A Note from Lisa See

To continue from my last blog: With the return address on the postcard from Lisa See announcing her newest novel, I realized I could return those postcards of old Los Angeles sent to me ten years ago by Lisa’s mother, Carolyn See.

I had contacted Carolyn after reading her energizing book, “Making a Literary Life,” and we corresponded for several years. That’s how I received her encouragement to continue writing–on old postcards of Los Angeles. Carolyn noted they were from a collection of her father’s–and they were glorious scenes of Los Angeles in the 40s and 50s where palm trees loom over the Santa Monica cliffs, the Hollywood sign looks a bit bedraggled, and the Hollywood Bowl sits majestically tucked into a hillside.

Frankly, I wondered why Carolyn would send me such precious postcards, but she did and I saved them, reading them periodically when I needed a good kick to keep going. Then, miraculously, with Lisa’s address in hand, I sent the postcards back to her.

And, to my surprise she sent me a lovely thank you note. And that’s when I learned that my mentor, Carolyn, had passed away.

Lisa See wrote, “My! What a sweet surprise to see those great postcards from my mom. She was such an amazing person and such an inspiration to so many writers, including me.”

What a lovely surprise to hear from Lisa, with a twist of sadness that Carolyn See has passed. Yes, she was a great inspiration to many, many writers.