Roswell Wordsmiths for October

Writers or beginning writers talking about Writing

We hope to see you on Tuesday, October 20, at the Roswell Library on Norcross Street in Roswell, GA or on Zoom. Wherever you live, if you have access to a computer or your phone, you can join us.

Roswell Wordsmiths
Building a Writers' community
Tuesday, October 20, 1:30 - 2:45 PM
Roswell Library - 115 Norcross Street   
No fees or dues -- Adult writers and poets
Come and meet others who write.
Can’t come? Join us on Zoom.

Contact the library to register and get the Zoom link.
https://fulcolibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/6a3aadec296ea565de2e3051  

Her Heart is on the Stage

Da’non Dastugue has performed in productions in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New Orleans, including Sweat, Steel Magnolias, 12 Angry Jurors, Harvey, and Quartet.

I had seen her in two plays, but I met her when my brother-in-law, Stu Moring, invited her to dinner.

For many years I have interviewed writers, but not actors or people in the theater. Stu participates in community theater, and he thought it would be fun for me to meet some interesting actresses. I was delighted. Da’non was just as he had said she was.

Da’non, thank you for your time and for answering my questions.

GCB: I think everyone would be interested in your name. Is it a stage name or is it your birth name?  Will you tell us about it?

Da’non: My name actually comes from the 1951 movie “Westward the Women” starring Robert Taylor and Denise Darcell. Darcell was a French actress, and her name in the film was Danon. My mother was pregnant with my oldest brother and thought it would be a good name if she had a daughter. She had to wait through two boys before I came along in 1957! She said it would sound great with the French last name of Dastugue.

I asked her once what I should change my name to when I became a famous actress, which, as you know, was a common thing at that time, and she adamantly said, “Do not change your name. I gave you that name, and it will look great on a marquee!”

FYI – I added the apostrophe a few years ago because everyone kept calling me Dannon, like the yogurt. It really has helped.

GCB: You are a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, but now live in Atlanta. Will you tell us about your family and your childhood in New Orleans? 

Da’non: Yes, I was born and lived in New Orleans. The Dastugues originated from France, and my paternal grandfather spoke French until he was four.

New Orleans is a fabulous place to grow up: Mardi Gras, seafood, great music, fabulously colorful people.

My maternal grandfather was from Biloxi, Mississippi, and we spent a lot of time on the Gulf Coast, also.

GCB: Do you have brothers and sisters?

Da’non: I have 2 older brothers and 1 younger sister. I also had 2 stepbrothers (now deceased) and have a stepsister I am really close to.

GCB: Is anyone else in your family also into the Arts?

Da’non: My sister is the only person who is also in the arts. She is a travel writer, novelist, and photographer. She recently, at age 62, earned her M.A. in Creative Writing! So proud of her.

GCB: When did you realize you wanted to become an actor? Was it when you were a child or teenager?

Da’non: Yes, I have always wanted to be an actress. I grew up loving old movies and wanted to go into film. Also, my maternal grandmother was really funny, and I adored her! When my mother asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I responded, “I want to make people laugh.”

GCB: When was your first time on stage? Do you remember how you felt?

Da’non: Well, my mother put my sister and me in ballet, so that was probably the first time, but I hated it! In high school, I was in a class one-act, and it felt so natural. Later, I participated in college shows, especially in graduate school.

GCB: Did you have anyone encourage you to follow your dreams of acting? Did anyone try to discourage you?

Da’non: Not really. My mother obviously thought I would never make a living at it and, basically, she was right. But I have been active in community theatre for 50 years, and it is super fulfilling.

GCB: Do you prefer comedy roles or more serious parts?

Da’non: Comedy!! I have had the honor of playing two dramatic roles in Atlanta in the last few years, and I hope I did them justice, but comedy is where my heart lies. As I said when I was a child, “I love to make people laugh.” It’s so rewarding and, hopefully, it lifts people’s spirits for a time.

GCB: New Orleans gave you many opportunities to perform. You played Chelsea in On Golden Pond at the Rivertown Repertory Theatre in New Orleans. That is the role Jane Fonda played in the movie. Tell us about that experience.

