Former Leon County Commissioner - and Tallahassee Democrat writer - Mary Ann Lindley has written a book. Ask her about her first-ever book, "Fragments: Then & Now," and Lindley's first instinct is to direct the conversation away from herself.
"It's 156 pages. It has a beautiful original oil painting by Jennifer Clinard, a wonderful friend who painted sets for the San Francisco Opera and movies in the Bay Area for 30 years, so she's no slouch. And I tell Jennifer, 'The cover's selling my book.'"
Lindley continues crediting all the people who helped her with the project.
"Mary Jane Ryals who is the publisher of Apalachee Press heard I was writing a book and she invited me to lunch about a year ago and said, 'Apalachee Press would like to publish your book.' It was a gift to have somebody offer. That meant that a beautifully experienced book designer, Carolyn Knight, started working with me. And we spent about a year in design of this book. I had 4 editors including Ron Hartung who was the most ingenious and tremendous editor at the Tallahassee Democrat for many years. We called him 'Grammar Man.'"
With all the credits out of the way, Lindley finally gets around to describing what "Fragments: Then & Now" is actually about.
"The book is divided into 8 sections. It has fragments from 'Then' with datelines during my many years of reporting and writing. The second is 'and Now,' which is reflections on how things turned out or didn't turn out; regrets, happy endings, the more things change, the more they stay the same."
Perhaps the most unique aspect of Lindley's book, however, is her own singular experiences: first from her 30 years of journalism and then from two terms as a local elected official. Not to mention her many community involvements along the way.
"We listen to people. So you and your family life or your business, you just say, 'Time to move in this direction or cut out that.' In government, you can't act that fast. You're listening to people and hearing people if you're doing it right. You're not jumping into things, which is tempting because with the big, ugly issues, sometimes you want to say, 'Let's just make the call and move on. This is really not any fun!' And we have examples of that in our city right now."
Lindley says she comments on a number of these issues, bringing a considerable historical background to bear to how they arrived at the present time. Which is also when the book makes its official debut.
"I'm having a launch of the book on October 4th at Midtown Reader, our local lovely indie bookstore, 4:30 in the afternoon. It'll also be in Hearth and Soul on Market Street and I'll be having a conversation with Serena Moyle, who's their librarian out there. And I'll be having another event at Goodwood in November."
In other words, plenty of in-person chances to ask Mary Ann Lindley about her book, "Fragments: Then & Now."
