At last, I have found a place I belong, thanks to the help of my father.
I am so delighted to be working on the Herald. It's as if everything else that I had been doing since college had been all wrong, and suddenly I found what I was meant to do - even if it's as simple as writing society blurbs in a small city newspaper. I don't care what I'm writing about, as long as it is writing. This is a great leap forward in my individuality. (1. pg102)
Our reunion at the train station was quick and effortless, I was calmed by his fundamental sense of ease and quiet confidence. I don't know if I would've recognized him if it hadn't been told by a fellow train passenger greeting him as he walked onto the train to find me, I had only the distant memories of a 6 year old.
We made our way back to his house where I met my step mother for the first time, Lillia Douglas. She came dashing out and down the steps, approaching me with arms outspread, her dear affectionate face all lighted up as if she'd know me forever. I was deeply affected by her welcome. She said she and my father had been friends for years after he'd met her in Orlando. Later, I learned they'd waited to get married until 2 years after my mother's death. (1. pg97)
I'm quite proud of the important historic lineage both my father and step mother have. Lillian's grandfather, Frances Eppes, was Thomas Jefferson's oldest grandson. At 18, he was sent to manage Jefferson's plantations in Virginia. When Jefferson dies bankrupt, Francis Eppes left Virginia with his furniture, his cattle, and his slaves in wagons and came down to Florida, where he became one of the earlies mayors of Tallahassee. Lillian inherited a large dining room table that belong to Thomas Jefferson, it currently sits in my fathers house, standing out from the other non pretentions furniture.(1. pg98)
On my father's side were the Coffins, Quakers who had migrated from Nantucket to Indiana. My great-great uncle Levi was the president of the Underground Railroad. The famous story of Eliza crossing the ice, told by Harriet Beecher Stowe in that badly written but enormously important book, Uncle Tom's Cabin, is true. Recently, it's been fashionable to doubt this, but I know that the doubters are wrong. The reason I know is that my great-great aunt Katie was a friend of Harriet Beecher Stowe's and Aunt Katie told her the Eliza story in the first place. After Eliza crossed the ice with her baby, jumping desperately from one floe to the other, she was taken to Uncle Levi and Aunt Katie's place in Indiana. (1. pg37)
There was a great book, Reminiscences of Levi Coffin, that should be reprinted. People have forgotten what the Civil War was about. They should never forget. Slavery was a great curse on American history. (1. pg39)
My father founded the Miami Herald when he moved to Miami in 1906. Shortly after I moved in with him, he asked me to fill in for the society editor temporarily, eventually turning into a full time position. As society editor, I generally get invited to openings of new hotels and social spots. I have been toughly absorbed by my writing, and expect it to become my new life.
1. Douglas, Marjory Stoneman, and John Rothchild. Marjory Stoneman Douglas: Voice of the River: An Autobiography. Pineapple Press, 1990.
2. Photo: Laurendo, Malcolm, and John Allen. “HEADLINES!; Unfolding 117 Years of History with the Miami Herald.” Coral Gables Museum, coralgablesmuseum.org/portfolio-item/headlines/. Accessed 3 Dec. 2023.
