From the Burlington Times-News on 12/13/05. Congratulations, Mary!
By Jim Wicker Times-News
When Mary Flowers Carter was growing up in New Bern in the 1940s and ’50s, the most convenient way for her family to visit relatives in Vanceboro was to take the creaky, well-worn ferry across the big Neuse River.
The old ferry, which operated long before and after Carter made the crossings, has been gone for many years. But it, along with almost everything else in her formative years, planted the seed for "Lest We Forget," her recently published novel.
Carter, who moved to Burlington three years ago, said the 238-page work is "written through the eyes of my late father, George Henry Flowers." The author, 65, said most of the book is based on actual occurrences during her childhood and adolescence.
An educator for 38 years, her career included teaching writing at Indiana University and Gary (Ind.) Community College. She said she used vivid memories of her day-to-day life with her parents and five siblings, events and hometown fixtures to spin her story of people and their lives in coastal North Carolina.
"‘Lest We Forget’ intertwines history and accounts of everyday life," Carter said. She said the stories are told in the book by "Joey Bloomfield," the fictional name she uses for her father, an uneducated but deeply caring and hard-working construction worker.
"My father, although he couldn’t read and write, was determined that I would go to school and college and get an education," said Carter, who worked at Macy’s in New York after high school to earn money for college. It was a happy day when she returned home.
"Dad was so proud the day I left for Winston-Salem State University that he immediately started telling people I was a teacher," she said. "I wasn’t, but that caused me to work hard so I’d not let him and my mother down." Carter graduated in 1962 with a degree in education.
She was employed for 37 years by the Gary, Ind., school system. For 30 of those years, she was a classroom teacher. After retiring in 1998, she taught writing classes to college students in Indiana before returning to North Carolina with her husband, Charles Carter.
The novel is the second for Carter, who published "Sweet Peppers, Sour Grapes & Wild Flowers" in August 2002. She said it has been well received and has sold well. For details on where to buy "Lest We Forget," priced at $21.95, call Carter at 336-538-1850.
When she’s not writing, Carter said she and her husband are active in sports and church. Both are volunteers for local charities, including Hospice. They have two adult daughters and two grandchildren.
Jim Wicker can be reached at jim_wicker@link.freedom.com
Writer sees life through father’s eyes
Mary Flower Carter moved to Burlington three years ago
By Jim Wicker Times-News
When Mary Flowers Carter was growing up in New Bern in the 1940s and ’50s, the most convenient way for her family to visit relatives in Vanceboro was to take the creaky, well-worn ferry across the big Neuse River.
The old ferry, which operated long before and after Carter made the crossings, has been gone for many years. But it, along with almost everything else in her formative years, planted the seed for "Lest We Forget," her recently published novel.
Carter, who moved to Burlington three years ago, said the 238-page work is "written through the eyes of my late father, George Henry Flowers." The author, 65, said most of the book is based on actual occurrences during her childhood and adolescence.
An educator for 38 years, her career included teaching writing at Indiana University and Gary (Ind.) Community College. She said she used vivid memories of her day-to-day life with her parents and five siblings, events and hometown fixtures to spin her story of people and their lives in coastal North Carolina.
"‘Lest We Forget’ intertwines history and accounts of everyday life," Carter said. She said the stories are told in the book by "Joey Bloomfield," the fictional name she uses for her father, an uneducated but deeply caring and hard-working construction worker.
"My father, although he couldn’t read and write, was determined that I would go to school and college and get an education," said Carter, who worked at Macy’s in New York after high school to earn money for college. It was a happy day when she returned home.
"Dad was so proud the day I left for Winston-Salem State University that he immediately started telling people I was a teacher," she said. "I wasn’t, but that caused me to work hard so I’d not let him and my mother down." Carter graduated in 1962 with a degree in education.
She was employed for 37 years by the Gary, Ind., school system. For 30 of those years, she was a classroom teacher. After retiring in 1998, she taught writing classes to college students in Indiana before returning to North Carolina with her husband, Charles Carter.
The novel is the second for Carter, who published "Sweet Peppers, Sour Grapes & Wild Flowers" in August 2002. She said it has been well received and has sold well. For details on where to buy "Lest We Forget," priced at $21.95, call Carter at 336-538-1850.
When she’s not writing, Carter said she and her husband are active in sports and church. Both are volunteers for local charities, including Hospice. They have two adult daughters and two grandchildren.
Jim Wicker can be reached at jim_wicker@link.freedom.com
"Lest We Forget" includes stories told by "Joey Bloomfield," a fictional name Mary Flowers Carter uses for her father.
posted by Jim Huffman at 3:40 AM
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