She’s got that low, sensual, beautiful, Southern voice. The perfect blend of drawl and inflection that’s all at once a lullaby and a catalyst — an invitation to lay back on the porch swing and lazily watch the moon, or to rise up in the morning like Joan of Arc, prepared to honor the trumpet’s call to battle.
When I write short stories and poetry, it’s most often her voice that accompanies, reading the words back to me, imbuing them with a wealth of feeling that belies the ragged poverty of pen and paper.
Sure, I can write a pretty good line every now and then, but without her cadence, the sentences seem like only so much type — forgettable words that fade all too quickly into a pale background, or that fall short for lack of tone and timbre.
Hers was the first voice I heard that made me really want to sit up and pay attention. I was nine years old, and she was the original Olivia Walton in The Homecoming: A Christmas Story. I would have traded all six kids, and grandma and grandpa too, just to hear her tell the tale on her own.
I love her face. Her strong lines and proud features speak to me of dignity: of standing steady in the face of adversity, while honoring the spark of passion that creates, laughs, loves, and sustains. Unadorned, her true-to-life beauty rose above her profession of acting. The bleached and painted others who shared her craft seemed stiff next to her, unreal, as if they really were just actresses, and not wise, resourceful women who had known, and could tap into, every emotion in the well of shared humanity.
She is a woman whose voice once inspired a child to write poetry, and whose voice I still hear when I’d rather listen than speak.
This is what I want for navigating the circumstance:
swift justice and tender mercies.
To bestow a fortune of luck upon the unlucky.
An untying of the knot that binds my hands.To open that heart-shaped Pandora’s box
and find it mercifully empty,
wanting for nothing more than locks and chains
and a place deep in the mantle of Earth
where it will melt into legend,
a myth of Hades’ proportion.There’s some key around my neck, but I don’t mind.
The clink of decades past,
or the rusted metal of prolonged strength.
If you listen closely, you will hear it — that perfect blend of drawl and inflection. That knowing tap into the well of human experience. On my birthday, I honor my longest, dearest, and most inspiring muse — Patricia Neal.
25 responses so far ↓
1 Elf // Mar 29, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Dear Jane,
It’s your Birthday, it’s your birthday, it’s your birthday!!!!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND MANY MANY MORE. E.
2 Elf // Mar 29, 2008 at 11:20 pm
oh, wow the time is different there that sucks,,:)
3 Jane Devin // Mar 29, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Hi Elf! I don’t know how to fix the time of the comments, but it’s 12:26 a.m. here, so yes, my birthday!
Thank you! And thank you to all of those who said Happy Birthday on my previous post.
You’ve all helped make it a great year to look forward to!
4 jimi // Mar 29, 2008 at 11:33 pm
JANE, THIS IS BEAUTIFUL..PATRICIA NEAL WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITES..SHE OOZED CLASS, AND HER VOICE WAS COMFORTING. I NAMED MY PATRICIA AFTER HER. I WAS VERY SADDENED WHEN SHE HAD A STROKE AT A VERY YOUNG AGE. MEDICINE WASN’T AS MODERN THEN AS IT IS NOW. SHE SUFFERED MANY CHALLENGES LEARNING TO WALK AND TALK AGAIN. LOL,J
5 Sharon // Mar 30, 2008 at 8:48 am
Good morning. Happy Birthday.
Last night these were my thoughts. Great choice of muse, then I wondered if it is a choice. Jane knows all about computers and I need to learn more. Not sure why I went there but likely due to my own feelings of inadequacy. And I thought 46 is so young.
This morning you are still very young to me. I hope you have a very happy day and a beautiful year. And I just love that you don’t know how to fix the time on comments.
6 Jane Devin // Mar 30, 2008 at 9:03 am
Jimi, I didn’t know it then, but Patricia Neal had many challenges and heartaches in life. Her son was run over by a car, a daughter was unexpectedly taken by measles, and yes, the strokes she had were devastating.
Maybe that’s why I never saw her as a typical actress, but as a woman who just knew.
