Writing beyond the Pale
I knew “beyond the pale” was the phrase I wanted to use, but I had to check to be certain of its literal meaning. Pale, I discovered, means fence or barrier. The idiom is defined at Dictionary.com as “beyond the limits of propriety, courtesy, protection, safety, etc.” All of which fits what I intend to say.
And here is the phrase in context: Nancy Garden, who died suddenly and unexpectedly on June 23rd, is a writer who wrote beyond the pale. Beyond propriety? Depends on how you view her work, of course. Certainly beyond her own personal safety as a writer for young people.Nancy was the author of many wide-ranging and important works, but she was best known for Annie on My Mind, a novel portraying, with respect and hope, a budding lesbian romance between two mature teens. Annie was published in 1982 to acclaim and criticism. In 1993, this book now on School Library Journal’s list of the 100 most influential books of the twentieth century, was burned in Kansas City, sending Nancy on a long path of speaking in defense of our First Amendment.Annie on My Mind has also, I can guarantee, saved lives.Here is part of the first review I encountered on GoodReads:
Just try to understand being 14 and every book you read involves a romance between a man and a woman. Every movie, every TV show, everyone I know is straight, nobody knows I'm gay, I barely understand it myself, and I pick up this book and suddenly it's like I can breathe.
In 1982 it took courage to write a book like Annie, especially for someone like Nancy whose career—and income—were entirely based on being a known children’s writer. “Beyond the limits of . . . safety” defines what Nancy did very aptly.Today there are many fine books with gay and lesbian and transgender characters. Books and films and television shows even include such characters without having to make their sexuality a problem, which is the real marker of social progress as reflected by the arts. But Nancy dared, when it truly was a dare, to speak to the young women coming behind her who found themselves loving outside their own and society’s expectations. And in doing so, of course, she exposed her own love, her own life.
In 1994, Nancy graciously contributed a short story, “Parents’ Night,” to a collection I edited, Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence. I couldn’t have imagined a gathering of original gay- and lesbian-themed short stories by outstanding young-adult authors without Nancy’s being part of the mix, and I am still grateful that she responded to my request.My heart goes out to Nancy’s partner of 45 years, Sandy, and to the readers—all of us—who will miss the work that died so prematurely with this talented, prolific, brave woman. We are all a bit more whole because Nancy Garden lived.I’ll conclude with a line from Annie on My Mind quoted in Lambda Literary: “Don’t punish yourselves for people’s ignorant reactions to what we all are. Don’t let ignorance win. Let love.”