Many people in Newton knew about the story of the Blue Lady, but Bob May said everyone probably has a very different take on the Newton tale.
“After The Blue Lady came out last June, 2021, I heard from readers in and around Newton who had their own versions of The Blue Lady to share but, in my case, the original story of The Blue Lady is kind of a distorted view of an often repeated event that my father, Dr. H. L. May staged,” Bob May said. “The story about The Blue Lady is important to me because it’s woven into our family history.”
He decided to make this the subject of his latest book titled “The Blue Lady.” May said it’s based on the “running gag” loosely constructed from a kind of folk tale about a woman who was killed in a violent incident.
“My father, as Newtonians may recall, had a rather bizarre sense of humor that compelled him to play practical jokes on other people, including his own grandchildren,” May said. “The lady came to be known as The Blue Lady because, as the legend developed, she wore a long, flowing blue gown at the time a gang of thugs tied her to the railroad tracks. My book covers why she was murdered and tells how she swore she would return to haunt the families of the men who killed her.”
May said it began writing the book in late 2019 I sat down to write a fictional novel.
“I didn’t have a plot or a purpose in mind at the time. There was no outline, beginning, middle or end to it. I simply wrote until the story found itself. Over time the plot birthed a universal theme about simple friendship. I wrote a tale about two twelve year old boys, one black and one white, illustrating a fast-paced account of their life together during a three day period in 1959. The setting is a small town in the South at the onset of the Civil Rights Movement and during the early escalation of the Vietnam War,” May said.
“There were cataclysmic changes going on then. I created some colorful characters, threw in an assassin or two, a Voodoo queen and some homeless individuals and attempted to illustrate that the world that existed 60 years ago is pretty much the same as the world today. Cataclysmic changes are still going on. Some things haven’t changed very much.”
May said his father let the imagination of the listener run wild telling the tale.
“He’d turn off the lights on his old truck and allow the kids to use their imaginations,” May said. “They, as you might suspect, went completely-- nuts.”
Another reason for telling the story was because of a question he was asked on the book tour for his previous book “Have Fun, Dammit.”
“I found myself in Europe in 2019 where I met another writer in an Italian book store who asked me a question that I could not answer. His question was this: “WHAT CHARACTER IN WHAT FICTIONAL BOOK BEST DESCRIBES YOU?” I’ve read a lot of books but never actually identified my own persona so I decided that I would write myself into my own book. The character of Lil’ Doc in The Blue Lady is based on me,” May said.
“Both of my books were essentially written while I lived in Newton, taking care of Dad. I had plenty of time and few distractions so it was easier to write. However, things are different now since, after Dad died last December. I moved fulltime to New Orleans where there are many more distractions and I’m guilty of mismanaging my time at the computer keyboard. The COVID factor and several hurricanes didn’t help either. But, now, I’m up early and pretty much writing several hours a day. I hope to have a follow-up to The Blue Lady early in 2022.”
“From time to time Newspaper Editors ask me to share a brief segment from my newest book, The Blue Lady. Here’s a passage about a funeral being held at a place called Haven which is located a mile or so outside of the town of Magnolia Station, the fictional name I gave to the small town nearby. Haven is sort of a commune or camp where homeless people gathered back in the era my book covers.
“People who traveled around in boxcars on freight trains were called hoboes. Mr. Packwater is a hobo who possesses a stunning and dangerous secret formula that could bring about world devastation. He’s running from his past and is sought by many governments who seek to use the information he has, for evil gains. Mr. Packwater is a main character in the book.
Mr. Packwater spoke.
“We gather as strangers to bury another stranger. What can we say about someone we didn’t know? We share no connection, no history, and we have no story to tell to verify his virtues or faults. We don’t even know his name. We have only to agree that this person existed and, as such, deserves acknowledging. Some of us chose to believe that he was a child of God. All that matters is this: we gather to honor his life.
“Odds are good that he made some bad decisions but chances are, he found joy in simple things. The sun shone on him when he caught a perfect fish. He smiled when he recalled a child’s laughter or a lover’s caress or a puppy dog’s lick.
“Perhaps he won a ribbon or accepted a trophy for a special accomplishment. Maybe he had a meal good enough to write home about. Like all of US he traveled roads, crossed bridges and rode on tracks of steel. He may have been running away or perhaps he was running toward something. All we know is that he made it to Haven so, as human people who respect life, we are obliged to provide him a final resting place.”
About that time the dead guy in the large canvas bag started kicking and yelling. Fishbait, the dog, started barking. Panicked hoboes took off running into the swamp.
“Cuz spoke, “damn, Mose! You done done it again.””
