Finding Thalhimers

Although Finding Thalhimers is about my father’s side of the family, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my maternal grandmother Mimi. Mimi (Edalleen Morgan Brush) encouraged my sisters and me to read books from a very early age. I have so many memories of her reading books to us…among our favorites were Ping, Eloise, The Wreck of The Zephyr, Tikki Tikki Tembo, The Polar Express, Caps for Sale, and too many others to name. She was the children’s book buyer for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts for many years, and brought hundreds of books into our lives. As we grew up, she encouraged us to read “big kids” books — from traditional classics to modern ones.

When I was about 10 years old, I won a book contest at Collegiate for my book “The Creaky House Mystery.” I made the dust jacket out of blue felt, and illustrated it with colored pencils. I was allowed to invite one guest to join me for lunch on the stage in the cafeteria/auditorium, and I invited Mimi. I have such fond memories of eating cherry pie on stage with Mimi, and delivering my “thank you” speech. No one was listening because they were all eating lunch (and we were 10, for Lord’s sake), but I said, “Thank you to Mimi for encouraging me to write. I intend to be a famous author someday. Thank you.”

It goes without saying that it was a poignant moment when I showed Mimi my book for the first time yesterday. Immediately, she asked me to sign it and we took a photograph of us looking at it together.

Thank you Mimi for encouraging me to be a reader and writer. I love you.