Da’non: That was probably the first dramatic role I ever played. I have predominantly played character comedy roles, so this was a stretch. It was scary, and I didn’t feel confident I could pull it off since I tend to be a bit over-the-top with characters. I think I did okay.

GCB: I’m sure you did well. In Steel Magnolias, you played the starring role of M’Lynn Eatenton. That is one of my all-time favorite movies, but I have never seen the play. How did you prepare for that intense role of the mother whose daughter is dying?

Da’non: I was really surprised to be cast as M’Lynn. As I mentioned above, I usually play the comic relief, so being cast in this role was both an honor and a challenge. The director helped me with the scene in which I talk about Shelby’s passing. I remember borrowing a large man’s plaid shirt from the tech guy to reflect that M’Lynn was wallowing in grief and shoring up with her husband’s support (i.e., the shirt). I still have that shirt.

GCB: In another performance of Steel Magnolias, you played Clarice. Which role did you prefer, Clarice or M’Lynn?

Da’non: Oh, Clarice, of course. Those roles are written for someone like me who loves building characters and is basically the comic relief. It was a blast!

GCB: When you left New Orleans, what age were you? Where did you go next and why?

Da’non: I was in 8^th grade. We moved to Louisville, Kentucky when my mother remarried. It was a wonderful experience because it meant I would go to a co-ed high school instead of an all-girls school, as was the case in New Orleans at the time. I was boy-crazy, so I loved the idea!

GCB: You played in 13 shows in Chicago and 15 shows in Los Angeles. Did you have an agent? If so, when did you get one and what was the process of finding one?

Da’non: Oh, boy. Agents are problematic. At least for me. My best agent ever was originally in New Orleans, and she and I worked great together. However, my agents in Chicago and L.A. really did nothing for me. I had an agent in Atlanta but dropped her because of the same reason. I currently have an agent in New Orleans.

Bottom line, I don't think it was meant for me to be a famous, paid actress. I am good with that and love doing community theatre. I'd still love a recurring role on a streaming show that I could retire from without too much worry, but so does every actor in the world!

GCB: It is never too late. With your talent, that might come true.

Da’non is a busy actress and is often cast in shows in the Atlanta area. She has been cast in an upcoming play, but it has not been made public yet, so she can’t tell me anything.

 I'll keep my readers informed as soon as I know more. Thank you, Da’non, for taking the time to do this interview. I look forward to seeing your next play.

 

What can one do at the age of 100?

This amazing lady lives in western North Carolina, where I lived, and she is enjoying life even though she is 100 years old. 

https://blueridgepoet.blogspot.com/2026/09/thelma-howard-celebrates-100th-birthday.html

Thanks to Brenda Kay Ledford for sharing her story.

Terry Kay, raised a country boy, became a major writer in his lifetime

This is one of my favorite pictures. Georgia author Terry Kay is signing a book for me. I didn't know him then. I believe he was appearing at an event at Young Harris College. Many years later, I met Terry when he came to Sylva, NC, and spoke at A Day for Writers. I found him to be down-to-earth, generous, and kind. He had a wonderful sense of humor.
I read his books, saw movies based on them, and felt like I knew him before I actually met him. 

I enjoyed his stories about another of my favorite writers, Pat Conroy, who was his friend. 

Glenda sitting at Pat Conroy's desk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEPzRwH5ObY

The link above is a video of Terry Kay speaking at the Georgia Center for the Book. 

You will laugh and love his stories about high school in Royston, GA. You will hear him tell about his writing journey. He shares his experiences with New York publishers and why he turned to Mercer University to publish his last book.  

Terry Kay (1938–2020) was an acclaimed American author whose novels often explored life in the American South. His most famous book, To Dance with the White Dog, was adapted into a Hallmark Hall of Fame film and sold over two million copies in Japan. His writing appeals to me and most people because he loves his characters, and readers do, too. 

Read more about him.

https://terrykay.com/biography

Thanks for Reading My Short Story

My Father's Eye

by Glenda Beall

Published on Substack.com by Sandy Benson

Click on the link below.

Out on a Limb: Adventures in Storytelling - S. G. Benson

If We All Wrote and Read Poetry

In my ideal world, everyone would read poetry and everyone would write poetry, and as a result, we would all be more sensitive, thoughtful, considerate, appreciative, and whole.  ---Scott Owens

Scott Owens is one of my very favorite poets. I like this quote by Scott because I agree. Poets are sensitive to everything they encounter. They appreciate even the small things they see and the people who are often not seen. 

