 The “Elegant Elba” is how Viking described the land-cruise. But the linchpin for us was Berlin. That’s where the tour would start. “We need at least three or four days in Berlin on our own,” Frank said when we put down our deposit. I was euphoric. I had never been to Berlin, virtually rebuilt after WWII, and I longed to see the architecture that had so impressed Frank on his visit nineteen years earlier. He’d talked about the dining room of a once-grand hotel encased in glass in the middle of a modern shopping center and his discovery of Hitler’s unmarked suicide bunker site beneath an asphalt-covered parking lot of an apartment complex. At a bookstore on Linden Street, Frank had found a book in English that led him to the site. When he shared his discovery with a German who lived nearby, the man was shocked.
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 Shirley with other NMBA Board Members: (L to R) Dan Fallon, Anna Sochocky, Miguel De La Cruz, Jordan Jones, Me In late August, a record turnout – eighty NMBA members and guests – enjoyed complimentary drinks and sumptuous hors d’oeuvres on the patio of Las Campanas Santa Fe, overlooking vistas of rolling hills. Playing in the background was New Mexico Platinum Award winner guitarist Nacha Mendez.
As NMBA Co-President, I kicked off the program with highlights of NMBA’s 30-year history, citing its unusual founding and its mission, which remains intact today: To preserve and perpetuate the BOOK as a repository of the wisdom of the past, the essence of the present, and a guide to the future. After I delivered NMBA’s annual report of accomplishments, my co-president, Miguel De La Cruz, emceed the Southwest Book Design and Production Awards (SWBDA). This year’s awards – in thirteen categories – judged by a panel of book industry experts, recognized creativity and quality in book design and production.  Frank’s 70th college reunion was not a blip on his radar. “Why go?” he asked. “All of my roommates are gone.” One of them, Sigurd Sandzen, a retired hand surgeon with a big personality had been at our wedding thirteen years earlier. “You’re the best thing that’s happened to Frank in years!” he said when we first met. “Believe me, I know. I’ve met them all!” I understood Frank’s reluctance to fly east . . . until he recognized three names on the list of attendees. “I’d like to see them,” he said.
I made the flight reservations, completely oblivious that we would be landing at La Guardia on Friday afternoon of Memorial Day Weekend. After waiting two hours in a line that snaked through Budget’s office out under a searing sun, we were handed the keys to a woeful looking rental car. “Do you hear that sound?” Frank asked as he sped into bumper-to-bumper traffic headed for the Connecticut Freeway. “Yes! What do you think it is?” I asked. “Probably threadbare tires! This clunker has 63,000 miles on it.” When my friend Joan told me about a new book club, I was jubilant! I had never been in a book club and here was one that would meet in the Las Campanas clubhouse, less than a mile from where I live. My euphoric bubble burst when Joan added, “I’m afraid it’s filled.”
A few nights later, dinner companion Tori said, “Shirley, my Spanish professor at the community college told me that she’s facilitating a book club at Las Campanas. If you can join, you should. She’s fabulous!” After a flurry of emails – first to facilitator Sharon Franco and then to the book club co-founder – I was invited to join the Las Campanas University Book Club when it was one-third of the way through a list of six books for its Saints and Sinners series. They had already discussed Camus’ The Fall and The Magician of Lublin by Isaac Bashevis Singer. Next up for discussion: The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene. “Our theme for the Saints and Sinners series is,” wrote facilitator Sharon Franco, “‘What does it take to be good?’ or maybe ‘What does it mean to be a good person in this complicated world?’ or maybe even, ‘If we’re not good, are we bad?’ Each of the six books we’ll be discussing will explore this theme in its own way, but each book has its own rich context, and we’ll definitely take that into account as well in our discussions.” For book lovers, the Tucson Festival of Books is a marvel! For starters, it’s FREE. And for the most part, it’s outside on the beautiful University of Arizona campus where, on a single weekend, 100,000 bibliophiles from all over the world can wander at will under sunny skies.
