Featured Interview With Pamela Carey
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m a “snowbird,” spending most of the year in Delray Beach, Florida, and the remainder in Westport, Massachusetts. I grew up in Connecticut, where I wrote poems as a child and kept journals. I’ve had three careers: teaching high school English, owning an interior design company, and writing as a published author. My journals in recent years became the basis for my two books of nonfiction, MINOR LEAGUE MOM: A MOTHER’S JOURNEY THROUGH THE RED SOX FARM TEAMS, and ELDERLY PARENTS WITH ALL THEIR MARBLES: A SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR THE KIDS. My husband and I have been married a long, long time but we still enjoy travelling, and playing tennis together. He’s my biggest supporter.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I sat by a brook on our property when I was eight or ten and tried to write poetry. The poems were mushy, trite things, but I never stopped writing. I won writing contests in high school and decided to study literature in college and graduate school, before teaching. I now belong to two writers’ groups and attend yearly state writing conferences. I try to write about people I love, so my two books are both nonfiction.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I was blown away in college by Virginia Wolf’s TO THE LIGHTHOUSE. I could read Toni Morrison’s books over and over and still find things in them I hadn’t understood before. After reading THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, I became a fan of John Irving. I read all current fiction and nonfiction, especially Doris Kearns Goodwin, who was a college classmate. I also enjoy humorists like Michael Milligan, Tina Fey, and Lisa Scottoline.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
ELDERLY PARENTS WITH ALL THEIR MARBLES: A SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR THE KIDS grew out of care giving for my parents during their healthy, independent 80’s and 90’s. My husband and I moved them from Connecticut to be near us in Florida, but I knew nothing about care giving. My book is structured around 49 humorous, tongue-in-cheek “rules” I devised for my kids when the time comes to watch over me. My sister and I began writing down stories about my parents. The book contains laughable anecdotes during my parents’ years in Florida, as well as instructive stories from the last three months of each of their lives. The book contains an appendix of useful definitions, websites, and phone numbers for caregivers.
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