Scott says we should be observant and notice everything. He certainly does.

Tomato Man

 by Glenda Beall

Ruby tomatoes in small tan baskets

beg me to buy my lunch. Overalled

and raisin brown, he sits slumped

on the tailgate of a rusty red pickup,

his floppy hat a shade against the burning sun.

 

Will the two-dollar baskets buy

groceries to take home to the waiting

wife who helped him pick the plump fruit?

Or will he go by Bernie's Quik Stop

buy a six-pack or two, and cigarettes

that stain his teeth, tar his lungs?

 

He thanks me for my business, but his faded

eyes belie a mind that's somewhere else.

Today takes care of today. Tomorrow

he'll be here again, the tomatoes

redder, softer, a few fresh ones

sprinkled in, to appeal to people

who smile and speak,

but never see him.

This poem won first place in the Clay County Poetry Contest many years ago.

First Amendment: Then and Now by Roger Carlton

Roger Carlton lived in Robbinsville, NC, until he moved north. He is a man I admire and I believe he should have a voice here.   This article is appropriate for what is happening now.

  October 1, 2025 Column

First Amendment: Then and Now

Last week, Beth and I, our daughter, and our son-in-law attended a lecture by Lech Walesa. Those of us with some gray hair will remember that he was the Polish labor leader who led the Solidarity Movement that brought democracy to a former Soviet Union vassal state. He began with a small labor union at the Gdansk Shipyard. The union was outlawed, and he was arrested a number of times. When he was released, he continued his efforts to move Poland from a Socialist-Leninist economy to a free market economy. In 1989, an election was held, and Poland’s democratic government was launched. For his courageous achievements, Lech Walesa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

There were a number of statements made by Mr. Walesa that are apropos of our First Amendment conflict today. 

First, he said, “We started with a few folks meeting to form an illegal union banned by our government, and soon we were 10 million strong.” 

The second statement was “Trying to stifle free speech always ends badly for the person doing the stifling.” 

What an honor to attend a speech by someone who changed the world. He and his movement began the end of the Soviet Union's oppressive regime.

So, what does this have to do with our First Amendment? A little history might prove interesting. The Framers wanted 12 amendments, which were to become known as the Bill of Rights. This brilliant idea meant that the core Constitution would not be changed. As time went on, amendments could be added or deleted as a single subject to be voted on by Congress and the states. This flexibility led to the adoption and repeal of Prohibition. It also led to the rejection of the Equal Rights Amendment. The state legislatures rejected the first two Amendments, leaving the Third Amendment as the First Amendment we find so controversial today. Don’t let anyone tell you it was the primary amendment because the Framers found it to be the most important.

The main protections in the First Amendment are religious liberty and freedom of speech, press, assembly, and petition. Religious liberty allowed people to practice their religion of choice and prohibited the government from establishing a national religion. Freedom of speech and the press prohibited censorship. Assembly and petition were focused on the right to meet and petition the government for redress of the issues of the day.

The Framers never dreamed of television, the internet, or social media. They were thinking about newspapers and pamphlets. There were no influencers with millions of followers. The Framers did not make their living by electronically reaching millions of people. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson traveled by horse and stagecoach. They were gentleman farmers when not forming a new democracy shaped on some pretty incredible ideas about the rights of most people. It took a while and a Civil War for slaves and women to truly become equal.

Censorship is the pernicious violation of the First Amendment rights of all of us. We are all self-censors by choosing which media to watch or read. Censorship comes in many forms. Editing an important investigatory document to remove a reference to someone in power is censorship in the form of redacting or failure to release the damaging evidence. Threatening to use government power to retaliate economically or legally is a form of censorship known as weaponization. Billions of dollars can ride on governmental approval or denial of a corporate application. Using unproven data or plain quackery to justify a government action is a form of censorship of science-based proven facts.

Unbridled censorship may lead to attempts to control thought. This can be seen in book burnings or in the removal of symbols, such as statues of people no longer in favor. There is an old Soviet joke wherein a citizen attends a protest and holds up a blank sign. When he asks the authorities why he was arrested, the response is “You might not have said it, but we know what you were thinking.”