But this past March, a cold wind and unrelenting rain quashed plans to set up our New Mexico Book Association booth on Friday morning, the day before the Festival. The only thing we could do, having driven nearly eight rain-fraught hours to reach Tucson, was unload NMBA Book Chair Paula Lozar’s Toyota 4Runner. After carrying boxes of books, banners and a table into our rain-swept booth, we threw a protective tarp over everything and left with a fervent hope for clear weather. Billy the Kid (1859-1881)
We were a couple of hours south of Santa Fe when we found ourselves driving through Fort Sumner. A one-time military fort that imprisoned thousands of Navajos and Mescalero Apaches in the 1860s, Fort Sumner today is a dusty nondescript village punctuated with billboards advertising the grave site of famed outlaw William H. Bonney known as Billy the Kid. “Let’s take a look,” Frank said. I was game. According to one account, the federal government closed the fort in 1868 and sold the buildings to a prominent New Mexico landowner, Lucien Maxwell. Maxwell’s son befriended Billy the Kid and it was in his house that Billy was fatally shot by Sheriff Pat Garrett in 1881.  One of the five or six biggest book fairs in the world is the Tucson Festival of Books, which attracts 100,000 visitors over a single weekend in March. The festival, held on the beautiful campus of the University of Arizona, is FREE. For a third year in a row, the New Mexico Book Association will have a booth on the campus mall, displaying member author books. Last year, someone who visited the NMBA booth told me she had presented her book in the Indie Author Pavilion. You might ask, what is an Indie author? An Indie author is someone whose book is published by an independent (or “indie”) publisher that is not part of a large corporation or conglomerate, like the Big Five publishing houses: Penguin/Random House, Hachette Book Group, Harper Collins, Simon and Schuster, and Macmillan. “Keep your eye on the festival website for an announcement asking indie authors to submit their books for consideration,” she said. I did. And in October I submitted Banged-Up Heart. If the festival had a panel on grief and resilience, I thought I might have a chance to participate. Later, an author friend who lives in Tucson told me, “The Festival likes recently published books.” I swallowed my disappointment, as Banged-Up Heart would be seven years old in 2024. In December, I received a “thank you for submitting your book” followed by “we had a fantastic response from indie authors with over 175 books submitted for review. With so many books, our team had to make some very hard choices regarding the authors to invite to represent Indie Authors at the 2024 Tucson Festival of Books.” I thought they were letting me down gently and was not prepared to read at the end of the second paragraph: “Congratulations, your book has been selected to participate in the Festival.”  I will be hosted in the Indie Author Pavilion for Adult Fiction and Nonfiction on Sunday, March 10th for three hours, 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. One of twenty authors showcasing our books, I look forward to discussing my memoir with anyone who’s interested. Of course, I’ll have copies to sign. If you plan to be in Tucson for the Festival, be sure to look for me. To find me listed in the Festival program, Google 2024 Tucson festival of Books, click on Authors and then click Indie Authors. I’m in the middle of the pack. Before my stint in the Indie Pavilion on March 10th, I’ll be in the NMBA booth on Saturday, March 9th, and Sunday morning.
