Susan Lewis, The Proper Publisher, takes us on a road trip down memoir lane
By Alice Crann Good / Photo by Kate Treick Photography
Listening to published author and memoirist Susan Lewis as she unfolds her storyline, you receive an up-close view of her past and present.
The gift is a multifaceted gem that shines light on her perspectives, portions of her life — the good and the bad — and her diverse skills and talents.
She shares how she fell in love with her husband, Steve, who is now retired from the U.S. Marine Corps, when she was 15 and he was 16. He is someone she still “adores.” And Lewis expresses her feelings for their three grown children who live in the area.
“We’ve always had a very close relationship with our kids, mainly because of the constant moving during my husband’s 20 years with the Marine Corps,” Lewis said. “Our oldest, Steve Lewis III, is 33, and he’s such a kind man and absolutely the funniest person in my life.
“Our daughter, Minnie, is 28 and she’s hands down the sweetest woman in my life. She has been married to Jarrett Parker for five years. They just finished building their first house, a barn-dominium, in Molino, and they did it on their own with their own calloused hands.
“Our youngest, Benjamin, is 23, and like his big brother he has the kindest, most giving heart. He’s in law enforcement as a correctional officer, and we’re all so proud of him.”
Another joy for the Lewis couple: their 90-year-old farmhouse in Cantonment. The one-and-a-half-acre property features apple, pear, lemon, kumquat and avocado trees; blueberry bushes and a seasonal vegetable garden; chickens and two boxer dogs.
It’s common to find Lewis occupied for hours canning and preserving her home-grown bounty.
“I also make butter, yogurt and bread, and almost anything you can think of — such as dog food with our sweet potatoes,” Lewis said. “It’s all wonderful and so much fun.”
So, you may wonder how writing fits into this busy bucolic picture. Well, the owner of Proper Publishing loves writing and has made time for her passion ever since she was a child.
PAIN, PENCIL, PAPER
“I remember writing a song when I was 5,” Lewis said with a laugh. “It was about my stuffed bunny that my dog tore apart. It was this kind of love song to the stuffing that was strewn all over the living room.”
As Lewis continues, the look on her face changes. The smile disappears.
“My true piece of writing was done when I was 14, the day my father was taken to jail, and eventually to prison,” said Lewis, who has four siblings. “My father was diagnosed as a violent manic depressive. But we didn’t need the diagnosis. He was a monster; he was taken to jail because he tried to kidnap a woman.”
Lewis said she wrote a free-verse poem, “Empty House,” after the police left, after walking through the house and seeing the chaos and her father’s belongings scattered everywhere.
“I wanted to pick them up, but I didn’t because I was terrified,” Lewis said. “The poem was a stream of consciousness.”
In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is an attempt to describe the multitude of thoughts and feelings passing through the mind.
“I did it because the paper and pencil would never judge me, tell me I was wrong,” Lewis said. “I utilized that as a friend.”
From that point on, she continued writing “relentlessly.” As an adult, she started leaning into writing more poetry and short stories, memoir writing/coaching and educational/research works.
It wasn’t always sunshine and roses.
“It’s only through failing that you learn to succeed,” she said. “I understood the concept of failing forward.”
Off the cuff, Lewis added, “I can’t even tell you how many books I have published.”
Regardless of the published author’s humility and dislike of braggadocio, literary accolades and success filled her life. Notables include serving as Escambia County Student Poetry Director for six years and being a 2014 and 2024 Poet Laureate of Northwest Florida finalist.
In addition, History Channel used her book, “Bury Your Dead: The Long, Strange History of Death and Burial,” as a resource for its series “The UnXplained” with William Shatner about three years ago (S5E2). The book also garnered the Heritage Arts Award of Literary Excellence in 2022.
HONORING MAMA
But of all of Lewis’ accomplishments, the book that still solicits profound emotions is the memoir she wrote for her late mother, who died from acute leukemia at age 51 in 1994. Lewis’ mother was Minnie Hatfield. (Yes, her lineage is bound to the famous American Hatfield-McCoy feud.)
“Goodbye, Mama” hit No. 1 on Amazon in 2015, and it is listed as a resource on the American Cancer Survivors Network.
“Writing this memoir for my mother is a very poignant memory,” Lewis said. “When my mother was dying, she said, ‘I don’t feel like I am dying. I feel like I am 16.’ It was a longing to continue, a sad thing for her.”
Lewis recalled a day she sat on the edge of her mother’s bed watching the news about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and her battle with cancer,
“My mother looked at me and said, ‘The whole world is watching her get sick, the whole world will know when she dies. No one is going to know when I die. I am going to die an unknown,’” Lewis said.
“My mother was so sad about that,” she continued. “A couple of days later, she said, ‘Promise me you are going to write my story after I die.’ So, the second she died, it was like this ever-present weight. I decided, ‘I have to write it and get it published.’”
Lewis said that following her mother’s death, depression walloped her so hard that she wanted to get in the grave with her mother.
“I bought all of these self-help books, but I couldn’t find the truth about grief. No one was telling the truth,” she said. “So, I started writing about my grief. I gave it to my husband, my best critic, and said, ‘OK here is the book.’
“After he finished, he said, ‘I feel like I just ate a 72-ounce steak for dinner. Honest to God, Susan, if you give this to someone to read, they are going to read it and then go jump off a bridge. You have to lighten this up.’”
Lewis thought about it and then realized that she was asking people to bury her mother and grieve with her.
“But they didn’t love her like I did,” she said.
Lewis then started rewriting the memoir. Her goal: Get people to fall in love with her mother first so they could mourn her.
“That’s how the book came about, writing vignettes about everything that made me love her.” Lewis said. “I wrote about all of the quirky memories of her … the purple plastic sunhat that she wore … her long, red, fake nails … all of the odd things that were so strange and hilarious about her.”
Today, Lewis is committed to an ideal that she shares with others.
“In my mind, it is now my duty to be joyful, grateful and enjoy every day for my mom and myself,” she said.
This includes helping others write their memoirs.
WHY CONSIDER
WRITING A MEMOIR?
“My mother could not write her memoir, but a memoir is about yourself,” explained Lewis, who worked for 26 years as a hospice volunteer for patients and families.
“There is a story inside every single person. The greatest disservice you can do to yourself is say, ‘I am not worthy. My life is unworthy of recording for publication or legacy.’
“The whole premise about a memoir is at the end of our lives we want to know that someone somewhere will remember us, someone somewhere will say our name after we are gone. We want to know that we made some sort of impact.”
A memoir gives you a chance at immortality, Lewis says.
Today, Lewis teaches memoir writing one-on-one or via the University of West Florida’s Leisure Learning program when she has time. And, no, you don’t have to excel at writing.
“Over half of the people who come to my class say, ‘I am a terrible writer, but I want to get my story down.’ At the end of the class, they are so confident because everyone can write. They just have to believe in themselves. The one thing that differentiates us is how much belief, love and encouragement we get in life,” Lewis said.
“Giving this is what I do best.”
