In today’s Graphically Said post, we look at 15 words from “Bluebell” and the impact, of the woman they described, on one of the book’s main characters, Willis Jefferson.

What pushed a young black man to risk his life running to the aid of a victimized white lady in a small southern town in the late 1930’s?  It was largely the influence of another white woman in his life, Rowena Kramer.

Rowena enters the world of fiction via dad’s book, of the same name, as a young child, not yet six years old, already “alone and lost; in a world she could not comprehend, at the mercy of forces against which she had no defense.”

As she, on her first train ride, sat “huddled next to the large, glowering man, the child’s appearance suggested that no amount of external warmth could dispel the chill that gripped her.  Her proximity to him, although not that of an offspring enjoying the security of a loving parent, was close enough to indicate that they were, in some way, attached. 

There were those who would have viewed her as merely wistful, but intuitive observation would have revealed a child, if not abused, acutely aware of being unwanted.  Had this not been so, in another time, she would have been a living Rockwell.”

This was to become the woman who rescued Willis from a Kansas storm and loved him like she was his own mother.  As we discover in “Bluebell”, “Willis  was not alone in his special feelings for Rowena Kramer; there were many others.  They came and went in a seemingly endless parade, some staying only for a meal, some for a day, a week or longer.  They were young, old, and in-between.  Mostly, they were men and boys, but occasionally a member of the fairer sex was taken under Miss Rowena’s wing.  No matter the gender, problem or need, however, all shared a common bond: No one leaving her was ever less than better for the experience, nor was that separation ever complete.  Within her spirit was that which engendered, and exacted, love from every life she touched.  Few, however, had found what Willis had.”

P.S.  Since I was unable to find a photo of Rowena online, I chose an old picture of a woman very special to me…may I introduce you to Barbara Jane Over-McIntyre, my mom.