Modern Day Heroes

From Martin Luther King Jr., from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 1963:

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.'
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.

photo by Mike Licht

LUCY BURDETTE: King was only 39 years old when he was assassinated, and yet he left such a large footprint. He identified civil rights as his life’s work back when he was a teenager. And he never let up on that. And he was willing to sacrifice his own life to stand up and speak his mind.

Ricci Coughlan/DFID

His “holiday” has me wondering, are we making heroes the way we used to? I mean grand-scale heroes who are willing to sacrifice their lives either literally or figuratively to protect something vitally important for the rest of us. I would put forward Michelle Obama as one of mine. Over the past eight years, she has been consistently classy and strong-minded supporting issues she believed to be important, and managed to raise two amazing daughters while under the microscope. Whom do you admire, and for what?

RHYS BOWEN: I'd agree about Michelle. One classy lady who has raised two daughters with the idea of service and dedication. Another of my heroes was Maya Angelou. When I tried to go through our current crop of politicians I'm afraid I couldn't come up with a single "Ask what you can do for your country, not what your country can do for you."  It's been more "Ask how I can accept kick backs from lobbyists while denying the other party the chance to do anything." But there are plenty of small heroes: those who teach in inner city schools and buy all their own supplies. Nurses who sit by the bedside of a dying child. Those who minister to the homeless and go to war-torn countries to provide help to refugees.

I think we are all called upon to be heroes in our own small way. It involves not turning a blind eye to injustice, speaking up even though it may make us feel foolish. Never allowing bullying or intimidation. Choosing our charities that mean something special to us and then giving generously. Volunteering. Showing compassion. Vowing to do one small act of kindness every day and to leave the world a little better than we found it. A great challenge, but worth undertaking!

HALLIE EPHRON: I agree on Michelle Obama. And in that vein, another heroic first lady was Eleanor Roosevelt. She found her own niche. lobbied for the needy and oppressed, and had Franklin's ear. And I'll second teachers and nurses and politicians who are motivated by a desire to serve for the public good. And the suffragists and suffragettes and abolitionists. Reminding us that it's easy to sign a petition but actions speak louder.   

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Chiming in on Michelle Obama. I'm looking forward to seeing what she does as a private citizen (and she has so many years ahead of her! She's younger than many of us.) Politicians, leaders... I find Sen Tammy Duckworth incredibly inspiring. Someone who has given as much as she has to our country and who is willing to give more. Elizabeth Warren, the populist firebrand. Maine's own Senator Susan Collins, one of the last of the moderate Republicans in DC, a politician who is willing to listen to and work with people across the aisle.

I agree with Rhys: the days to come will require us all to be heroes, if even in one small gesture or one kind word.

INGRID THOFT: Another Michelle Obama fan here.  I looked up "hero" in the dictionary, because it seems to be a word we toss around a lot more than we used to.  Dictionary.com defines it as "a person noted for courageous acts or nobility of character," and Michelle seems to fit the bill with nobility of character.  I think there are groups who have acted heroically by providing shelter and relief to those displaced by war.  I think Anita Hill was a hero for taking a stand (literally) in the face of horrendous abuse and character assassination.  I think that kids who stand up for other kids on the playground are acting heroically, and I do think people who do jobs where they run towards danger rather than from it are heroes.  

JENN MCKINLAY: I adore Michelle, too. Frankly, I admire anyone who can keep their composure when under constant scrutiny and frequent vicious attack. I am not that person - my command of profanity prohibits me from being polite when a good chewing out is deserved. I do try, but I usually fail. I consider myself a work in progress, learning from people like Michelle Obama, Maya Angelou, Emma Thompson, Malala Yousifazi, and my mom, to name just a few. In raising boys, I feel lucky that they have several strong male role models (like their dad) to learn from but when they were younger, I also employed the Rule of DC/Marvel. If they exhibited behavior that was unacceptable, I'd say, "You love (insert Spiderman, Ironman, Batman, etc.), do you think he would behave like that? If you want to be a hero, you have to act like one." For the most part, it worked like a charm. It will be interesting to see who they choose to emulate as they grow older. Right now, it's all about music, specifically rock and roll -- Keith Richards as a role model, go figure!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I'm all for Keith Richards as a role model, Jenn!! And I admire Michelle tremendously. I think it will be very interesting to see what she does when the First Lady shackles come off. 

