We are sad to hear that Mary Ward Brown passed away on Friday at the age of 95. Sarah Mahan of the Selma Times-Journal writes:
Nichols described Brown as a “gentle and wonderful person,” who loved reading and literature.
“She would enter a room quietly but everyone would notice her,” Nichols said. “When you sit with her, she would just draw you in, much in the same way you become drawn to her stories.”
Brown leaves behind not only family and friends, but a celebrated literary legacy. Read the full article here.
Mary Ward Brown’s collection of short stories Tongues of Flame won the Penn/Hemingway Award for Fiction. She last signed at Lemuria in August of 2009 (pictured above with John Evans) for the publication of her memoir Fanning the Spark. Brown writes:
“When I was writing the stories in Tongues of Flame, nobody, including me, thought that what I wrote would ever be worth the effort, so I was thought to be deluded and was generally let alone. When “The Amaryllis” was published in McCall’s and a newspaper reporter tried to find me, he was told that I was something of a recluse. It hurt my feelings, because I’ve never wanted to shut myself away from the people or the life around me. But to write, one does have to somehow be shut away. In bed every night, I think of people I haven’t stayed in touch with, letters and emails I haven’t answered, opportunities I’ve let go by, even flowers I haven’t put on the graves of my family.”
Mary Ward Brown is just the kind of person–even if you know her just a little–who you wish could stay with us forever. At Lemuria, we’ll continue to share her beautiful writing with others.
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