The Hartley Sentinel-The Everly/Royal News - Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties

Betty started the Hartley Writers Group at the library several years ago with a few local friends. Over time, it grew to include experienced and novice writers from northwest Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota. When the monthly meetings became too large to allow time for everyone to share, Betty created two groups – one for writers of prose, the other for poets.

She knew how to draw out the best in us and, with her guidance and encouragement, we grew more confident with our writing ability. We became published authors, and many of our pieces have appeared in The Writer's Pen, a column Betty initiated and coordinated weekly. Today, we dedicate The Writer's Pen to Betty Taylor, writer, mentor and friend.

Betty,

How do we say good-bye when you taught us to read and write?

You taught our children and then you taught us.

We swore we weren't poets, but you convinced us we were.

Then low and behold our poems were published.

What's an anthology? we asked. A short story, you replied.

And before long our stories were published.

I think of your smile, your hearty laugh,

Your encouraging words and always the teacher.

We laughed and cried as we shared our stories,

Each story a part of our lives.

You've left a hole in our hearts, but memories to last forever.

How do we say good-bye to our special friend and teacher?

Carolyn Rohrbaugh,

Sutherland

Memories of Betty

I knew Betty Taylor would be a great friend the first time I met her way back during Jean Tennant's Writer's Group is Spencer. She was always honest and kind in her critiques of us fledgling writers' work.

It was probably the school teacher in her that enabled her to help us improve ways to put our thoughts on paper. She was a talented writer herself. I enjoyed her stories about her travels with Orv in the antique business.

I will be ever indebted to her for the kind words she wrote about my book, Horse Woman's Child, in a review of it on Amazon. I can't count the number of people who have told me that they knew Betty and if she said it was a good book, they wanted to read it. People of all ages who knew Betty trusted her and her opinions. She always told it like it was. She could state her beliefs and opinions without belittling yours (if they were different than hers), a talent that is sorely missing today.

I have missed seeing Betty for the past several months due partially to my own health problems, and to her poor health. But though I've missed seeing her, I often wonder if what I am writing is something Betty would like? I will miss her, and I will remember her.

Roger Stoner,

Peterson

My Memory of Betty

I became acquainted with Betty through the Writers Group. She was a great inspiration to me. I also knew her for working tirelessly to make her community and world a better place.

Irma Jacobsma,

Hartley

In Memory of Betty

Very rarely in one's lifetime do we have the opportunity to know and become friends with a person as uniquely remarkable as Betty. She was a person filled with compassion and an undying love for writing. I can't think of her writing without my thought going to sonnets, which was her favorite type of poem to write.

Betty had the remarkable knack of helping aspiring writers improve their writing, but also to overcome their fears and sense of inadequacy. She would always encourage each of us to find our own gifts, and then help us to make them more complete.

As a friend she would always find the positives and help me to let go of any insecurities. I know I would never have challenged my own writing techniques without her help, and at times gentle suggestions for improvement. Betty's faith was strong and helped her to remain positive during her long battles with her health.

You will be dearly missed, Betty, but you will always be with us in our hearts.

Dave Hoye,

Everly

Betty

Betty's a person I will never forget

Different and apart from all others I've met

She was filled with insight and deep compassion

Her love for people had no ration

Of all the persons I've called a friend

With Betty I knew I could always depend

To lend an ear when I was down

Wiping away my silly frown

All through life wherever she would go

She would brighten the day with her smile's warm glow.

David Hoye,

Everly

Betty Taylor: An Impression

Betty Taylor always left an impression. Some acquaintances slide from memory like dust wiped from a coffee table. Others are a scratch of inconsequence or even an irritation. However, others influence you with a deep impression like Betty did.

As newcomers to northwest Iowa, we met Betty and Orville Taylor through their antique business. Their goal was as much to make new friends as to make a sale of their carefully restored oak treasures. Soon we were drinking coffee together and enjoying tales of antique sleuthing around the country. When Betty discovered that both my husband and I were retired teachers, she encouraged us to visit the Hartley Writers Group and enjoy the Poetry Read-Around.

As a community cheerleader she thoughtfully invited us to area events and historical places. Her involvement in reviving the cemetery chapel and the Patch-Eeten House infectiously encouraged others to invest time in their community. The tours she organized were entertaining and informative with insider info such as the crypt body storage area of the chapel and the painstaking details of accurate restoration of wall stencils and windows.

The teacher-writer gift within her convinced many reluctant beginners to polish their creative side and share their unique perspectives of life. No subject was too mundane; no effort was too ordinary that she did not recognize or encourage. Often a newcomer to the writing group would disavow being a writer, only to fall captive to Betty's warm welcome and reassurance.

Perhaps our community grief in the loss of Betty has to do with our vulnerability of exposing our emotions on paper. She cultivated trust and respect through the power of the pen. Betty's impression on us has turned to an engraving of the heart.