I know it seems hard at the moment to remember that there are lots of people who act with decency, kindness, and compassion, and speak up--and act--on their principles. There is Jimmy Carter, and Pope Francis. I have great admiration for Bill and Melinda Gates, who donate huge amounts of money AND effort to make the world a better place. And Bill Gates's buddy, Warren Buffet. There's John Lewis, the congressional representative who's much in the news the last few days, but his record as an activist goes back many years. Barbara Bush is a long-held hero of mine for her efforts towards improving literacy. 

And here's something inspiring; the Bush girls (young women, I should say,) Barbara and Jenna, writing to Sasha and Malia on leaving the White House. They have grown up to be women to admire.

And here's one more thing to give a little fist-bump to human compassion and decency: ‘James Bond of Philanthropy’ Gives Away the Last of His Fortune.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Jenn, your rule of DC/Marvel is awesome. Thank you!  I am trying that out this very day.
As for the incomparable Michelle. Yes. I am endlessly grateful. And I am so attached to her. (And I have talked with Anita Hill, and could barely form a coherent word.)
 But heroes and role models? 
My step-son and his wife and our two grandsons are visiting us this weekend. It is enthralling and amazing to watch Josh and Eli learn things and acclimate to their world--and to see their parents juggle and help and encourage. Paul works every day at a stimulating and important job and Krista is getting her masters in early childhood education and STILL they focus on their kids. It is so difficult. So--I am in AWE of any hard-working and devoted  parents. Any parent who is taking the responsibility to introduce a new person into the world--to teach them about love and music and literature and analytical thinking and kindness and  pizza. I applaud you all.  


Reds, how about you? Any thoughts about modern day heroes?

MRS. ROOSEVELT'S CONFIDANTE — and the Great FDR vs. Winston Churchill Martini Battle

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Breaking News!
 It's release day for our darling Red Susan's new book--I mean, Maggie Hope and Eleanor Roosevelt! I swoon. And so do the critics: PW calls it "enthralling" and Kirkus "enchanting." 
I adore this book, and so will you. (And you can talk to both of us about it in person! See below for more.)
But first--inside a fabulous party that only our dear Susan could create.
CHEERS!

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL:   To celebrate the publication of MRS. ROOSEVELT'S CONFIDANTE, Maggie Hope #5 — which takes place in December of 1941, during Prime Minister Winston Churchill's historic post-Pearl Harbor visit to the Roosevelts' White House— we had our own FDR-inspired "Children's Hour." 

And we pitted (pun intended) the two great leaders' very different versions of the classic Martini cocktail against each other. 

So, let's see who wins the Great Martini Smackdown of 2015, shall we? 

I mixed both Churchill's more pristine ("bow in the direction of France" instead of adding vermouth) and FDR's vermouth and olive-brine heavy Martinis. 

Husband Noel, and our guests, Rob, Victor, and Leila, were encouraged to be candid in their reactions to each cocktail.

Here's my recipe for Winston Churchill's Martini:

Winston Churchill's enjoyment of spirits was legendary, but by all accounts, he preferred his drinks unmixed. According to various accounts he was appalled at the copious amount of vermouth in President Roosevelt’s martinis, but drank them agreeably, in the name of diplomacy.

* gin
 (according to some he preferred Plymouth, according to others, Boodles or Beefeater)

* crushed ice

Shake gin in a container half filled with chipped ice. 

Bow respectfully toward France (where dry vermouth is produced)

Strain into a chilled cocktail glass or coupe. 

Garnish with lemon peel, if desired.

  

And here are the guests' opinions of the Churchill Martini: 

NOEL: This is a really good cocktail — it would be great in the summer. You can really taste the gin but also taste the lemon. Very refreshing.

ROB: I love the simple simplicity of it.

  

SUSAN: Simple simplicity?

ROB: Simple simplicity.

SUSAN: It's elegant. Tastes like the martini at Dukes Hotel, in London. 

VICTOR: The Churchill Martini is very European — "We don't care about driving later — we want alcohol now!" It has a good aftertaste, too — juniper and citrus.

ROB: It's nice to look at the lemon rind floating around in it.

SUSAN: Rob, how many have you had?

ROB: Hey, this is my first drink!

  

LEILA: It's like a tickle in the throat, but a nice one — smooth and not harsh.

SUSAN: It almost tastes like a Gimlet.

NOEL: Is that the one with the little pickled onions?

