Gene K. Garrison

 

Gene K. Garrison was born in Clayton, Delaware and graduated from Phoenix College, attended ASU and Glendale College, and participated in various workshops, conferences and special-interest courses, primarily in art and writing. She took a series of secretarial dead-end jobs, which she says, "All lasted about two years. When our sons were teenagers I worked part-time for an attorney. I felt it was important to be home when the boys got home from school."

One fortuitous evening her husband, Bert, and she went to see the filming of "The New Dick Van Dyke Show" at a studio just south of Carefree, Arizona. "We had always liked the theater, so you can imagine what happened. I was smitten. A day or two later I made a call from the attorney's office to the television show. I knew better than to take such an unorthodox approach, but something told me to do it. Within minutes I was talking with Norman Powell, William Powell's son. I quickly answered 'Yes,' to the question, 'Can you type and take shorthand?' He set up an interview and two weeks later I was on the set as assistant to the script supervisor. I absolutely loved that job."

Gene has freelanced magazine articles to various publications, and was on the staff of "Carefree Enterprise Magazine" for 20 years as a feature articles writer. During that time she wrote two books. She also was a charter member, historian, actor, director's assistant, and producer for the Desert Foothills Community Theater for 20 years. During that period of writing, attending meetings, and working on plays, Gene started an art gallery -- "Desert Artists."

She says, "Later, after we moved to Sedona, Arizona I read about a
print-on-demand company, Xlibris, and decided to bring back both 'From Thunder to Breakfast' and 'Widow . . . Or Widow-to-be?' In the second book I added two chapters about men, updated it a little, and changed the title to 'Widowhood Happens.' I think we are more direct and honest with ourselves now about death."

The latest writing project is "Javelina!" It's a children's book about wild pig-like creatures that live in the desert. "I'm enthusiastic about it. I'll try it out on a couple of tutoring classes. I'm a volunteer tutor at the Sedona Literacy Center two afternoons a week."

 

Pageonelit.com: Where did you grow up and was reading and writing a part of your life? Who were your earliest influences and why?

Gene K. Garrison: I grew up in a small town in Delaware. Education back in the 1930s and 40s was mundane and not at all creative.

My father and I used to sit on the front porch and talk, weather permitting. Once when I was about seven or eight he asked me if I minded having my name spelled like a boy's. This skinny little girl spoke up, "No. Some day if I'm a writer or an artist it might be an advantage." Those were the days when a young lady became a teacher, nurse or secretary. My father's eyes popped. He repeated my response: "A writer or an artist?" "Yes," I said. That was the closest I ever got to talking to an adult about creativity. My mother did tuck away a little story I wrote in first grade about saving my little sister from a burning house. It was one of those "If your house caught on fire, what would you do?" assignments.

When I attended college I had a whole list of things I wanted to see if I could do, and writing was among them. Before that, all I had written was themes for English classes.

 

Pageonelit.com: Tell us about FROM THUNDER TO BREAKFAST. How did you first meet Hube Yates? Why did you write this book?

Gene K. Garrison: In 1972 my husband and I moved from Phoenix to Cave Creek, Arizona because it was closer to my job as Assistant to the Script Supervisor on the New Dick Van Dyke Show. I was thrilled to be working on it, but the next year it moved to California, and ran for only one more season. It was at the end of 1972 that I became a published writer, with an article about an old bar in Cave Creek for a Sunday supplement magazine.

Living in Cave Creek, and knowing that I was an articles writer for a local magazine, people kept telling me that I should interview Hube Yates, a Westerner who ran a riding stable. I saw him on the street one day, walked up to him and asked, "I'll bet you're Hube Yates, aren't you?" He smiled and said, "I am." I let him know that I am a writer and would like to interview him. He seemed agreeable, but he had to look at his schedule to see if he could set aside some time when he didn't have people to take horseback riding. At that first interview about the timid little preacher whom he took hunting, I said, "I'll bet you've got a whole book in you." I suggested that if I could free-lance that story, we should start on a book. The deal was that he would be the storyteller and I would be the writer, and that we would split royalties. His personality, character, humor, colloquialisms, and excellent memory compelled me to write the stories of his life. Incidentally, that preacher story sold on the first submission.

 

Pageonelit.com: Explain the title FROM THUNDER TO BREAKFAST.

Gene K. Garrison: "FROM THUNDER TO BREAKFAST" is taken from a Texas phrase, "from hell to breakfast." Hube didn't say "hell." He kept using the expression, using the "thunder" word throughout the book. It means "scattered all over the place," as in the chapter about when he was taking his brother and sister to catch a train in New Mexico. The Model-T's brakes went out in a mountainous area full of switchbacks, and he had to tip the car over on its side in order to stop it from careening down into a canyon. Suitcases, boxes and everything went "from thunder to breakfast" all over the scenic countryside. I decided that that was the way I was writing the book - in chapters of his memories scattered from the time he was an eleven-year-old pioneer, through his teenage years, immaturity and maturity, level-headedness, practical joke period, heroics, and old age. The humor was ever-present. That's why I named the book "From Thunder to Breakfast."

