Who Is Dorothy Baker and Why Do I Care?

By -
A writer friend sent me this quote, encouraging me to disregard the internal censor that second-guesses what I write.

                It's a simple formula: Do your best and somebody might like it. --Dorothy Baker

 I think, Here’s a topic for my April blog post! It is approximately 8:50 a.m.

Who is Dorothy Baker? I google her. Sure enough, Ms. Baker was a novelist in the mid-20th century and wrote: Cassandra at the Wedding, Young Man with a Horn, and Trio. She enjoyed both success and some notoriety. Scanning photos of multiple Dorothy Bakers, one looks like a writer but further searches reveal her to be a missionary. Finally, I’m certain that the fuzzy photo at right is Dorothy Baker, Novelist. It is now 9:49 a.m.

The Google entry following Novelist Dorothy Baker is Dorothy Baker, Madam—different women, but both were born in Montana and lived at about the same time. Dorothy Baker #2, aka Big Dorothy, was the last madam to operate a brothel in Helena, Montana. Wikipedia reports she ran a clean establishment and was a benefactor of numerous community projects and institutions. She looks like a Big Dorothy (see photo, courtesy of Wikipedia). I love her eyebrows. It’s 10:15.

Now I’m thinking… Forget the novelist. For that matter, forget the quote. Let’s google the madam. I abandon the blog topic at 10:18.

This site offers quite a write-up about Big Dorothy, including many photos of her brothel, Dorothy’s Rooms. Their recollections verify Wikipedia’s account of a big-hearted madam whose business closed after a police raid in 1973. She died three weeks later. I finish reading newspaper clippings of the day and examining photos of her gaudy ‘rooms’ and colorful alarm system at 11:20 a.m.

As fascinating as Big Dorothy might have been, surely the encouraging quote above came from less interesting Novelist Dorothy. But I can’t stop thinking about Big Dorothy, and it dawns on me that the quote could have been hers. After all, they say she excelled in business. It’s getting close to noon. My stomach growls.

My internal censor kicks in. I abhor the sex trade and admonish (can we say censor?) myself for thoroughly enjoying Big Dorothy’s story. I eat a handful of crackers and consider a fresh start for my blog entry at 12:20 p.m. but save what I’ve written just in case.

At 12:35 I’m wondering if Montana Women Writers will kick me out for writing about nothing

I order my internal censor to chill. It’s 12:40. Welcome to my world.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Acceptance

By -
How do you accept what you cannot change? Maybe that's too big an assumption on my part, and you don't even try to accept the problem (let's say), but fight fight fight away until you surrender. You likely make yourself miserable in the process. I know because stubborn insistence on what I want rather than what's before my nose has long been my MO. Acceptance is my friend. The other way is not. So, back to the how of acceptance. When I can't change "it," I write a story about "it," dumping all those feelings about why "it' is wrong. The first draft is usually shit (see Hemingway quote from May 2013). Once all those feelings have cleared my system and stare at me from the page, I start playing. How to render "it" unrecognizable to family, friends, and prominent players should I ever publish? 1) Change names - No, Sister, the watercolor artist is not you. 2) Alter locations - That large southern city couldn't be...
Read more

Somehow We Do

By -
I read every book review as it lists on Amazon. I now have 60 and feel so grateful to the readers who take the time to rate and review Burden of Breath. To think that words I wrote have touched/infuriated/surprised/spoken to an unknown reader... it all takes my breath away. I cherry-picked a very favorable review to share below. She and I don't know one another, but somehow we do. 5.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected, but well done , September 24, 2013 Sally Youngblood (Kentucky) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)      This review is from: Burden of Breath (Kindle Edition) I just finished reading this on my husband's Kindle. I don't know what I expected, but this was not it, this was so much more than I expected. It is very well written, quite honest, raw, and insightful into the complexities of relationships effected by mental illness and abuse. Not a happy book, very disturbing at times, but rang true despite being...
Read more