  

SUSAN: No, that's a Gibson. A Gimlet is gin with lime and sugar syrup. It was Betty Draper's cocktail of choice on Mad Men. But that’s another blog post....Or at least another party.

  

And now on to President Roosevelt’s Martini:

President Franklin D. Roosevelt did always mix drinks at Children’s Hour and reportedly enjoyed making martinis. As far as I can tell there’s no exact recipe, but we know from his personal secretary Grace Tully’s memoirs that they were heavy on the vermouth (which was considered old-fashioned) and he was also known to add a few drops of Pernod, orange blossom water, or olive brine for flavor.

Here’s my best approximation of his martini. Enjoy!

* 2 parts gin
 (according to some he preferred Plymouth; according to others, Beefeater)

* 1 part dry vermouth

* splash olive brine




* 2 olives for garnish


* crushed ice

  

Shake gin, vermouth, and olive brine in a container half filled with chipped ice. 

Strain into chilled cocktail glasses. 

Add garnish.

Reflections on FDR's Martini: 

ROB: I do like a Dirty Martini! Did President Roosevelt invent the Dirty Martini?

SUSAN: I don't know if he invented the Dirty Martini, but he's reputed to have made and served them — much to Churchill's horror. FDR really liked to garnish, apparently. 

ROB: Well, I love it. It has a richer and plumper taste than the Churchill one.

  

NOEL: Plumper?

ROB: Plumper, I say!

  

SUSAN: I like the vermouth and gin together. It's a cocktail for heaven's sake, not just cold gin!

VICTOR: Yes, I can see how this was more popular with the American palate — less alcohol, more ingredients. It's heavier.

NOEL: This is more of a winter cocktail. 

LEILA: This is not a Dirty Martini — this is more like dirty laundry. Yuck.

SUSAN: I like it! More olives, please!

And the winning Martini is.....

SUSAN: So, which do you like best?

NOEL: I think Churchill's for summer and Roosevelt's for winter.

  

SUSAN: That's a very politic answer, dear.

  

VICTOR: I vote for the Churchill. And I'm taking a taxi home.

SUSAN: I must admit I like any excuse to eat olives. I'm going with Roosevelt's.

LEILA: Oh, olives in gin are yucky. I pick Churchill's.

ROB: Must we choose? Can't we just enjoy both? I pick both!

SUSAN: And so the Churchill Martini wins — by one vote! Cheers, everyone!

HANK: I'm a no-vermouth girl myself. And a twist. And a pre chilled glass.  (I always ask for the olives on the side, in case there's no other food. ) And if you want to chat with Susan and me in person? We will be at the wonderful Jabberwocky Bookstore in Newburyport MA at 7 on Friday October 30. We always talk about a Reds party--now it's on!

SUSAN: So, Reds and lovely readers, what makes a great party? Would you rather be a host or a guest? What was the best party you've ever been to? Let us know in the comments!

What We're Writing — Inspired by Pauli Murray

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: The Reverend Dr. Anna Pauline "Pauli" Murray (November 20, 1910 – July 1, 1985) was an American civil rights activist, a women's rights activist, a lawyer, and also an author. In addition, Dr. Murray was the first Black woman to be ordained an Episcopal priest.

The young Pauli Murray, who graduated from Hunter College, worked with the NAACP, and was the first woman to graduate from Howard University's law school. She was a critic of "Jane Crow" — laws and prejudices against Black women. And Pauli Murray is the inspiration for the character Andi Martin in MRS. ROOSEVELT'S CONFIDANT. 

The real Pauli Murray did have a friendship with Mrs. Roosevelt, and in 1941 tried to persuade the First Lady to intercede when a black man, Odell Waller, was sentenced to death for self-defense.


WUNC, the public radio station in Chapel Hill, North Caroline—Pauli Murray's home and base of Duke University's Pauli Murray Project—to the  has just done a wonderful piece on Pauli Murray, called "Imp, Crusader, and Dude: The Many Identities of Pauli Murray," written by Anita Rao and Frank Stasio: 

"Scholar and activist Pauli Murray grew up in Durham and was fundamentally shaped by its history and culture, and she left a lasting legacy on the city in return. 

Duke University’s Pauli Murray Project has been working to document this legacy and recently reached an important milestone: the project begins the restoration of Pauli Murray’s historic house in southwest Durham this summer.

Today they are also unveiling a new exhibit on view at The Scrap Exchange that features an intersectional look at Pauli’s many identities, from priest to crusader." 

