Please write on the back of your photos

Iron Pants took six years from the idea to a final manuscript to be submitted for publication. Most of the narrative is fictional. I am often asked, “What parts of the book are true?” My response is that all of the segments that are attributed to Josephine and Elaine are true. All aspects of the story from the death of Patti Duke and the Duke homestead, the characters who interface with the four sisters in Asheville and at the orphanage are fictional. My six years of writing involved extensive research and exploration of photos from the internet as well as boxes of photos left to me by my mother and her older sister Betty Duke. 

In looking at family photos, I am always struck by how many of them have no notes as to who is in the photo and when and where the photo was taken. I am always profoundly grateful for the family member or friend who has provided this information on the back of a photo. In looking at all the photos that informed my writing, one photo stands out. It is a photo of Josephine and Cleophas kissing before they were married. It was taken in Washington DC on one of Josephine’s visits to see Nora Ann and Cleophas. On the back of this photo, my father wrote, “Too mushy for an army man, but it was fun.” In my mother’s hand are written the words, “It’s okay. I have my eyes closed here. I like this.”

If you would like to continue the conversation, tell me your experiences with old photos and any surprises you found written on the back of a photo.