Post from: Caroline Young Petrequin

She's in my Heart

Barbara and I met at Skidmore College about 15 years ago, at a conference of the International Women's Writing Guild. In line for registration, I asked what she wanted to write, and she said, "Mysteries!" Which was what I wanted, too. We bonded right away, and spent most of the conference together. When it ended I drove her to the airport, which gave us even more time to discuss all the elements of mysteries.

We wrote letters, then began to exchange and study each other's books. She wrote fast, and I wrote slowly. When I read WRITERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE I told her, "This is the one!" And I was right! Purple Sage took off. Readers loved Barbara's bright, sharp writing and well-delineated characters. She encouraged me, too. "Write fast!" she'd say. "I've got to know what happens next."

We had much in common besides writing. Our Scottish ancestors had come from the Aberdeen/Banchory area. I visited there and sent pictures of the "Burnett Arms" hotel in Banchory, which my great-grandparents had managed, and hers may have owned. She sent the pictures on to her dad, and he wrote me a nice letter. Barbara and I saw each other only at mystery cons, but we were always in touch, sharing thoughts and events: our children's weddings, the arrivals of grandchildren, her marriage to Gary, my husband's angst-ridden retirement, and the passing of her dear sister Carol, whom Barbara cared for, as she did all her family and friends. We exchanged pictures of relatives and homes, gardens, and pets; we even sent wallpaper samples. For me, Barbara was always available, as I know she was for so many others.

You don't "lose" someone like Barbara. Her ideas are in my mind, and her spirit is in my heart. Forever. She was wonderful.


Caroline Young Petrequin