I'll Call It Like I See It

by sheila morris

For any who want more, complete list of all posts by month since 2011

  • Harriet Hancock, Ed Madden, Alvin McEwen and Tom Summers – join us at Deckle Edge this weekend!


    I am really thrilled to be with four other contributors to Southern Perspectives on the Queer Movement: Committed to Home this coming Saturday at the Deckle Edge Literary Festival in the Richland library in downtown Columbia.

    Harriet Hancock, Ed Madden, Alvin McEwen, Tom Summers and I will be swapping stories from our book on a panel at 11:00 o’clock in Room 213.

    For details, check out http://www.deckleedgesc.org/

    No smiles left behind when Harriet Hancock and I spend an afternoon in her home sipping wine, reminiscing and storytelling. Looks like the woman hovering behind Harriet sipped more than she reminisced.

    (Thanks to Becci Robbins for putting up with our nonsense that afternoon and for taking this photo)

    My acknowledgments for Committed to Home begin with this paragraph:

    My coconspirator and inspiration for this book is Harriet Hancock. I first approached Harriet about writing her personal story at a South Carolina Gay and Lesbian Business Guild Christmas party at Tom Brown’s house in December, 2013. She had an enthusiastic response, and in our subsequent conversations early in 2014, the project morphed to include the personal observations of other leaders in LGBTQ organizations in South Carolina over the past thirty years. Her interest in the project has been ongoing and always encouraging. She was helpful in the selection of the contributors.

    Ed Madden, Alvin McEwen and Tom Summers were three of the six contributors who actually wrote their own essays which are distinctive in time, place and storylines but oh, so very personal and compelling. I am looking forward to sharing their stories, along with Harriet’s, during our conversation on the panel Saturday morning.

    Please join us if you can!

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • remembering The Red Man two years later


    Many of our cyberspace friends and followers came to our home via my first blog Red’s Rants and Raves that began in 2009. The Red Man was a rescued Welsh terrier who looked at life from both sides then but always picked the right side to champion.

    Two years ago this week we said goodbye to the little guy who brought us so much love. This is a re-blog from February 22, 2016.

    Red and the old woman Slow

    December, 2000 – February 22, 2016

    It is with immeasurable pain and sorrow I must tell our Amigos and Sports Fans that the old woman Slow’s best friend and faithful companion has passed on to his reward, which Pretty and Slow both hope is a rich one.

    Red spiced up our lives with his annoying barking rants and raves and endless supply of Welsh terrier energy. Nothing and no one escaped his tirades, but he saved his love for his Pack and Pretty and Slow.

    He ran away from us countless times for reasons known only to him – but always ran to someone who would call us to bring him home. His escapes were remarkably injury free and equally free from remorse. We hope this final escape is his best ever.

    No words can express the depth of our sadness at bringing Red’s Rants and Raves to this ending.  We understand death is inevitable, but we will miss the Spirit of The Red Man that brought us such joy and happiness and was the life of our homes on Worsham Street in Texas and at Casa de Canterbury in South Carolina. Our lives will be entirely too quiet without him.

    Smokey Lonesome Ollie, Paw Licker Annie, Tennis Ball Obsessed Chelsea, Fence Jumper Spike and The Red Man will live forever in our hearts and memories as will all of our cyberspace friends who are now a part of our family. We will miss you all.

    Get me outta here, Percy – and he did.

     

  • A’ja, we hardly knew ye


    Tonight Pretty and I, along with 12,000 of our closest friends, will say goodbye to Gamecock women’s basketball senior A’ja Wilson who will be playing her final regular season game at Colonial Life Arena. We are carrying plenty of tissues with us because we don’t want to see her leave us just yet. A’ja, we hardly knew ye.

    A’ja Wilson has broken almost all the basketball records she could break in 4 years at the University of South Carolina, but tonight the young woman with the fabulous smile and wicked left hand will be breaking her countless fans’ hearts as she poses for senior pictures with her parents and Coach Staley before the LSU game.

    My goodness, it’s hard to believe four years have passed since the teenage girl from Hopkins who went to elementary and high school right here at Heathwood Hall in Columbia began playing for Coach Staley and the Gamecocks. That shy girl who joined the team has been replaced by a young woman who is now clearly the team’s heart and soul…and fearless leader.

    For those of us who have had the privilege of watching this remarkable young athlete step into the national spotlight with her superior statistics while never losing her love of her diverse fan base, exuberant dance,  sense of fun, competition and most importantly the game of basketball, we can only say thank you for the memories you leave.

    We wish you well at the next level wherever that may be and know that whether you are on a basketball court or a judge on the Supreme Court, you will always be a winner.

    Pretty and I will see you tonight and will wave to you from the stands. We’ll be the ones waving white towels.

  • and still we wait


    SEVENTEEN

    17

    I have nothing.

  • valentine’s day…schmalentine’s day…let’s love everyday!


    Our trip to Charleston last week for the College of Charleston book event was a treat on many levels, not the least of which was getting to visit with old friends we don’t see enough and meeting new friends for the first time in a diverse crowd that was fun and humming with enthusiasm. Over 60 people came out in the pouring rain to talk about Southern Perspectives on the Queer Movement: Committed to Home.

    The Fab Four warming up…or something like that…

    k 

    Panelist/Contributor Linda Ketner listens intently

    to young person with questions following discussion

    (while I sign books for a student)

    Contributor Warren Redman-Gress (l.) and Harlan Greene

    It was fun to finally meet Harlan Greene in person after months of emails. Harlan wrote the Foreword for Committed to Home, and we have discovered we share a common passion for the preservation of our community’s history. He is a really cool guy.

    Warren is a friend of many years who came to South Carolina with his husband Jim from Long Island, New York. Their story of love, activism in our state and overcoming great odds to adopt their son Cristopher 18 years ago is an inspiring one in the book. Happy Valentine’s Day to one of my favorite couples!

    And Happy Valentine’s Day to all our friends in cyberspace from Pretty and me – let’s love each other everyday.

    Stay tuned.

    (photos courtesy of Beth Huntley and Teresa Williams)