Praise for Banged-Up Heart: Melis’ stirring story is beautifully told, both philosophically reflective and emotionally poignant. Her account is also remarkably candid. Despite the heartbreaking losses she endured, she manages to produce a life-affirming memoir detailing personal triumph. -Kirkus Reviews An intimate look at the power of love, filled with honesty and passion. Banged-Up Heart is the best memoir I’ve read this year. Bravo. -Anne Hillerman, New York Times best-selling author of The Way of the Bear and soon-to-be-released Lost Birds Shirley Melis tells a love story filled with joy, heartache, and shocking honesty that makes Banged-Up Heart a page-turner. -Sally Armstrong, author of Uprising: A New Age is Dawning for Every Mother’s Daughter Banged-Up Heart invites us into an intimate, compelling story of deep love, one found unexpectedly after a painful time of raw widowhood. In meticulous detail, Shirley Melis crafts an uplifting testament to her own persisting determination in the face of devastating tragedy. Her courage to open herself again despite this confrontation with double loss is a shining example of human resilience at its most transcendent. -Barclay Braden, PhD, psychologist, and author of Faith at Hand: Finding My Way to Depth Journaling In Banged-Up Heart, Shirley Melis lays bare the heartbreak of being widowed twice in four years. But that’s just the start. Her candor and insights, delivered in crisp, unsentimental prose, will pull you into this inspiring account of love, loss, and resilience. -Patricia Galagan, fine-art photographer, writer, and author of Fire Ghosts  On the morning of January 21st, I woke up to a dusting of snow and held my breath. With an overcast sky and outside temperatures in the low 30’s, the New Mexico Book Association’s afternoon Winter Fiesta might be a Winter Disasta! By late afternoon, the weather was holding as we welcomed close to fifty celebrants to the NMBA’s Winter Fiesta and 30th anniversary at The Club at Las Campanas in Santa Fe. A Brief History Thirty years ago, a small group of publishers banded together to form the NMBA for the purpose of discussing publishing issues. Their mission: “To preserve and perpetuate the BOOK as a repository of the wisdom of the past, the essence of the present, and a guide to the future.” Reflecting the mission was the logo: a symbol of the sun with its horizontal rays opening like the pages of a book. Thirty years later, the mission and logo remain intact but membership has undergone a dramatic change. After its founding, the NMBA became a pioneer among statewide publishing groups by opening is membership to all individuals, businesses, and institutions professionally involved with books: writers, editors, proofreaders, book coaches, illustrators, literary agents, designers, narrators, publicists, marketer, journalists, reviewers, librarians, and, of course, publishers. Today, the NMBA is the only statewide nonprofit that serves all book professionals, and we are one of the country’s most active book associations. Since January a year ago, our membership has grown by a whopping 74 new members! Together with those who have been with us for many years, NMBA members hail from 31 cities and towns in New Mexico and ten other states. What We Do Throughout the year, the NMBA offers workshops by experts on topics that members want to know more about. The most popular last year addressed the impact of artificial intelligence on the creative writer. Book sales and events showcase member author books at a variety of sites, including the Tucson Festival of Books in March, which attracts one hundred thousand visitors over a single weekend. Honoring books is the NMBA’s one-of-kind competition, the Southwest Book Design and Production Awards. Open to authors from eight states, SWBDA celebrates winners at the NMBA Summer Gala. Certificate of Appreciation In the midst of Winter Fiesta, the NMBA Board surprised Treasurer Paula Lozar with a Certificate of Appreciation, acknowledging her many years of service to the organization. Paula joined the Board as a member-at-large in 2008 and never left, serving in every office of the Board. Each Whereas in the Resolution of Appreciation celebrated a facet of Paula’s exemplary service, including this one: Whereas, whenever the Board is unsure of any important fact or proposed initiative, they simply as Paula Lozar and she graciously tells the Board what to do.  Richard Harris Award The Richard Harris Award was founded in 2012 to honor the memory of the late NMBA president, Richard Harris, who died in 2011 at the age of sixty-four, having written more than 250 books. He was widely considered the preeminent author of guides to the American Southwest and Mexico. People who were privileged to know Richard Harris say he was an immensely talented writer who loved books and everything about them. Equally at home designing books and discussing copyright questions, he lectured widely at writing and publishing conferences The NMBA presents the Richard Harris Award annually to the author of a book whose excellence in writing, editing, design, production and lasting influence in New Mexico exemplifies the ideals of publishing to which Richard Harris devoted his writing career. On Sunday, it gave me great pleasure to announce the 2023 Richard Harris Award, a beautiful book of poetry and stories entitled Sánii Dahataał The Women Are Singing by Luci Tapahonso, inaugural Poet Laureate of the Navajo Nation. In her book, Luci shares memories of her home in Shiprock, New Mexico, and of the places and people there. Through these celebrations of birth, partings and reunions, she displays her love of the Navajo world and her resonant use of language while inviting the reader into her culture of familial warmth and support through stories that keep the past alive.   It was only after Luci won the 2023 Richard Harris Award that we asked her to be our keynote speaker and when she agreed, we were thrilled. Luci’s journey is remarkable. Born on the Navajo reservation in Shiprock, New Mexico, she learned English as a second language after her native Navajo. After graduating from Shiprock High School, she began her studies at the University of New Mexico where she intended to study journalism and become an investigative report. Today Luci is University of New Mexico professor emerita of English Literature. She has published three children’s books and six award-winning books of poetry and taught at the universities of Kansas, Arizona, and New Mexico.