To be fair, sometimes censorship is necessary. Remember the old saying, “You can’t yell fire in a theater if there is no fire.” How about “loose lips sink ships.” The real issue regarding the First Amendment limits on censorship is one we have yet to solve. People can say anything they want, and it goes “viral.” Millions of people can believe a statement with no validity and take action at the polls as a result. We might have our own Lech Walesa someday in the near future. We should hope that person believes in democracy and not autocracy.

Roger Carlton

Lynn Cullen's book, When We were Brilliant

Today I met a writer, Lynn Cullen, at an event at the Roswell Library, A Fulton County Library near where I now live.

She was there as a guest of Friends of the Library and Atlanta Authors.

I expected her to read from her latest book, When We Were Brilliant,
an historical novel about Marilyn Monroe and her favorite photographer, Eve Arnold. But what I saw and heard was a fantastic summary of her book, told with photographs, the images explored audibly by Cullen. She showed the audience what Marilyn looked like when she was Norma Jean Baker, before she became a celebrity. 

It was amazing how Eve Arnold captured the beautiful yet simple woman, Norma Jean.  Eve liked showing the world through her lens something they had never seen before. In the photos she showed her audience, Lynn Cullen taught us how to tell Eve's photos from anyone else's.

I liked Marilyn Monroe's films most of the time. She always seemed to be playing a character far removed from herself. She could make me laugh, and she was beautiful, but when I read about her background, living in poverty, in an orphanage, I felt the glamorous girl on the screen was all make-believe. It was difficult to think of her as Norma Jean.

Lynn Cullen's book is historical fiction, but it is told from the perspective of Eve Arnold. 

Cullen tells us that the people in the book are real, but their words are the author's invention. This is a work of fiction, but she had to put in many, many hours of research to get the facts right. 

I am just now diving into this well-written and interesting book about real women and the bond that grew between them. I know I will write a review when I finish, and I will enjoy every word in this book.

"Your legacy is how many lives you touched."

Beth, Glenda, and Roger 

Years ago, I taught writing classes at Tri-County Community College in Murphy, NC. Roger Carlton was a student in my classes three times. His stories were interesting, and we all learned something from listening to him read his work in class. Roger has had an interesting life, and it showed in his writing.

Roger and I became friends. After taking my classes, Roger, who lived in Robbinsville, began writing columns for the local newspaper there. I began publishing his columns on a page on my blog. www.glendacouncilbeall.com 

Frequently, Roger, his wife Beth, and another friend, Kim, would invite me to lunch with them in Murphy. He invited me to come up to Robbinsville and spend a day with him and Beth. They are the nicest people, and I enjoyed them so very much. 

Years passed. The pandemic happened, my health became a problem, and we didn't see each other as often. I had begun planning to move to Roswell, GA where I have family. At our last lunch together (see the photo above), Roger and Beth told me they were selling their beautiful home on the lake and moving up north to be near a daughter. It seemed we were all experiencing health issues. 

In the following years, I had two surgeries, knee and shoulder, and when I heard from Roger again, it was to read about his long battle with surgery and a long, difficult recovery. 

But he was still writing! He continued to send articles to the newspaper in Robbinsville, NC, and they were published. 

Roger has always been complimentary of my classes, which he said started him writing.

This week, I was so impressed and proud when I opened a package and found a hardback book by Roger Carlton, signed to me. "You are my muse.  Your Creative Non-Fiction I - III got me going."

We never know what will come of it when we touch someone's life. Maya Angelou told Oprah, "Your legacy is not a building with your name on it. Your legacy is how many lives you touched." 

As an older person now, I don't touch as many lives as I once did with my teaching, my support for writers' endeavors, encouragement, and belief in them. But I am fulfilled when any of my students or my friends reach a goal or accomplish a dream they struggled for. 

Roger Carlton has touched many lives in his work as City Manager for several municipalities in the Miami area, and this book reveals his success in that role at Miami Beach. His reputation for dealing with the issues faced every day, and his ability to manage it all, led others in charge of their cities to seek his advice. 

Congratulations, my friend, Roger Carlton.