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'STRONG MEDICINE' SPEAKS: A NATIVE AMERICAN ELDER HAS HER SAY
An 85-year-old Native American Elder shares her life story, the unusual story of her tribe, and her views on American life in this very rare oral history (Atria/Simon & Schuster, Spring 2008).
HAVING OUR SAY: THE DELANY SISTERS' FIRST 100 YEARS
Centenarian sisters, the daughters of a slave, share their stories and a rarely-heard perspective on a century of American life. Oral history.
THE DELANY SISTERS' BOOK OF EVERYDAY WISDOM
The beloved Delany Sisters share their advice for a long and happy life.
ON MY OWN AT 107: REFLECTIONS ON LIFE WITHOUT BESSIE
Sadie Delany shares poignant reflections on living without Bessie after her death.
IN A WORLD GONE MAD: A HEROIC STORY OF LOVE, FAITH AND SURVIVAL
An in-depth study of two now-elderly Holocaust survivors who met and fell in love in Poland during the final months of World War Two.
THE DELANY SISTERS REACH HIGH
A children's biography of the Delany Sisters.
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Amy Hill Hearth, author, journalist and oral history specialist.
Sadie (left) and Bessie (right) Delany celebrating their
birthdays with author Amy Hill Hearth. Photo taken by
Blair Hearth at the Delany sisters' home in Mount Vernon,
New York, September 1992.
Broadway opening night: author Amy Hill Hearth (center)
celebrates with her husband, Blair Hearth (right) and brother,
Dr. Jonathan D. Hill (left). Photo taken April 6, 1995, New York City.
Actress Amy Madigan ("Places in the Heart," "Field of Dreams"),
at left, who played author Amy Hill Hearth (right) in the film
adaptation of "Having Our Say." Photo by Blair Hearth, taken on
the movie set in Charlotte, North Carolina, February 1999.
* Born September 3, 1891.
* Graduate of St. Augustine's School (now College), Raleigh, North Carolina, 1911.
* Graduate of Columbia University's School of Dental and Oral Surgery, 1923.
* Second black woman licensed to practice dentistry in New York State.
* Featured in a New York Times story, September 22, 1991 (written by Amy Hill Hearth).
* The "feisty little sister" in the oral history, "Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years." Book was written by Amy Hill Hearth and published by Kodansha America.
* "Having Our Say" is a surprise bestseller. Spends a total of two years on The New York Times bestseller list!
* "Having Our Say" is adapted to the Broadway stage in 1995. Amy Hill Hearth takes the sisters to see the play on Mother's Day 1995.
* "Having Our Say" is adapted for a television film in 1999 starring Ruby Dee as Bessie.
* Sadie and Bessie are the subjects of another oral history by Amy Hill Hearth: "The Delany Sisters' Book of Everyday Wisdom" (Kodansha America, 1994).
* Bessie dies at home in her sleep, September 25, 1995.
Timeline, Sadie Delany:
* Born September 19, 1889.
* Graduate of St. Augustine's School (now College) in Raleigh, North Carolina, 1910.
* Attended Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N.Y.
* Graduate of Columbia University (B.S. in Education, 1920, Master's in Education, 1925).
* Teacher, New York City public schools, 1920-1960.
* First African American to teach domestic science on the high school level in New York City public schools.
* Featured in a New York Times story, September 22, 1991 (written by Amy Hill Hearth).
* The "sweet sister" in the oral history, "Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years." Book was written by Amy Hill Hearth and published by Kodansha America.
* "Having Our Say" is a surprise bestseller. Spends a total of two years on the New York Times bestseller list!
* "Having Our Say" is adapted to the Broadway stage in 1995. Amy Hill Hearth takes the sisters to see the play on Mother's Day 1995.
* "Having Our Say" is adapted for a television film in 1999 with Diahann Carroll playing the role of Sadie.
* Sadie and Bessie are the subject of another oral history written by Amy Hill Hearth: "The Delany Sisters' Book of Everyday Wisdom" (Kodansha America, 1994).
* Sadie's beloved little sister, Bessie, dies on September 25, 1995. Amy Hill Hearth writes an oral history to help Sadie cope with her loss: "On My Own at 107: Reflections on Life Without Bessie." (HarperSanFrancisco, 1997).
* Sadie dies at home in her sleep, January 25, 1999, at age 109.
The daughters of a man born into slavery in the South, the Delany Sisters were ground-breaking career women, Sadie as a teacher and Bessie as a dentist. Neither ever married, and they lived together all their lives. After the age of 100, the then-unknown and reclusive sisters found unexpected fame when Amy Hill Hearth, a writer on assignment to The New York Times, heard about them. Ms. Hearth tracked them down (they didn't have a telephone) and interviewed them. Following the publication of Ms. Hearth's newspaper story in September 1991, the threesome collaborated on a book, an oral history written by Ms. Hearth. Called, HAVING OUR SAY: THE DELANY SISTERS' FIRST 100 YEARS, it was a runaway hit when it was published in 1993. The delightful sisters became famous at the ages of 102 and 104. While they enjoyed this unexpected chance to "have their say" to a world-wide audience, success did not change them. They continued to make their own soap, and they refused to have a phone installed in their home. They are buried side-by-side in Raleigh, North Carolina.
FAMOUS QUOTES:
"If it helps one person, it's worth doing."
- Sadie
"The reason we've lived this long is that we never married. We never had husbands to worry us to death!"
- Bessie
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Q. You are said to be the only commercially-successful writer in America who is devoted to writing books about unknown, older women and telling their stories. Why have you chosen this focus?
