Romance and Harlequin American, interlacing life and love together.
Chapter Two
FAMILY
The Beginning
Linda Warren was born on July 2, 1945 in Bryan, Texas. Bryan is located off state hwy 6 approximately one-hundred miles NW of Houston. Her parents were James and Mary Siegert. Linda said, "My parents were happy to welcome a girl after having two boys, James Otto and Bobby. Of course, the family was not complete until my third brother, Paul, was born two years later."
The Siegert family lived in the Smetana community, located six miles west of Bryan, Texas on state highway 21. It was settled by a number of Bohemian families in 1885. The population of this community in the forties was listed as fifty.
Outing with Dad
"We lived on a farm and raised cotton, corn and cattle," Linda said. "Daddy also put in water wells. He was a hard worker, and expected us to do our share as well.
"Daddy was always busy, except on Sunday. I have fond memories of the family going to the movie theaters on Sunday afternoon. He loved westerns, and we would travel to the nearby towns of Franklin and Hearne, if a western was not playing at the Palace Theater in Bryan.
"I remember seeing a beautiful collie dog that my brother, Paul, and I admired at the theater in Franklin. The dog belonged to the ticket sales person. My brother and I asked the woman what she fed her dog to get its coat so shiny, and she said bread and grease. We tried to get our collie to eat bread and grease when we got home, but he turned up his nose at the concoction. We gave up on having a fat, shiny dog.
"After the movies, it was a real treat to go for ice cream. Our afternoon was not complete until we had that treat."
Memories of Mother
Linda remembers her Mother's kitchen as being the most important room in her home. "I was an only daughter so my mom and I were very close. Her biggest grief was that I had to deal with my disease. Whenever I was down or depressed, she was always there. Every hospital stay, she was there. We spent Fridays together; Fridays were our day. We would go to the beauty shop, shopping, have lunch and then to the grocery store.
"My mom was a great cook. I could gain five pounds by the smells in her kitchen. During the holidays, she always thought I should be there to help prepare the meal like when I was a kid. Mother gave me the job of making fruit salad since I liked it so much. When my hands became quite crippled, I told her I just couldn't do the fruit salad anymore. Her response was that I could at least try. On the day before Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas she'd pick me up and I'd spend the day with her in her big kitchen helping to prepare the holiday meal. But I did very little. She didn't want my help; she wanted my company. We talked, laughed and had a good time. Today, I treasure those memories. I know just about every dish she ever made, but when I make it, it doesn't taste exactly the same. She put an extra dose of mother's love in everything she did. I cannot duplicate that. "I still miss mother, especially on Fridays. She passed away in the year 2000."
Chapter Three
GROWING UP
School Days
Linda went to Saint Joseph's Catholic School in Bryan for the first eight grades. The school was small and she knew everyone.
"My mom carpooled with a couple of other mothers who sent their kids to St. Joseph's. It was a wonderful school, because we were taught by nuns. St. Joseph School gave me something that public schools could not, a foundation of faith that has seen me through the worst times of my life. It was one of the best gifts my parents could have given me."
Linda's special friends are Diannia Laundry, Linda Stewart and Beverly Hoke. "They are special, because we grew up together. Almost every Saturday night we attended dances, dancing to country music or polka bands. I knew how to dance because our whole family attended dances at a family orientated hall, not far from home. It was called SPST (Slavonic Benevolent Order of the State of Texas, a fraternal benefit society). The building burned down some years ago."
"Even now my girl friends and I meet on each one's birthday and for Christmas. When we celebrate someone's birthday, the birthday girl chooses the place, and we catch up with each other's lives. This usually takes three hours."
It was a real shock when Linda started in ninth grade at Anson Jones in Bryan. She was timid and it took her awhile to get used to a larger school. She and her brothers rode the school bus ten miles to school, so they got up real early and got home late. They still had chores to do when they got home.
"After my brothers and I changed clothes we fed the farm animals. And then I had to help mom with supper. After that it was homework, bath, sometimes TV, and bed."
"My girl friends and I didn't like it when the boys on the bus tried to butt in our conversations," Linda said. "They were cutups, but that wasn't as bad as when they tried to sneak a smoke; the tobacco smell made me sick. My family didn't smoke, even though smoking was prevalent back then."
It was hard for Linda to go from a small Catholic school to a large school, like Bryan High. It was difficult for her to make new friends, because she was shy. It wasn't until her junior year that she settled in and felt comfortable. She made the pep-squad (Lasso's), joined Future Nurses of America, and was elected to the student council. Mrs. Davis, their leader of the pep-squad, kept them laughing with funny remarks.
She enjoyed her English classes...
