Jacqueline Brown and Randel Mott
Recorded
August 26, 2021
Archived
August 26, 2021
37:17 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id:
mby021013
Description
Randy Mott (65) talks with her mother, Jackie Brown (92), about Jackie’s childhood and the many ways she has reinvented herself.Subject Log / Time Code
Jackie Brown (92) says her father taught English at Syracuse University. She remembers him purchasing a cottage on Skaneateles Lake in New York State. She says they spent every summer there and that the cottage is still in her family.
Jackie says her father has had the greatest influence on her life. She credits her father for her love of nature and interest in knowing about other places in the world.
Jackie says she is most grateful for her 3 children. She says they are a team.
Jackie says she was a 1950s housewife prior to divorcing. She says she then started a decorating business.
Jackie talks about joining the Peace Corps when she was 50. She says she was sent to Ecuador.
Jackie says she does not like to dwell on negative things. She says her relatives were poor dirt farmers during the Dust Bowl, in Lincoln, Nebraska. She says they were very strong people.
Jackie talks about her own parents' divorce. She talks about living with relatives.
Jackie remembers her father hiring famous people to be guest teachers at Syracuse. She says Dylan Thomas was one such person, adding that he was not famous at the time.
Jackie talks about some of the important lessons she has learned and about how she would like to be remembered. She talks about the importance of having a sense of humor.
Jackie talks about the COVID-19 Pandemic. She says her son, Steve, saved the day by calling her every Monday night at 7 to read her a story he would write during the week. Jackie remembers suggesting Steve turn the stories into a novel, which she says he has.
Jackie talks about how she and a friend became the painter known as Ayton Coggins.
Jackie remembers returning from the Peace Corps and thinking America was a terrible place. She says the time spent at her family's cottage was good training for living in Ecuador.
Jackie talks about her children.
Jackie talks about the change to her living arrangements that occurred when she was 80. She remembers responding to an ad on television to buy a crater on Mars. She says she named her crater, Ayton Coggins, after the fake artist.
Jackie mentions her book signings.
Participants
- Jacqueline Brown
- Randel Mott