Lila’s Story

I have mentioned Lila’s book of poetry, Split-Image Focus, here a few times and I’ve received emails from people asking about how and why I published it. It’s an interesting story.

I had met Lila several times since moving to Gloucester. She is a lovely woman known locally as a photographer and as the “bird lady” - she has taken in, mended and nursed back to health many birds of all sorts. People in East Gloucester take injured birds to Lila’s house. I did not know she was a poet, too.

Last July I received a call from Beverly Quint, a friend and swimming partner, who told me about a portfolio of poetry Lila had given her some years before. Lila had written the poetry over a span of a few years while going through a difficult change in her life. When she was through the tough time she gave the poetry to Beverly and said, “Do whatever you want with it - I don’t want it anymore.”

As Beverly read through the poems she was stunned by the elegance of the language, the beauty of metaphor, and the spirit shining within it. She kept it for a few years but felt it needed a place in the world where others could appreciate it. She called me.

We met and talked about what it takes to print a book. Poetry is a hard sell and the only option seemed to be to do it ourselves. After exploring many options and doing a lot of research we decided we could do this - we could make this happen. We decided to keep the project a secret - to tell Lila about it when it was ready. Preparation of the book went faster than either of us suspected and when we began talking about the project to people who knew Lila they were so delighted at the idea that a series of little miracles began to happen.

Gloucester writer Joe Garland read the manuscript and loved it. He wrote a beautiful letter to me about a photograph of Lila’s that had illustrated one of his earlier works and we used his words on the back of the book. Dorothy Brown, a neighbor Lila’s offered much appreciated support and wrote the Foreword to the book. Writers JoeAnn Hart and Susan Oleksiw also wrote cover copy. For the cover we wanted a photograph of Lila’s but, since we couldn’t tell her about it, we had to do that in secret. Someone produced a card Lila had made featuring four photos she had taken of her beloved guinea fowl - the subject of several of her poems. By November the book was ready.

JoeAnn Hart and her husband Gordon Baird offered to host a party for the launch of the book but first we had to show it to Lila. It was decided that Beverly, who initiated the entire project, should do that alone. We were all a little nervous about her reaction but we need not have been - Lila was thrilled. She could not believe how lovely the book was and how many people had banded together to make it happen.

I am not a poet and, I must confess, have little appreciation for poetry but as I read Lila’s words I found myself enchanted. She writes with her heart and it is a very beautiful heart.

The party at the Baird’s was magnificent. I have no idea how many people were there but we sold over a hundred books and most of the local literary luminaries attended. Mark, who is also a poet, had never met Lila, and when we finally managed to work our way through the crowd jamming the house so he could meet her, we found her seated in the parlor behind a stack of books smiling radiantly and signing book after book for the people who stood in line waiting. I have never seen a happier human being.

The book has continued to sell and Lila has asked that all the profits go to the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Poetry for birds - how perfectly Lila.

Thanks for reading.