Sharon, I wish I knew more, too! I used to know more, but that was before technology boomed. Now there’s videos, and mp3’s, and photoshop… I would love to learn them all, but don’t even know where to start.
Regarding the time, we’ll just figure that it’s the right time somewhere in the world.
7 allison // Mar 30, 2008 at 11:36 am
Happy birthday Jane!
As soon as I saw her name,
I envisioned the Walton Christmas special.
I also love her in that John Wayne movie about the fighter pilots(can’t remember the name).
She was strong, warm and i thought very beautiful.
Thanks for the memories!
8 Paige // Mar 30, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Jane,
May there be many more Happy Days ahead of you! As each year ages us, it’s funny how we still feel 21, isn’t it?
Enjoy the sun on this most special day,
Paige
9 jimi // Mar 30, 2008 at 12:22 pm
DEAR JANE, HAPPY BIRTHDAY…IT WAS ALSO MY MOTHER’S BD…. YES, I KNEW ABOUT MISS NEAL’S CHILDREN. SHE HAD CLASS AND STRENGTH. SHE NEVER, AS FAR AS I KNOW, DISCLOSED THE HEARTACHE SHE SUFFERED. SHE WAS A SELF MADE PERSON. DEFINENTLY, SOME ONE I WOULD HAVE LIKED FOR A FRIEND.
BLESSINGS TO YOU ON YOUR SPECIAL DAY.J
10 freida // Mar 30, 2008 at 12:40 pm
She had an unforgettable voice.
Happy Birthday Jane!
Sometimes I feel 21, and sometimes I feel 93, LOL.
11 kris_D // Mar 30, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Happy happy BD, Jane….
now, the real question is how old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?
there is something remarkable about southern women. particularly dust bowl era women…dorthea lange-esque matriarchal women that had the deep lines of determination etched in their faces.
Hmmm, Kris. I think I’d feel anywhere from 5-70 depending on the day and the event. And I totally agree with the rest of your post. - Jane
12 freida // Mar 30, 2008 at 7:05 pm
There’s something beautiful about all women, especially the older ones.
Even old men are finer.
13 Ann Parker // Mar 30, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Happy Birthday Jane!
14 dee // Mar 31, 2008 at 3:13 am
Happy Birthday Jane!
Interesting post, it never occured to me to read something and hear it in someones voice other than my own…. I have to think about this…
Have a wonderful day and year!
Hi Dee, when I read books, I always “hear” the character’s voice, as I imagine it would be. I thought everybody did that! Depending on what I write, the voice of the character may change, but I “hear” Patricia Neale in much of my poetry. . .although Dixie Carter has also jumped in their once or twice. - Jane
15 Doris Rose MacBean // Mar 31, 2008 at 10:26 am
Happy Birthday Jane. How lovely to have a Muse as wonderful as Patricia Neal-explains a lot.
16 Lyric // Mar 31, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Happy Birthday (!) from someone who admires the same woman…she had an amazing and challenging life.
17 linda woods // Mar 31, 2008 at 7:15 pm
I didn’t know who Patricia Neal was before reading this. I live under a rock!
But, I know who you are and I am really happy you were born!
Happy Birthday! I know, I am late (as usual).
18 peejays // Mar 31, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Happy happy birthday to you, Jane! And thanks for the gift of Patricia Neal that you gave us. Patricia Neal: What a gal. Two movie roles come to mind: the “the stylish girl” Toolie, who “kept” George Peppard in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. And Alma, the sloe-eyed, drawl-talkin’ housekeeper, cook, and woman who probably occupied Brandon de Wilde’s teenage wet dreams in Hud. One of my favorite movies. What a one of a kind actress, face, and voice.
Thank you again. I hope your birthday was splendid.
19 Jane Devin // Mar 31, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Thank you everyone!
Peejays, there’s a YouTube clip of Hud, and her scene with Paul Newman. Sizzling.
