Mama Stew
 Elisabeth Rotchford Haight & Sylvia Platt
 (Reviewed by The Editor - Rebecca Brown)
 2002 Mama Stew Press
  ISBN: 0972476806
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An Anthology: Reflections and Observations on Mothering.

A collection of memories, paintings, poems & diary entries explores the feelings about mothering that run the gamut between joy & grief & the sublime & hilarious.

Mama Stew is exactly that--carrots of poetry--bright & delicious; potatoes of pictures--enigmatic & filling; crunching morsels of celeriac comedy; chunks of beefy memories of childhood visions of the great Mom to the daughterly poignancy upon seeing her aging parent--& the gravy? The voices of sons & daughters as the tell of their feelings & fathers & mothers who express their awe at the arrival of their offspring.

I thought I could list my five favorite entries, & found I could not, because each one, be it a poem, a picture, or a story haunts my heart, & fills my mind with my own memories of my mother & my time as a mother.

Mama Stew is to be savored, quietly in your favorite place to read a book. Each entry is richly textured with emotions, memories & everyday philosophy, that verges on elation.

Truly a labor of love from all the contributors who live in & around Port Townsend on the Quimper Peninsula at the mouth of the Puget Sound in the State of Washington, which once upon a time I called home.

Elisabeth Rochford Haight & Sylvia Platt have done an admirable job of editing this extra-ordinary book which will become one of your most endearing companions. Deeply affecting, joyous & modest, funny & reverential. Very well done!
(03/02/03)

Rebecca