Desire to Inspire

Who inspires you?

Over the years, I have have been inspired by the works of many authors who write about country living, none more than Patrica Penton Leimbach. 
But I did not find her books right way.


Read on to discover the journey that I began at Galion Public Library in the early 1970's and led to the creation of Ohio Country Journal in 2013. If years were miles, that'd be a whole lot of truckin', for sure!

When I was a young married, I stumbled across the Stillmeadow series of books by Gladys Taber. Gladys' books were essays about leaving the rat-race in New York City when she and her friend bought country acreage in Vermont. What began as a place for weekend retreats with their families ended up being their full time residence. Gladys was an author who contributed to Women's Day magazine as well as many other publications. I enjoyed Gladys' stories and recipes, but did not really connect with her, probably because her location in New England was worlds apart from what I knew about rural life in Ohio. Still, I admired the fact that she followed her dream and was able to make a living in a remote location, which was really an achievement back in the 1950's.

A few years after finding Taber's books, a new one appeared near it on the library's shelf, A Thread of Blue Denim, by Patricia Penton Leimbach. I truly was able to connect with Patricia's words. She did not live the country life because she needed to escape city stresses. She was raised on a farm by a full-time country woman and well knew what challenges and stresses come with country life when, after college, she chose to become a full-time country woman herself. 

What drew me into Patrica's books was her wit and the fact that her family farm was in Vermilion, Ohio, located on Lake Erie. Plus, A Thread of Blue Denim was current, written in the early 1970's with remembrances from raising her boys in the 50's and 60's, making them my age.

Years later, after Jim and I finally had our own land, I was privileged to hear Patrica speak. I was not a member of the Crawford County Conservation League, but a friend was and she invited me to the meeting where Patrica was the guest speaker. Patricia's dialog was lively and fun and animated. I found her to be absolutely charming, just as I expected. What I did not expect was to hear her say, "I'd like to be a Gladys Taber".  During the "meet and greet" after her speach, I told Patricia that I thought she was already a "Gladys Taber", and she gave me a HUGE bear hug! Imagine that. Patrica Penton Leimbach was inspired by the same woman whom I had admired for years, and because of that had a writing career of her own from her country location. Patrica had a weekly newspaper column and wrote for magazines, which led to becoming a book author. Many times over the years, I thought about recording country life as I knew it, but never got further than "writing in my head". 

Fast forward to 2012 to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where I was visiting my high school friend (and journalist), Mary. While reading a bio of Edward Harris Heth in Penzey's catalog, I became curious enough to look for his book in Milwaukee's library system. In the 1950's, Heth had a successful career in NYC, as Taber had, but left it for country life, just as Taber had. Unlike Taber, who forged a life in an unknown (to her) part of the country, Heth retreated to his roots in Wisconsin. His book is Wisconsin Country Cookbook and Journal. By the end of the year, I could no longer ignore my desire to write about the country people I know and to share recipes. This blog, Ohio Country Journal, is a result of being inspired by people's words. Of course, I have no idea where my own words will lead. My hope is that they will inspire others to follow the voice that is nagging them to jump feet first into whatever project is calling them. We don't have to know how, we don't have to know if it will be successful, we don't have to know if it will lead anywhere. All we have to know is that by not taking action, we'll never know the answers to those questions.

I began this post with the question, "Who Inspired you?" I am ending it with another question, "Who do you inspire?"

Marcheta *jumping in feet first into the Deep Unknown

P.S. In researching for this post, I was sad to discover that Patricia Penton Leimbach passed away last January. Here is her obit, which tells about her many achievements. Not too shabby for a full-time country woman!