Over the past year, Pownal Street Press had the pleasure of working on a very special book, With Love, Jawn, by Dorothy Willis. A memoir and family history many years in the making, this family story is a project which celebrates the legacy of Dorothy’s father, John Willis, who was a secondary high school principal and artist.
In May, Mo and I were lucky enough to join Dorothy at her book launch in Toronto. It was especially touching for me is as I am the grand-niece of Dorothy’s father, John, and publishing a piece of my own family’s history was a true honour.
When Dorothy approached Pownal Street Press, she had a completed manuscript, with photos interspersed throughout. The manuscript and archival material had been lovingly put together over decades, and was a 200 page spiral bound, 8.5” x 11” document. Dorothy wanted to work with an editor, and to produce a book with a small print run.
In her own words about her father:
John Roland Willis, born to a piano salesman and his wife, at 764 Bathurst Street, Toronto, on July 20, 1908 , was known by John, or Jack to less special people. Honest John, Rifle Johnny, Chief, and John R. were some future monikers fondly bestowed. When addressed by any derivative of John or a nick name he would quietly smile and accept it as a compliment. My name for him was Da, the first sound I probably uttered, and it stuck. He called me Sukey, although I never learned why. Did it come from the nursery rhyme, Polly put the kettle on, Sukey turn it off again?
He rejoiced I had not inherited his prominent nose: I appreciate I inherited his eyes that viewed the world creatively and aesthetically. Those knowing eyes traveled to my heart. He led, and I followed. From the beginning of his first song to me,
Here we come on our ponies as he bounced me on his knee. Da always anticipated the positive, optimistically explained, and I keenly listened. He was the light of my life; I was attracted by its glow that spread over me and my world. Much of our world involved water and nature, and music that quietly embraced without fanfare.
Pownal Street Press began the project with a developmental edit. The objective of the developmental editing process is to elevate the purpose and vision of the work. During this stage, the focus is on the structure of the story, and making revisions for organization and clarity. The developmental editing stage is different from the copy editing or proofreading stages, as this stage looks at how the story functions as a whole, rather than at looking at sentence-level improvements or grammatical corrections. During developmental edits, Dorothy and her editor looked at all aspects of her memoir, such as tone, voice and story arc, as well as scene progression and other components.
The team also started to work with Dorothy on the look and feel of her book. A few design priorities were identified right away. It was to have black and white photos of archival material throughout and also a colour photo insert of paintings. Dorothy also wanted a scan of her father’s distinctive signature included, which is featured on the title page when you first open the book.
Pownal Street Press obtained an ISBN for the work, and we collected printer’s quotes and found options that would fit these specifications. It was decided to do the book as a paperback.
Once the developmental edit was complete, the book moved into copy edit and then on to book design. A talented writer and former school teacher, Dorothy embraced the editing process and worked diligently on the manuscript throughout. She also had support from her family and her talented attendant Teresa.
Our book designer worked with Dorothy’s feedback to come up with the cover design. The interior text was typeset with the archival images and laid out in the text; a colour insert of photos of John’s paintings was also included. Once the book was designed, it was carefully proofread by Dorothy and the Pownal Street Press editorial team.
At the book launch, Dorothy’s family spoke about her and her father, sharing their memories together in a heart-felt celebration. As a polio survivor with post-polio syndrome, Dorothy’s passion for storytelling struck many chords with her listeners.
Dorothy’s grandson, Thomas Hipkin, spoke eloquently at the launch about the book’s creation, his grandmother and the impact that John had on the family without having ever met his grandfather.
This day has been a long time coming. Over the past decade and change, Gramma has been working to compile family stories, genealogical research, and her own experiences into a series of books, each dealing with different branches of the family and different historical eras.
The first iteration of this book, focused on the life of my Great Grandfather, started out in earnest about ten years ago. But Gramma had been laying its foundations long before that. Her scrapbooking, archival research, cemetery scouring, and transcription of stories from John’s contemporaries had been going on long before I came onto the scene.
Indeed, John Willis, who had died a quarter century before I was born, always seemed more like a living member of the family than just a name in the family bible. I was brought up in a house whose walls were covered with his paintings. Sunday dinners at Gramma’s, where his paintings also covered the walls, much more densely, feature stories about this singular character, first from Gramma, and later from Ken too.
My Christmas and birthday gifts growing up included postcards from his many painting trips, some of the paints and other equipment he used on those trips, and even some paintings themselves. Perhaps most memorable of all was a typed copy of his diary from 1926, the year he left high school. You will find entries from this diary scattered throughout With Love, Jawn.
One editorial insight that occurred not just to me but to a number of people who have read Gramma’s books over the years is that we would like to get more of her own story. Many times, the stories that she would tell us about tracking down long-lost relatives to interview or breakthroughs she had made in online research turned out to be just as captivating as the history she was telling.
In this book, she has taken our advice. What started out as a history of her father’s life has also become in part a personal memoir. Reading it, we learn not just about John Willis the man, the teacher, or the painter, but about Da and Sukey.
—Thomas Hipkin
My grandfather, Bruce, John’s brother, also died before I was born, so to have these memories in a book is extra meaningful. Thank you Dorothy, for trusting us with your memoir. We are so proud of With Love, Jawn!
Postscript: Do you have a legacy writing project in the works? Would you like to bring it to life? Pownal Street Press can help with that.
Pownal Street Press is PEI’s newest publishing house. Women owned and women led, friendly, warm and professional: Pownal Street Press brings an approachable perspective to publishing books. For more information about the Press and its books, please visit: www.pownalstreetpress.com.