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Plain View Press
Born With a Rusty Spoon: An Artist's Memoir
Born With a Rusty Spoon: An Artist's Memoir
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Had the bullet not missed her heart by on-sixteenth of an inch, this story would not have been told.
Born with a Rusty Spoon is the story of artist Bertie Stroup Marah who, along with her four siblings, spent her childhood in abject poverty moving from sawmill shacks, tents, dilapidated houses, trailers and even an abandoned railroad car in the isolated desert and mountainous hard scrabble ares of New Mexico. Bertie tells her story through the innocent eyes of her childhood while being raised by neglectful alcoholic parents.
The children make the best of their isolated world by creating imaginative adventures that Bertie tells with humor and heart. Bertie spends most of her life playing the role of family caregiver to her two younger sisters and peacemaker to her sometimes violent and frequently drunken parents.
At the tender age of eighteen Bertie marries and moves to Colorado. There, she is again thrown into the role of caregiver to her two baby boys and must make a living to help support her family, all the while continuing to repress her natural creative gift and desire to become an artist.
Bertie tells this true story of deprivation, hardship, domestic abuse; and later, acute clinical depression, a failed suicide attempt, a miraculous second chance, breast cancer, and ultimately redemption and success to become a nationally recognized, award-winning artist.
This is an inspiring story about family, love, and resiliency told with compassion, honesty, and pride.
--------------------
"Now I know Bertie Stroup Marah is as heartfelt and talented a writer as she is a painter. I cannot convey how touched I was by her story. We are a product of our families, aren't we all? We take the good things and fold them into relationships we choose, and we, hopefully, learn from the difficult things and push ourselves to seek something different, or to at least find some peace and acceptance. I can picture her, that lovely, nurturing and talented child, and see how she grew into the woman we know her to be."
Laurena Davis, Writer and Editor,
Grand Junction, Colorado
"We have loved Bertie and her beautiful, award-winning paintings for many years. What a revelation to learn of her beginnings! This book evokes so many emotions and ultimately teaches the tenacity of the human spirit."
Dan Deuter, Western Artist and Historian,
Ellie Deuter, Retired School Teacher
"Bertie's story is a testament to the 3 T's. Her tenacity, her talent and triumph. She just kept on fighting and we are all the better for it. The enjoyment of her stunning work will be her gift to all of us - It is an inspiring story."
Willa Sorensen, Retired Principal & School Board Member,
Delta County School District 50
"I laughed, I cried, and I had knots in my stomach reading about the tough times. I could picture it all. I could not or would not try to make it better. It is a wonderful story and it is clearly from the heart."
Rhonda Atchetee, ExxonMobile,
Procurement Manager
"A delight to read. Down to earth memories -funny, touching and sometimes heartbreaking but never boring."
Almira Whiteside, retired English
Professor, Albuquerque, NM
Born with a Rusty Spoon is the story of artist Bertie Stroup Marah who, along with her four siblings, spent her childhood in abject poverty moving from sawmill shacks, tents, dilapidated houses, trailers and even an abandoned railroad car in the isolated desert and mountainous hard scrabble ares of New Mexico. Bertie tells her story through the innocent eyes of her childhood while being raised by neglectful alcoholic parents.
The children make the best of their isolated world by creating imaginative adventures that Bertie tells with humor and heart. Bertie spends most of her life playing the role of family caregiver to her two younger sisters and peacemaker to her sometimes violent and frequently drunken parents.
At the tender age of eighteen Bertie marries and moves to Colorado. There, she is again thrown into the role of caregiver to her two baby boys and must make a living to help support her family, all the while continuing to repress her natural creative gift and desire to become an artist.
Bertie tells this true story of deprivation, hardship, domestic abuse; and later, acute clinical depression, a failed suicide attempt, a miraculous second chance, breast cancer, and ultimately redemption and success to become a nationally recognized, award-winning artist.
This is an inspiring story about family, love, and resiliency told with compassion, honesty, and pride.
--------------------
"Now I know Bertie Stroup Marah is as heartfelt and talented a writer as she is a painter. I cannot convey how touched I was by her story. We are a product of our families, aren't we all? We take the good things and fold them into relationships we choose, and we, hopefully, learn from the difficult things and push ourselves to seek something different, or to at least find some peace and acceptance. I can picture her, that lovely, nurturing and talented child, and see how she grew into the woman we know her to be."
Laurena Davis, Writer and Editor,
Grand Junction, Colorado
"We have loved Bertie and her beautiful, award-winning paintings for many years. What a revelation to learn of her beginnings! This book evokes so many emotions and ultimately teaches the tenacity of the human spirit."
Dan Deuter, Western Artist and Historian,
Ellie Deuter, Retired School Teacher
"Bertie's story is a testament to the 3 T's. Her tenacity, her talent and triumph. She just kept on fighting and we are all the better for it. The enjoyment of her stunning work will be her gift to all of us - It is an inspiring story."
Willa Sorensen, Retired Principal & School Board Member,
Delta County School District 50
"I laughed, I cried, and I had knots in my stomach reading about the tough times. I could picture it all. I could not or would not try to make it better. It is a wonderful story and it is clearly from the heart."
Rhonda Atchetee, ExxonMobile,
Procurement Manager
"A delight to read. Down to earth memories -funny, touching and sometimes heartbreaking but never boring."
Almira Whiteside, retired English
Professor, Albuquerque, NM
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