Please give a listen and learn more about the amazing American Pauli Murray — a Black, queer, feminist hero, nearly erased from U.S. history.

What We're Writing — Susan Elia MacNeal and MRS. ROOSEVELT'S CONFIDANTE

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Hello, lovely readers! Delighted to say that I'm expected the copyedited manuscript of MRS. ROOSEVELT'S CONFIDANTE any day now. I've also seen the cover and it is gorgeous. (However, I've been asked not to reveal it until after Random House's sales conference, so I'll keep it under my hat until then — but really, it's gorgeous!)

I can, however, share with you the official copy that will appear on the book — it makes it seem so 
real!



In this latest riveting mystery from New York Times bestselling author Susan Elia MacNeal, England’s most daring spy, Maggie Hope, travels across the pond to America, where a looming scandal poses a grave threat to the White House and the Allied cause.

December 1941. Soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Winston Churchill arrives in Washington, D.C., along with special agent Maggie Hope. Posing as his typist, she is accompanying the prime minister as he meets with President Roosevelt to negotiate the United States’ entry into World War II. When one of the First Lady’s aides is mysteriously murdered, Maggie is quickly drawn into Mrs. Roosevelt’s inner circle—as ER herself is implicated in the crime. Maggie knows she must keep the investigation quiet, so she employs her unparalleled skills at code breaking and espionage to figure out who would target Mrs. Roosevelt, and why. What Maggie uncovers is a shocking conspiracy that could jeopardize American support for the war and leave the fate of the world hanging dangerously in the balance.

While waiting for the copyedited manuscript of THE FIRST LADY'S CONFIDANTE, I've been busy researching and beginning to write the next Maggie Hope book — number 6. 

No title yet, but I can tell you a few things I'm researching: 

* SOE agents Sarah Sanderson and Hugh Thompson training in Beaulieu in the New Forest (what they called "Spy Finishing School")

* The F Section of SOE (the British agents sent to France to work with La Résistance)

* Irregularities with code coming back from F-Section agents in France at SOE headquarters on Baker Street (yes, that Baker Street) in London, where Maggie is now working.

* Oh yes, and in case World War II's not enough — there's a copycat serial killer in London, who's recreating the murders of Jack the Ripper.

Whew!

Here are some of the books I've been reading as I go about creating my new characters and settings:

The Women Who Lived for Danger: Behind Enemy Lines in World War II by Marcus Biney

A Life in Secrets: Vera Atkins and the Missing Agents of WWII, A Story of the Men and Women Who Waged Churchill's Secret War by Sarah Helm


Violette Szabo: The Life That I Have by Susan Ottaway

Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan by Shrabani Basu

Nancy Wake: SOE's Greatest Heroine by Russell Braddon

In addition to reading books on the SOE agents, I've been reading up on the original Jack the Ripper — and also an American serial killer H. H. Holmes. Erik Larson's book The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America has been grimly fascinating. 


I also have a trip to London and Beaulieu planned for April. Keen to wander around Baker Street and Whitechurch, and revisit the Imperial War Museum in London. And also to visit Beaulieu Abbey, Palace House, and the Secret Army Exhibition in Hampshire, in the south of England where the SOE agents received their final instruction.

Reds and lovely readers, any ideas for the title for Maggie Hope #6, now that you know a little something about the book? I have a few in mind, but nothing definite.

Would love to hear your thoughts and ideas in the comments section!

What We're Writing: Susan Elia MacNeal & MRS. ROOSEVELT'S CONFIDANTE

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: So sorry to be missing Bouchercon, but due to the recent death, I thought it was best to stay home and take care of my family. Although I'm sorry to miss all the fun, it's the right decision.

I do have some good news, however — MR. CHURCHILL'S SECRETARY has just gone into its fifteenth printing! Yay! (Or, as Hank would say, "Whoa!")


I've also just received MRS. ROOSEVELT'S CONFIDANTE (Maggie Hope #5) back from my editor (the amazing Kate Miciak at Random House), so staying home gives me more time to work. And yes, I'm working hard.



I love Kate's edits — and I'm terrified of Kate's edits. Generally, before I even open the package (yes, she's one of the only editors that still uses pen on paper and sends back actual manuscripts), I pour a glass of wine, spritz on my favorite editing perfume (L'Artisan's Passage d'Enfer — yes, for the name as much as the scent) and then read through the editorial letter and flip through the pages the pages. I prepare to smile, laugh, wince, and cringe.