A. Older people, especially women -- and in particular, those from minority backgrounds -- are largely ignored in our culture. And yet, there are a lot of wonderful people out there who have fascinating stories to tell. I believe it is good for our culture, especially as a Democracy, to hear all voices.
Q. You are white [with some Native American ancestry], and you have written oral histories of people of different races. Why do you think you have been accepted?
A. I was brought up to treat all people, especially elders, with respect. I have some personality traits that work in my favor -- I am sensitive to others, sincere, and big-hearted. I am lucky in that people seem to like having me around. That has been true my whole life.
Q. What did you think of Strong Medicine when you first met her?
A. She was very dignified, and had a very intense way of looking at you. She looked me right in the eye. Her eyes twinkled, and she smiled. I was a little surprised, because I had heard that the Chief's mother was formidable. (The Chief himself had warned me. Later he told me, "I can't believe how you and Mom have hit it off. Half of the tribe is afraid of Mom!")
Q. What did you think of the Delany Sisters when you first met them, back in 1991?
A. They, too, were very dignified and, like Strong Medicine, beautiful. At the time, the sisters were 100 and 102 years old, and they were full of life.
Q. What do you think they thought of you?
A. The Delany sisters said they were surprised that a reporter would be interested in them. I had to convince them that what they had to say was important.
Strong Medicine, to everyone's surprise, was comfortable talking to me. She invited me to her home.
Q. Today, you are writing fulltime as a book author. When you met the Delany sisters, you hadn't written a book yet, and you were writing for The New York Times. Did the Delany sisters like the article you wrote about them?
A. Yes. They thought I had captured their personalities, and that I had written it in a respectful and affectionate way. And I had spent a lot of extra time on the article to make sure it was perfect.
Q. How did you come up with the idea to write the book?
A. I got a phone call from an editor at a publishing house saying that they had read my New York Times article on the sisters. They asked me if I wanted to expand my article into a book.
Q. Were the sisters excited?
A. Again, I had to persuade them that what they had to say was important. I told them that I thought we should do it for the sake of history.
Q. Was this true, also, with Strong Medicine?
A. Yes. Like the Delany sisters, I had to convince her that people would be interested in what she had to say. Ultimately, she wanted to do it because she thought it would be "good for the tribe." I would say that she did it for her son.
Q. What inspired you to devote yourself to these projects?
A. I knew that if I didn't, no one else would.
Q. How long did it take to write these books?
A. I stopped working as a journalist to give HAVING OUR SAY my full attention. I didn't want to waste any time. I did the research, interviewed the sisters, and wrote the book simultaneously. It took about two years. "STRONG MEDICINE" SPEAKS also took about two years.
Q. How did the format of HAVING OUR SAY come about?
A. As I recall, the publisher asked me to write a biography of the sisters, but I argued (successfully) that it should be oral history. I felt the sisters should speak for themselves -- that the words they chose were almost as important as the stories themselves.
Q. Where did the title come from?
A. While we were working on the project, Bessie kept saying, "This is fun! WE ARE HAVING OUR SAY!"
Q. What about the book on Strong Medicine? How did that title come about?
A. We were just calling it STRONG MEDICINE as a working title. Then, at the tribe's annual Powwow, she and I were signing a flier about the book -- that it was coming out in a few months. And for some reason, she kept writing 'STRONG MEDICINE' SPEAKS under her name. And it just clicked.
Q. Has it ever been a problem for you that your subjects have been a lot older than you?
A. No. I love older people. I grew up in a family that cherished our older folks. One of my grandmothers lived to 101. I find older people to be delightfully candid. And the key to getting along with older people is to let them take the lead. Younger people tend to be patronizing and bossy.
Q. Were the Delany sisters as different from each other in personality as they seem in the book?
A. Oh, yes. They were like night and day. This was especially apparent when you consider the way they reacted to the prejudice they had encountered in their lives. Sadie didn't have any anger at white people -- at all! Bessie, however, was still deeply hurt by the prejudice she had enountered. In fact, at the very beginning, Bessie wasn't sure she could trust me, though in time she became my devoted friend. Before she died, she announced that she was going to be my Guardian Angel. She'd say, "If anyone messes with Amy, they'll be sorry!"
Q. But you were close to Sadie, too?
A. Oh, yes. Sadie was the nicest person I ever met in my life. The world could use more people like her.
Q. Which one is Strong Medicine like? Sadie or Bessie?
A. She is like a combination of the two. She is as feisty as Bessie. But she's a natural-born teacher and nurturer like Sadie.
Q. Did you think HAVING OUR SAY was going to be successful?
A. No. I researched the book industry and was realistic about our chances of doing well. I kept hearing over and over that "people don't buy this kind of book." So, my expectations were rather low.
Q. How did the success of the book change the sisters?
A. They found it very amusing, and they had a ball, but it didn't change them. They continued to live the same way -- even making their own soap.
Q. What did the sisters do with the money they made from it?
A. They gave it to charity. $1 million went to Saint Augustine's College, where they had grown up.
Q. You wrote a newspaper story that beget a bestselling book, and the book beget a Broadway play, and a TV movie, not to mention two more books that you wrote about the sisters and even a children's book. What was the best part for you?
A. The part I cherish most is the fact that I got to spend so much time with the Delany sisters. This is true, also, with Strong Medicine. Regardless of how well that book does, I will always cherish the time we have had together.
Q. Like a lot of writers, it seems as if there is no dividing line between your work and your life. Would you say that's true in your case?
A. Oh, it's especially true in my case. I become a part of my subjects' lives and stick around long after the book is published. I'm part of their family. It's my life's journey.
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