I had a great birthday. I spent the day with my daughter, which is getting to be a rarer opportunity. I got a fancy schmancy new coffee maker, an entire basket of delectable goodies, a whole foods cookbook (as if I might try cooking), and a whole bunch of new smell-good candles. Perfect.
I was a little disappointed that Steve Jobs forgot my birthday — again — but maybe I can eke out another year on this godforsaken Dell, which has taken on a personality like that of Ed Gein. Lately, lots of things have gone in, but nothing makes it out alive.
Oh, and it’s SNOWING in Minnesota again, and not lightly.
Happy Spring!
20 Patty G. // Apr 1, 2008 at 6:12 am
Paticia Neal is one heck of a woman. I remember hearing about when they thought she died back in 1965 and I was praying my heart out that she would be OK.
“Patricia Neal, 39, last year’s Oscar-winning best actress who copped five prizes for her first Broadway performance in 1947, died at midnight last night at UCLA Medical Center.” This was the front-page banner headline in the February 22, 1965 issue of Variety. Although the newspaper editors, and many others, were convinced Patricia Neal had died, she refused to let that be her fate. She remained in a coma for 21 days following three massive strokes, refusing to give up.
My earliest recognition of Patricia was in “A Face In The Crowd”. There was just something about her that just pulled me in and has done so ever since.
AS I googled Patricia, I see she may be in two upcoming films: 2008 - Shattered Glory in pre-production and in 2014 - Flying, of which, is filming now.
Although I know I wasn’t named after Patricia, but I always felt I was.
Now her voice is running in my head, and it is so soothing, calming, and beautiful!
I am going to look for some of her old movies!
21 jimi // Apr 1, 2008 at 12:42 pm
THANK YOU PATTY G. FOR YOUR BEAUTIFUL ARTICLE. P.N. WAS AND IS AN AMAZING WOMAN, A LEGEND .
22 peejays // Apr 1, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Thanks for the reminder, Patty G. I recall my mom making a huge deal out of Patricia’s strokes; I was too dim to realize it was because of how young she was &that they’d thought she died.
I’m off to make a virtual trip to my library’s database to hunt for A Face in the Crowd and The Fountainhead. And Hud , of course. Thanks to you, Jane, I’ve been obsessing over that character she played in Hud; such a mystery to me why such a strong, interesting, enigmatic woman would remain stuck on that godforsaken ranch. Where did she come from, where did she go when she split after Paul Newman’s character rapes her? So I found a copy of Larry McMurtry’s novel that it was based on, sometimes called Horseman, Pass By. Halmea, not Alma, was PN’s character’s name. Anyway, PN was in a class all her own. So nice to be reminded of her…..
23 peejays // Apr 1, 2008 at 7:36 pm
I’m embarrassed that I used the past tense about Patricia Neal. What a blunder.
FYI: Wikipedia’s entry on her is interesting; lots of things I didn’t know, one of which that she wrote an autobiography.
24 Linda L. // Apr 2, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Patricia Neal is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITES ! I think I’ve seen every movie she was ever in . . . Just the other night “The Day The Earth Stood Still” was on, so, of course, I stayed up and watched it . . . . (”Klatu, Barata Niktu”) She is an incredible woman on every level and has dealt with all her pain and misfortune with dignity and class . . . . even finding out about her husband’s infidelity while she was still recovering from her strokes . . . . Not very many like her in this world ! A wonderful person to be your muse . . . . though I’m not sure about the choosing . . . . are you sure she didn’t choose you . . . . I think so . . . . and what an honor ! That makes you pretty special, don’t you think ?
Also . . . . . . .
Belated Birthday Wishes . . . . and just so’s you know . . . . 46 is NOT OLD ! Wait until you’re 66 and walk past a mirror and say “OMG, who the hell is that ? LL
25 Linda L. // Apr 2, 2008 at 2:24 pm
it was 4:22 pm in Florida when I entered that so the time looks right . . . . aren’t you 2 hours behind us in MINN ?
Ah, so my time is set for the East coast. See, I knew it was the right time somewhere!
- Jane
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