Interview with Judy Goldman

Writers have often used real life experiences to fuel their passion for their work. Judy Goldman, author of this month’s book pick, “Early Leaving” said that a murder which took place in her hometown of Rock Hill, South Carolina eight years ago inspired her to ask questions about the emotionally complex topic of motherhood. “I tell writing students you have to write about what keeps you up at night,” she said. “This kept me up at night. I’ve never met the family but my emotions over what happened in that family is what fueled the writing.”

Goldman is both a mother and grandmother and said that she is nowhere near as overprotective as her central character, Katherine Smallwood. “I wanted to explore that issue of how mothers feel so responsible for their children and how we can protect and do too much for them,” she emphasized. “I don’t think you should write a book because you have something to say, I think you should write a book because you have questions. One of the questions I had is how responsible are we for how our children turn out.”

So, what questions did she answer for herself in writing this book? “I think what I learned in writing this book is that we are really training our children to live without us. And if we put ourselves out of a job as parents then we’ve done our job.”

Goldman, who is both a poet and a novelist, mentions many of the Queen City’s most famous spots in her books including famed restaurants like The Pewter Rose and Lupie’s. “Every book I ever write will be set either in Rock Hill, where I was born, or in Charlotte where I have lived for over 40 years. It’s just my way of saying that these are the towns that I dearly love.”

Meet the author
Join us on Monday, May 22, 2006 at 7PM at Joseph Beth in SouthPark to discuss “Early Leaving” and the art of writing. Please RSVP at http://www.thecharlotteweekly.com/