Pamela Forman Reitman ʼ65 is an award-winning writer with numerous publications in literary journals, news outlets and magazines. She's retired from a career in public health and volunteer activities aimed at reducing the stigma of mental illness. She is director emerita of Makor Or, a Jewish meditation center in the San Francisco Bay Area. At 77, she lives in a senior living community devoted to healthy, conscious aging and is focusing on getting her writing published.
Q: What is your proudest achievement?
A: The publication of my debut novel, “Charlotte Salomon Paints Her Life.” When I saw this artist's work and read about her life, it was such a powerful and emotionally intense experience, I knew I needed to honor her by bringing her to life in literature. It took me 12 years to research and write, and I'm proud I persisted.
Q: What did you want to be when you were small?
A: A writer. When I read “Anne of Green Gables,” I was around 8 years old, and I remember the moment so well, as I sat in a room in our house a bit removed, above the garage, with windows on both sides, within the shaded canopy of a great oak, feeling like I was Anne or that we were sisters. There was such a connection. And the pleasure I got from reading her story was a pleasure I wanted to be able to give others when I grew up.
Q: What is the best gift you have been given?
A: I'm blessed to have been given the time to have a writing life. And I'm grateful to my husband, Moe, for providing it, without which I would not have been able to complete my novel. So, yes, the gift of time! That is truly the best!
Q: What piece of advice would you give your 16-year-old self?
A: Do what you love. Find a way to write. Persist, persist and never give up. And be kind to others. Offer support without meddling in their affairs. Understand that love is everything.
Q: What’s the weirdest talent you have?
A: I can write upside down and backwards. This can be read only if you hold it up to a mirror. Unfortunately, one cannot make any money doing this, and it is only momentarily impressive to others, a parlor trick.
Q: If you could have the answer to any question, what would it be?
A: Is there intelligent life in the universe? It seems there must be, and yet with all the efforts made to discover it, there appears not to be. It feels very lonely to think we are the only ones.
Q: When was the last time you were nervous?
A: It was when I had to stand up in front of an audience and talk about my book. It was only five minutes, and I knew what I intended to say, but it seemed like a very big deal to go from a reclusive writer to a public-facing author. I didn't need to be nervous because I did fine.
Q: What is one goal you’d like to accomplish during your lifetime?
A: I'd like to see all my books published. I have a wonderful press now, Sibylline. However, as I'm getting older, I have less energy and more interest in slowing down, daydreaming, and reading for pleasure. So more of a hope or wish than a goal to which I'm committed.
Q: What book has influenced you greatly? How?
A: Virginia Woolf's “To the Lighthouse.” I became keenly interested in the artist's creative process, as evidenced today by my novel, which contains many passages of the artist in the midst of creation. More importantly, I was influenced by Woolf's magnificent ability to reveal Lily Briscoe's thoughts and feelings and to bring the reader so closely into the character’s interior.
Q: If someone rented a billboard for you, what would you put on it?
A: BE KIND!