Waterfalls, The Moon and Sensible Shoes: One Lesbian Life - Paperback

by Jill P. Strachan (Author)

Waterfalls, The Moon and Sensible Shoes-One Lesbian Life reflects on the different loves, grief, friendship, romance, and feminism that make up one Lesbian life. Strachan's application of her powers of self-reflection to the trove of letters, diaries, and journal entries passed down from her parents or written herself over the past six decades tie disparate threads of family life and American post-war life together. Simultaneously, she tracks a personal account of the radically, quickly shifting social and historical situation for Lesbian and gay individuals from the 1970s to the AIDS crisis and beyond. The individual struggle for, against, and within the currents of history finds a careful, passionate, and genuine treatment in Strachan's hands.

An engrossing tale of childhood, adulthood, strength, and family love stateside and far away - Ms. Strachan shares her story of becoming through the letters and diaries of her life. Douglas Yeuell, Executive Director, Atlas Performing Arts Center, Washington, D.C.

Praise for Waterfalls, The Moon and Sensible Shoes-One Lesbian Life

Engaging and thoughtful! There is a conscious incompleteness to the story; a reflection, perhaps, of the intuitive and sometimes selective ways we write to each other and even to ourselves as Strachan explores moments of her life through personal letters, reflections, and journal entries. And, more to the point, the incompleteness of each of our stories-the ways in which they expand or contract to fit our containers as we, too, grow and change over time. Strachan provides a glimpse into a lifetime of stories well-considered and also, ultimately, open for new ones yet to be woven. Hannah Jacobson Blumenfeld, Community-Based Fundraising/Strategic Project Manager & Board Consultant

As an anthropologist, I seek out storytellers whose individual lives can reflect and deepen an understanding of "others" and, in a broader sense, an understanding of the human condition. As one example, Strachan writes about her complicated relationship with Pete interspersed with her own evolving sense of self, using their letters and her journal to document. She fills some entries with the joy of their closeness, while others lay bare an erupting dissonance between them. Paul M. Preston, Ph.D. Author of Mother Father Deaf, Harvard University Press

A very personal journey honestly told. Part coming of age, part a view into an evolving feminist, always engaging. Imagine if we all worked to build a world in which every voice matters. Karen McCluskey, member of the Lesbian & Gay Chorus of Washington, D.C.