Kate (who edits Lee Child, Laurie R. King, Alan Bradley, and Melanie Benjamin, among many others) does not, shall we say, hold back. And she's good. She's really, really, really good. She is great, really. Kate the Great. This is my fifth book that she's edited and I never cease to be amazed at her insight, acumen, and sensitivity.

Also, her edits are sometimes fun and occasionally funny. Sometimes, if one is very, very lucky, there is a red-penned heart illustration.

However, if one has not written clearly, or cleverly, there is the occasional "WHAT???"

And if something just reads as downright dumb (although it never did in my mind when I wrote it) there is, "SILLY." Oh, how I cringe when I see "silly" (which usually gets penned into any romantic scenes I write, thus heightening the cringe-factor).

And then there are the comments that induce cringing. Literal cringing. Right before I turned in the manuscript, I decided to change a new main character's name. I did a find/replace, but, somehow, I missed one. So, at some point near the end of the novel, one of the new main characters, now called Jack, is referred to as Tommy. "WHO THE HELL IS TOMMY?!?" blasts the red pen. 

Well, yes — good question. I mean, I suppose I could explain that Tommy was Jack before Jack was Jack. And I renamed Tommy because I have too much baggage with the name Thomas and also wanted a really great, confident, all-American name like Jack. So I suppose I could say, "Well, Tommy was Jack, when Jack was perhaps a bit more moody (a doubting Thomas?) and not as self-confident...." But, really, I'm just going to have a good cringe and then change it to Jack.

The thing is, as hard as it can be to go through all of the edits, at the end, your manuscript is so much better for it. 

And I'm very, very grateful.

Last time, I shared a scene with Eleanor Roosevelt, FDR, and Fala. 

Here's another section of the opening of MRS. ROOSEVELT'S CONFIDANTE, which I believe will be released in the fall of 2015 — I hope you like it.

“Come on, Davy! Atta boy! You can beat that big ol’ Goliath, I just know you can!”

Wendell Cotton sat on the hard bed of his jail cell and watched his cellmates—a mass of fat brown shiny cockroaches—go for the breadcrumbs he’d put down for them. They’d been his companions since his arrival, although they were uninterested in him until his meager meals arrived. To assuage his boredom, and his loneliness, Cotton organized cockroach races, using breadcrumbs as a prize.

Two champions had emerged and Cotton could tell them apart. The bigger cockroach was Goliath, the other one David. Although Goliath usually won, there were some days—like today—when David gave the big guy a run for his money. Wanting to be fair, Cotton also saved crumbs, as consolation prizes, for the also-rans.

The roaches were his friends. His only friends. They all helped him with his nerves, made him forget for a few moments where he was. But it was impossible to forget he was in his tiny, solitary cell on Death Row at Thomas Jefferson Prison in rural Virginia. 

The sunlight that passed through the high barred window was dim—it didn’t so much shine as seep through the filthy glass. What light there was shone down on a narrow bed covered with a grey blanket, a washbasin and toilet.

Singing helped pass the time and made the loneliness more bearable, too. As the roaches gobbled their feast of crumbs, Wendell wrapped his thin arms around himself, swayed and sang, in a voice surprisingly deep for a fifteen-year-old:

I have had my fun, 

if I don't get well no more

My health is failing me, 

and I'm goin’ down slow

Please write my mother, 

tell her the shape I’m in

Tell her to pray for me, 

forgive me for my sin...

Sometimes the light touched his face and illuminated his features—large dark eyes with long thick eyelashes, strong features, with a dimple in his chin. He had the look in his eyes of a boy who’d been forced to assume the responsibilities of a man too early in life.

“Shut the devil up!” came a querulous voice from a cell down the hall.

It was the Row’s only other prisoner, Jimmy Waller, an older white man—bent over and gnarled, like a twisted tree—also scheduled to die. In Virginia, although segregation existed everywhere else, it didn’t on Death Row.

“We all niggas here, boy,” Waller had called out between the bars when he’d first seen Cotton walked in by four guards, white men in grey uniforms, their key rings jangling with each step. Cotton’s calloused black hands were cuffed and his long bare feet shackled. “We in nowhere-land. Like the Land of Oz. Like ol’ Cooter Brown.”

Both men flinched when they heard the gate to The Row being opened.  The newcomer was the preacher from Ebenezer Missionary Church, Ezra Johnson. He was a short stocky man, his black hair touched by grey, his face and hands marked with vitiligo, making his skin a patchwork of white and colored. 