After I presented Professor Tapahonso with the Richard Harris Award, Luci read from her many books, moving the audience to tears. It was a Winter Fiesta I will long remember.  Ancient Babylonians – the first people to make New Year’s resolutions some 4,000 years ago – made promises to their pagan gods to pay their debts and return any objects they had borrowed. For them the new year began in mid-March, crop planting time.
In Rome, emperor Julius Caesar established January 1 as the beginning of the new year (46 B.C.), and Romans promised the deity Janus good conduct in the coming year. For early Christians, the first day of the new year became the traditional time of looking back at one’s mistakes and resolving to do better in the future. Today, despite religious roots, New Year’s resolutions are notably secular. Generally, we don’t make promises to gods. We make promises to ourselves with a focus on self-improvement. How successful are we in fulfilling our promises? Researchers report that while as many as 45% of Americans say they usually make New Year’s resolutions, only 8% are successful! Hoping to beat these dismal odds, here are my resolutions for 2024:
Note: Information about the history of New Year’s resolutions came from writer Sarah Pruitt’s online gem of an essay. It’s holiday time. I love this time of year – the lights on the Plaza in downtown Santa Fe, rooftop luminarias, the hum of excitement and getting together with friends. December is the month when I focus on my favorite charities and give what I can. Here are some of my favorites:
Arts Santa Fe Symphony and Chorus offers Santa Feans live classical music played and sung by top-notch musicians. This organization has a special place in my heart, in part because my husband, Frank, served as President of the Board (2017 – 2020) and as Interim Executive Director for nine months. I love the fact that music education is all-important to the organization. Members of the Symphony mentor aspiring musicians in Santa Fe public schools. And at least once a year, fourth graders fill the Lensic Theater in downtown Santa Fe for a free Symphony performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf narrated in Spanish and English by author and storyteller Joe Hayes. Santa Fe Youth Symphony inspires young people throughout Northern New Mexico’s multicultural communities through music education guided by professionals and opportunities to perform. Humanitarian Doctors Without Borders is at the top of my list, especially during these days and weeks of endless war-related heartbreak. I also give to the Food Depot, the no-cost, healthful food bank for nearly 40,000 New Mexicans in nine counties in Northern New Mexico. Education Reading is Fundamental inspires the joy of reading in young children, sparking imagination and possibilities. As an avid watcher and listener of PBS, I support New Mexico PBS. And for the past two years, since it began, the Santa Fe International Literary Festival is on my must-support list. Animals The Animal Protection Society of Chapel Hill, NC, founded by my late husband Joe Nagelschmidt has evolved into Paws4Ever in Methane, NC. My donation carries a request to focus on adoption. I also support the Santa Fe Animal Shelter and with a caring eye on animals in the wild, I support the World Wildlife Fund. These are just a few of my favorite charities. Please share yours with me. |
Author BLOG
I'm Shirley Melis. You may know me as Shirley M. Nagelschmidt, Shirley M. Bessey and now, Shirley M. Hirsch. Each reflects a particular phase of my life. Banged-Up Heart is a slice of my life's journey and in telling my story, I'm giving voice to my long silent "M" by reclaiming my maiden name, Shirley Melis. Archives
December 2024
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