By Mark Squibb | Vol. 12 No. 14 (July 11, 2019)
Laura Morry Williams of Ferryland has lived life on the edge.
That’s according to her memoir On the Edge, which she calls a metaphor for how she feels she has lived her life.
“When you’re writing, there’s a pressure on you. There’s some kind of a pressure making you do it. It’s a mission, or a passion,” explained Williams. “I’ve gotten up out of bed, at 3 o’ clock, and different hours in the morning, to come out and right a page, write a word down, to put in that book.”
Ferryland author Laura Williams is set to launch her memoir On the Edge on July 24 during Ferryland Come Home Year celebrations.
Mark Squibb photo
She told the Irish Loop Post the book is a loose sequel to her 2006 novel Becoming Sarah, which was a fictionalized retelling of several of her own life incidents, although she notes that you can enjoy On the Edge without having read Becoming Sarah.
“I’m following there on things that were introduced (in Becoming Sarah), so it’s almost like a sequel to Becoming Sarah,” she explained. “It would be called a sequel to Becoming Sarah, except that the names are real in this one.”
The books details Williams’ life in Ferryland, where she returned in 1973 after living in Labrador City for several years, but is also a travelogue of sorts, as readers join Williams as she trots across the globe, whether visiting the rocky Northern Peninsula, encountering airport security in Tampa, Florida, attending a wedding in England, or even experiencing virtual reality at Disneyland.
“You think you’re going to be killed, but your sitting in the chair the whole time,” she laughed, recalling piloting the virtual airplane.
“Hopefully, something in this book will encourage the readers to record their own memories. I find that by writing theses events, I am showing my gratitude for what I have learned from each (of them),” she added.
The book is set to launch during the Come Home year celebrations on July 24 at the Regional Arts centre in Ferryland.
As for Williams, who began writing poetry in 1962 and took her first writing class in 1981, this book may be her last.
“This is the last book,” she said. “This is certainly the last book. I got nothing else to write about now,” she said, although she confessed she has said so before in the past.
“I love the book myself, anybody would, you write a book you’re going to love it,” she joked.
Even if she chooses to not publish another work, she will likely remain active in literary circles, as a founding member of the recently established Independent Publishers of Newfoundland and Labrador.
And for others who have stories they want to tell, Williams’ advice is simple.
“If people want to write a book, just do it,” she said. “Gather up a collection of stories, or poetry, and by the time everything is said and down, put a date on it.”
