Suzanne Tate is best known for her nature series books for children. There’s Crabby and Nabby, her first book about the life cycle of blue crabs. That was followed by Flossie Flounder, then Spunky Spot, A Tale of One Smart Fish until with 36 books in her Nature Series collection, Tommy Tuna, A Tale of a Big Fish was published two years ago.
There’s a new book in the Suzanne Tate collection, but Crabby Lady Looks Back is not a child’s book. It is a collection of essays on her life. Some of what she writes is joyful and wonderful. Some poignant and sad. But all of it is very well written and compelling.
What emerges is a remarkably strong-willed person who simply refuses to give into the difficulties life places in front of her. Suzanne was forging her own path before it was considered either proper or normal for a young lady to be on her own.
Wanting to be an anthropologist, after her sophomore year in college in Ohio, she transferred to the University of new Mexico where her field work included two weeks in Durango, Mexico. There was just enough water, she said to drink and brush her teeth.
“We did have a few inconveniences there like scorpions that liked to visit our tents. But we kept an eye out for them and no one in our group was stung y a scorpion,” she wrote.
She joined the Navy in 1952, which led to her meeting her husband Everett while she was stationed in Charleston, SC.
Much of what she writes is filled with humor and a wink at circumstances. But there is another side to her writing as well.
She tells of the loss of her husband and the death of her son Frank in a car accident.
What the book ultimately offers is a wonderful glimpse into a complex life. Suzanne is 92 now, still writing, although she has slowed just a bit.
The book itself is a soft cover large format book. It’s only 38 pages long and costs just $7.95, and an investment in life’s lessons well worth purchasing.
The Outer Banks creative community is a thing group of artists of all sorts. Stop by for a visit with us at Brindley Beach Vacations and discover the hidden treasures of the area.