 

Pageonelit.com: What was the writing arrangement between you and Mr. Yates while writing FROM THUNDER TO BREAKFAST?

Gene K. Garrison: Hube and I would get together, usually at his home, but sometimes at mine, and he would tell me stories.

I thought of a bright idea that would allow me to work on the book through the summer. I knew that he took twenty- or thirty-some horses from Cave Creek up to his hunting ranch in Heber every June and returned in October. The route was through a true wilderness area in the Mazatzal Mountains. They stayed in Heber for three or four months. I didn't go because I'm allergic to horses. I knew that Hube had a tape recorder, so I bought him some extra tapes, and addressed and stamped envelopes to myself just like a mother does when she sends a child off to camp. I said to him, "Hube, when you're telling stories around the campfire, just slip a tape into your recorder, send it to me, and I'll work on it during the summer."

The summer went by and there were no packages from Heber. After he got home I asked him why he didn't send me any tapes. He said, "I don't like to talk to a machine."

 

Pageonelit.com: Are there any of Mr. Yates stories/experiences that did not make it in the book that you could tell us about here?

Gene K. Garrison: Hube suffered a stroke that left him incapacitated for almost a year and a half. He had a wonderful family who took care of him and his wife. I have written another book, "Widowhood Happens" that recently came on the market via Xlibris. In it I interviewed 12 widows, one of which was Patsy Yates, two widowers, professionals, and heads of organizations that deal with the problems of widowhood. Mrs. Yates' chapter is moving. I didn't want Hube's stores to end on a depressing note, although there's a chapter titled "I Don't Know How To Be Sick."

 

Pageonelit.com: Has there been any thought or interest in taking Mr. Yates' life to the screen?

Gene K. Garrison: No, there has been no talk of taking Mr. Yates' life to the screen.

 

Pageonelit.com: What has been your feedback from readers? What do they say to you about their interpretations of your books?

Gene K. Garrison: This book was first published in the 70s. Hube was so loved and admired that people came from miles around to have him autograph the book, and it quickly sold out. It is written in first-person with all the descriptive phraseology and colloquiums intact. People who knew him told me that when they read the book they could hear him speak. I considered that a compliment. His wife and I could hear his voice too.

Pageonelit.com: Who are your favorite writers and why?

Gene K. Garrison: I like the Southern writers, such as Eudora Welty. Fannie Flagg fits into that category. I enjoyed her "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle-Stop Cafe." She has a new book out that I haven't yet read. Fannie's and Eudora's writing sends mental images through my brain that I really enjoy. James Michener's volumes are outstanding, and Alex Haley's "Roots" was an immense undertaking. I have great admiration for these men. I don't read much fiction. Instead, I try to keep up with the many magazines to which I subscribe. I fail dismally at that because I don't have enough time. Many of them relate to my writing, photography and art. "Smithsonian" fits in there somewhere, and "The Atlantic" and, oh, yes - "O" magazine.

 

Pageonelit.com: What's next?

Gene K. Garrison: Glad you asked "What's next?" Widowhood Happens has recently been released by Xlibris, (To see the cover and a sample chapter of Widowhood Happens go to www.xlibris.com, click on "Bookstore," then "Search," fill in the title, then on the next page click on the title), and "Javelina!" is on its way. I have given final approval on this children's book, which is subtitled Have-uh-WHAT? (Have-uh-LEE-nah). Maybe that sounds a bit much, but people who don't live on the Southwestern deserts have no idea what a javelina is, or how to pronounce it. Just in case you are one of those people, I've spelled it out, described it, and published photos that I took from my house. It's a wild pig-like animal with poor eyesight, but an excellent sense of smell. I'm excited about that little book.

 

Pageonelit.com: What was the last book you read?

Gene K. Garrison: The last book that I read was "Bridging Time & Space, Essays on Layered Art" by Mary Carroll Nelson.

 

Pageonelit.com: Do you have any hobbies? What are they? How do they enhance your writing?

Gene K. Garrison: I am a writer/photographer/artist, in that order. I suppose the ones which don't bring in much revenue might be called hobbies. The children's book brings them all together. Sometimes my husband and I go to poetry gatherings and art shows. We like the theater.

Creativity is the byword at our house. Somehow each enhances the other. I believe that artists and photographers actually are more aware and appreciative of what they see than the average person, and writers express themselves more deeply. It all enhances life.