All is well with the Universe...

Last week I went to visit the final resting place of novelist, Nella Larsen. She's buried at Cypress Hill Cemetery, which is not more than seven minutes away from me. Some years back I read the biography, In Search of Nella Larsen, written by Professor George Hutchinson and was surprised to learn that the funeral parlor that handled Nella's funeral service was located just a few blocks away from me and was still in business.

For some reason Nella had been heavy on my mind and I found myself consumed with an urgent need to visit her but I couldnt remember the name of the cemetery and I couldn't locate Hutchinson's book in my vast library (ok not vast...but sorta kinda) and so I started to surf the net in search of the information and that's when I stumbled upon the cyber-home of Heidi Durrow.

Apparently Heidi and Nella Larsen have quite a bit in common; they're both bi-racial (Black and Danish) female writers. Heidi was recently awarded the Bellwether Prize for Fiction for her novel: The Girl Who Fell From the Sky which Publisher's Weekly dubbed one of the ten top debut's of the season. Heidi feels that Nella is her muse. Not a bad muse to have, huh? (smile)

But as wonderful as all of those accolades are - I was most impressed by her generous and caring spirit.

And why is that, you ask?

Well she placed a headstone on Nella Larsen's previously unmarked grave.

Isn't that awesome?

Armed with the information my gal-pal and I jumped into my car and hurried over to the cemetery (just four hours before I was due to board my flight to Oooo-hio) because I had to visit Nella before I took flight - I just had to!

It was an adventure just trying to find the grave. We got turned around a number of times until we came upon a "Papi" who has been a worker at the cemetery for 25 years. He took us straight to Ms. Nella.

Her grave is perched on top of a small hill. At the right time of the day her grave is blanketed by the shade of a nearby tree. The grass is a vibrant green and well manicured. It's a pleasant, peaceful resting place.

We cleaned off the tombstone and had a moment of silence.

I thanked Nella for sharing her gift with the world as she paved the way for generations of writers of color. I offered my condolensences for a career that was cut short by an accusation that left a black mark on her heart which caused her to disappear into obscurity never to write or publish another word again. And I thanked her for the story (Glorious) that she and Zora Neale Hurston saw fit to bring me ( I ain't crazy ya'll) and then I set my gift (seashells) down on her headstone and wished her so long, until next time we meet...





Upon my return from Ohio I was pleased to find a note in my inbox which stated and I quote:

"All of us here at (publishers name) love your novel "Glorious" and we would be honored to publish the book."


This is just another one of those "toe-curling" life moments............

Bernice L. McFadden