A Client and a Church

The woman introduced herself as Sue, but told me little about herself. She was all about her husband, Dan. He'd lived in Israel, she told me, as an NBC videoographer. Naturally, my ears perked. In his years working for NBC, he'd hobnobbed with the rich and famous and had some rather funny tales to tell.

"He's a storyteller, but he needs a good editor," she said. "Are you also an editor?"

I told her I was, that I had an editing business, which had become part of my writing life. She grabbed one of the bookmarks I'd just given to the clerk, asked me to write my name and email address on it, and said, "You'll hear from me!"

She wasn't kidding. I had an email before I even got home. Sue and Dan, who calls himself Danny, asked to meet me for lunch in Winter Park the following week. I agreed.

Dan "Danny" Beckmann wasn't anything like I expected. He's Robin Williams on speed. Funny. Articulate. Filled with stories that either leave your mouth wide open or your eyes squeezed shut from laughing so hard. Next to his lovely wife, Sue, who is lovely and poised, he's the pepper to her salt.

I took the project (and have loved every minute of it)!

A few weeks later I received a call from Sue telling me about a church service she and Dan attend once a month in Winter Park known as "Wellspring." Something about it sounded familiar, but not enough to make me say, "Oh, yeah! I've heard of it." Wellspring, founded by Jan Richardson, meets once a month in a Methodist church's chapel on Interlachen, she said, and she'd love it if I'd meet her for dinner on Park Avenue (one of Winter Park's most sought-after brick-laid streets). Afterward, we could go the the service together.

I agreed.

Praise God, I agreed!

I was standing at the corner of Anguish and Relief. Ready to turn. Left or right, it really wouldn't matter. I was about to step onto and into another part of my journey ...

Wednesday's Recipe of the Week

Hey, y'all!


This is from my dear friend, writer extraordinare, Karen O'Connor. Last week she shot a note that read, "How about some fried okra, spoon bread and hush puppies to go with the catfish stew? My southern-fried husband will be right over."  Karen


Fried okra... now that brings back memories! My mother frying okra meant it was going to be a banner night at the supper table...but when she fried yellow crook-neck squash... watch out! I stood next to her as she inched the flat fried vegetable from the sizzling grease. Just as soon as one cooled, I was eating it! Mother used to say, "Keep this up and there won't be enough for supper."


You mean, someone else may want some??? I hadn't thought of that.


Which brings me to the next point. Whenever something is fried in the South, it's not just about plopping it in the grease. And, just so you all from the North are not confused, good fried vegetables (like okra and squash) are best when corn meal is a part of the recipe. (That doesn't mean you just substitute corn meal for flour, however. There are rules here and they must be obeyed.)


Hush puppies. YUM... Not too long ago my friend Robi Lipscomb and I stole away to Cedar Key, Florida (where my next three novels are set). We heard about a restaurant called Robinson's. They advertised "all you can eat fried shrimp" for a reasonable price, so we drove down 24 to check it out.


Well, it was worth it! The best jumbo fried shrimp I have ever eaten...and I've eaten a lot of fried shrimp. But, to me, what really stole the show was the hush puppies. Not sure of their recipe but they were perfectly crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Robi and I let the "all you can eat shrimp" slide and asked for seconds on the hush puppies.


Anyone out there have a good recipe for hush puppies (the kind that make you want to slap your mama) you want to share? This group of hungry readers is listening!