“Exit Lines”
No sad songs for me, I have been one of the lucky ones in life: wonderful family, great career, plenty of travel and a comfortable lifestyle. I have lived in the country, small towns, city suburbs, and a glass and steel box 56 floors above Chicago’s Michigan Avenue, and for the past 35 years in the historic district of my adopted hometown, Eureka Springs.
I was born 78 years ago on a frosty November night to Kathleen Louise McConnell Pierce and William James Pierce of Stigler, Okla. I arrived in a bedroom in my grandmother’s house, attended by a country doctor.
After returning from the war, my father built a new house and established a small cattle ranch. For my sister and me this meant the outdoors, plenty of pets, and riding horses. My family also owned the area’s dream factories – the movie theaters, so the silver screen jump-started my imagination.
My first job, at 14, was with the town newspaper and I was on my way as a writer. Editorship of my college newspaper followed, and in 1960 I earned my degree in journalism and public affairs reporting from the University of Oklahoma, plus post-grad work in English literature. I secured a dream job as a specialized reporter at the Oklahoma State Capitol with press table credentials in the House, Senate and Governor’s Conferences.
Over the years, I wrote and edited international publications in insurance, real estate and photography and provided web content.
Aside from my work, my main recreation was sailing. First and foremost, I was a writer, even as I served as chief executive officer of Self Storage Association and of Antique & Amusement Photographers International and while operating my own organizational management company for 23 years. In recent years, I have turned to short story fiction, winning a few awards along the way. I have been active in the Village Writing School, producing a weekly online column. Other activities have included readings at Brews and participation in the Unitarian Fellowship.
I leave behind my beautiful daughter, Leslie, and husband Anthony Leggett (like a son to me) of Eureka Springs; granddaughters Raven Leggett, Glory Leggett and great-grandson Nico Bloch, all of Fayetteville; my sister Kay White of The Woodlands, Texas, and her tribe of children, grandchildren and a great-granddaughter, located throughout Texas and Oklahoma; my cousin Sue Lyn Evans of Muskogee, Okla.; and my cousin Carol Ann of Stigler, Okla.
My second husband, Ted Larimer, pre-deceased me in 2007.
I have asked for no funeral or formal memorial. My life has been a celebration. If you want to remember me, contribute your time and/or your money to something you really care about. For my part, one of my passions has been the preservation and restoration of Eureka’s historic properties. I have personally participated in ten renovations – hotels, commercial and residential. I also served as a member and chairman of the Historic Auditorium Commission. Back in the 1990s, we began this major project with new wiring and a bank of restrooms. Others have continued this important work.
My family plans a simple gravesite farewell with cremains interred in the Eureka Springs Cemetery. My marker is a stone bench under a pine tree, a place for rest and meditation. All are welcome there. My family thanks you for your thoughts and prayers.