GREEN THROUGH A LEAF: A Memoir of Childhood Loss and Friendship
by Josephine McKee
Josephine
McKee began writing GREEN THROUGH A LEAF when she realized she had never
really recovered from the overwhelming grief of her childhood. As an eleven-year
old child, she had survived through drawing, often while her mother wrote poetry. She
had also depended on the friendship of a classmate whose parents were divorced. But
it wasn’t until she put herself back into the mind of the child she was that McKee understood that only by reliving, not just remembering, could she heal.
From Chapter 1:
I remember my childhood most vividly after the deaths of my father and two brothers.
My brother, Ken, the last of the three to go, died when I was eleven.
My brother Dan died the year before I was born, and my father when I was two.
My mother was overcome with immeasurable grief. Yet, she knew that she must be strong to raise her two daughters.
I wanted to end her sadness. I wanted her to be happy, even though it
seemed impossible. I wanted to eliminate the border between us, caused by sadness. . .
.
About
the Author
Josephine McKee holds a BFA from The Rhode Island School of Design, and a MFA from the University
of Pennsylvania. She works
as a colorist, and decorative artist and colorist in New York City:
http://josephinemckee.web.officelive.com/default.aspx.
In 1998, McKee conducted writing
workshops, and assisted with script writing of a play with The Housing Works Theater; the group won an OBIE following the
production. For four years McKee organized large benefit exhibitions of dioramas,
dollhouses, and rocking horses made by well-known artists that traveled throughout Europe,
and for three years she taught art to children at The Brooklyn Museum. Her writing
has been published in periodicals, and an anthology. McKee was a Writer’s
Room Resident, a Vermont Studio
Center resident, and is the recipient of an Adolph and Esther Gottlieb
Foundation Grant, and a Florence Leif Award. This is her first book.
GREEN THROUGH A LEAF: Complete Manuscript, with sample black-and-white illustrations, available October 2007
Josephine McKee recommends this international
medical aid program:
www.projectpacer.org.