Reverend Johnson took a stool and set it down by the iron bars of Cotton’s cell. Then he sat, Bible in hand, waiting for Wendell to speak.

“Thank you for comin’, Reverend Johnson,” Wendell said from his narrow bed, “but I pray to Jesus my whole life by myself—and I don’t need no preacher to pray with now.”

“It’s all right, son. We can just talk. If you want.”

Wendell threw another crumb across his cell. The roaches, en masse, scuttled after it.

The reverend stared at the roaches’ feeding frenzy. “What’s that you’re doing?”

“Races. I reckon they’re just as bored as I am, bein’ stuck in here. So I thought I’d give them something to do. Somethin’ to eat.”

Reverend Johnson nodded, and reached through the bars to grasp the younger man’s bony shoulder. “I’m here for you, son. Whatever you need.”

“You don’t need to absolve my sins. Besides, I didn’t do nothin’—nothin’ that weren’t self-defense. And God don’t seem fit to care these days.”

“Did you write that letter I asked you to?”

“I did.” Wendell slid over a piece of paper, almost transparent from folding and refolding, through the bars.

Reverend Johnson read Wendell’s large, child-like handwriting silently:

Like the song says, I been buked and I been scorned. I been talked about, shos yor born.

But even though there be trouble all over this world I believe in God I have asked God to forgive me. Even during these hard times I aint goin to lay my religon down. I don’t know if He’s heard my prayers, but I reckon maybe because he’s God and He knows all. He’s my judge, not the judge and jury of Virgina, and not the peeple. The Governor and the Courts don’t know all the facts.

Seems to me that some people get to make mistakes and have them forgivan, no problem. Some people get lots of these chances.

And then there’s some people that get no chances.

Do one thing wrong and its the electric chair for you.

I always worked hard to provide for my mother But he stol from me. Never work for a pore man or else he’ll steel whats yours, I say.

And now it means I die Every second means I am closer to my our of death. I’m getting ready to put on my long white coat and meet my Maker.

But I appreciate every step you good people do toards helping me I am a poor laboring boy 

All I want is one more chance at life.

“You really think that’ll go in a newspaper after I’ve died?” Wendell asked, looking younger than his years.

“Is that what you want?” Reverend Johnson replied.

“I’d like my side of the story told, sure.” Wendell took the preacher’s measure, then shook his head. “You church folk is crazy. Why you do it? Visit us dead men walking?”

The Reverend slipped the paper into his jacket pocket. “I want to bring you comfort. And there is still hope for you—for a retrial. This time by a jury of your peers, not white sharecroppers who can afford the poll tax.”

Wendell sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I know Miss Andi been tryin’ her best.” Miss Andi was Andrea Martin, assigned to his case by the Workers Defense League to stop the execution.

“Miss Andi’s been working day and night, and your mother too, to get you another trial. Miss Andi has some friends, who might help—friends in high places.”

Wendell’s face hardened. “Like who? Who gonna listen to some high-yalla Negro girl who dresses like a man and wants to go to law school?”

Reverend Johnson stood. “Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, for one. Miss Andrea’s been in almost constant contact with her and her office. That’s with the First Lady of the United States. That’s a heck of a big deal.”

“That and a nickel’ll get you a Coca-Cola,” 
Wendell snorted, tossing another crumb to the roaches to watch them scurry. “She ain’t the Governor.”

“No, but the President has pull with the governor. Miss Andi’s trying to get Mrs. Roosevelt to ask her husband to intervene on your behalf. To have a word with the Governor—so he’ll stay your execution. Maybe even get you a retrial. A real trial this time.”

Wendell crossed his arms over his boyish chest. “Miss Andi’s wasting her time. Ain’t gonna do me no good.”

“I want to read you part of a letter Miss Andi sent me,” the Reverend Johnson said. “ ‘Please tell Mr. Cotton that we want him to feel encouraged and to know he has thousands of friends all over the country. Tell him to keep well and strong because he has a tough job ahead of him. And please tell him that many people are praying for him.”

Wendell looked towards the light struggling to pass through the grimy window. He blinked, hard. “Please tell Miz Andi that I’m more than glad to hear from her and to know I have some friends out there.” He turned his face to the preacher, his eyes catching the light.

“And please tell her to work fast. I only got one week left.”

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Have a good Sunday! Please leave a comment — maybe about your own cringe-worthy moments in writing or in life?