Cheryl Stanley,

Everly

a tanka for Betty

I have known Betty since I came here to the United States from the Philippines about 28 years ago. One of my first memories of Betty was of her helping in the kitchen at mine and Bill's wedding reception. Our friendship flourished as the years went by.

My family had many, many wonderful visits with her and Mr. Taylor. When Betty started the Hartley poets' group, she invited me to join. That is where I first learned about haiku and tanka (traditional Japanese forms of poetry), which I came to love writing.

Betty was a mentor to me. She made me discover who I am as a poet. I will always remember her brilliant poems and her heart-warming stories about family and life. And I will remember her as a person of exemplary "faith" – a faith that made her triumph in all her trials!

a tanka for Betty:

the afterglow

after a sunset...

your memories will shine on

in the hearts

you have touched

Josie Hibbing,

Hartley

Memories of Betty

I first met Betty many years ago when Hartley sponsored a community flea market. She bought something from me. Some months later she told me she was able to resell it and I was glad to hear that. Once, I needed to ask her advice on a project. She was so helpful. I would see her occasionally around town. She was so nice and pleasant to visit with.

One morning I was up town and ran into a friend. I asked her what she was going to that day. She was going to her writers group. I was newly retired and thought I might need something to get me out of the house occasionally. She said anyone could join, but she didn't exactly encourage me to. I decided to go even though I'd never written anything in my life.

It was a fun afternoon. When it came time to read, the group really seemed to enjoy my story. That day was the start of many years of writing and friendship.

I admired Betty greatly for her strength. She was such an encourager. She was able to draw things out of you that you didn't know were there. I have written dozens of stories of my life. I credit her guidance in developing the writer that I didn't know was there. I've been so blessed to have known her.

Janet Branson

Adrian, Minn.

Remembering Betty

As I sit to write, the words won't come. My aunt Betty (my mom was Orv's sister) has gone to be with Jesus, her daughter, her grandson, and other family members. There are so many memories.

I first met Betty when she and Orv were married. I played for their wedding. As she began attending the Taylor reunions each July 4, I got to know her. She was always interested in me, and everyone else, and wanted to know what we had been doing, how we were getting along, where we had been, etc. She took a genuine interest in all of us. She was a wonderful addition to the family.

More recently, she invited me to the Hartley Writer's Group and encouraged me to write stories about my childhood. I had entertained that idea before, as I wanted to record some of my youth for my daughter and granddaughter. Betty was helpful and encouraging to me as I began to write.

Bits and pieces of memories seem to flit around in my head like a mud puddle that has been stirred with a stick. Most of all, I remember her smile, her sharing of stories of her former students, and her genuine interest in people. I miss her greatly.

Judy Taber

Lake Park

Someone Goes

Each time someone goes

They leave a space,

A quiet whisper

In the room.

Each time someone goes

They leave a place,

A chair at the table

In the house.

Each time someone goes

They leave a memory,

Smiles lingering in the mirror

A shadow on the wall.

Joanne Dyrhkopp Schar

Spencer

Remembering Betty

When I first met Betty Taylor at a writer's group in Spirit Lake 20-some years ago, it was immediately apparent that she was a gifted and insightful writer. As our friendship grew over the years, I learned of her quick wit, tender heart, love for people and wide-ranging interests.

She became my mentor, my go-to person when I 'hit a wall' with my writing. The teacher in Betty always knew the right questions to ask to get the ink flowing again. Likewise, at times she emailed me for help with her poetry, and we would search for just the right word to encapsulate her thoughts. Those conversations sometimes continued for days as she considered the possibilities. Betty could be quite intense about her writing.

The Hartley Writers Group has been an inspiration for all of us. Betty not only encouraged our writing, she led us to encourage each other. Betty had an amazing talent for remembering our pieces and would often request a particular submission – possibly from years earlier – for an upcoming column in The Writer's Pen. With Betty's support, we've done things we never dreamed we could accomplish. Several members have written books, some have been published in national magazines and others have put together memory pieces for their families. I've been penning a monthly column for this paper for nearly four years – something I wouldn't have tried without a little prompting from my friend, Betty Taylor.

Betty's passing leaves a hole in our hearts, but the Hartley Writers Group and The Writer's Pen will continue as part of her legacy. I know each of us will be thinking of her with every piece that we write.

Bonnie Ewoldt

Milford

Ode to Betty

Betty was my mother's youngest sister, and was 14 when I was born. We lived five miles apart, which was handy for my mother. There were six kids in my family, all born within eight years. Aunt Betty spent a lot of time at our place as our mother's helper. We all loved her for the extra attention she gave to each of us!

When I was 5 years old, she chose me to be the ring-bearer at her wedding. Her fiancé was sure that I wouldn't be able to survive the wedding, but as I recall, I made it through with the help of the flower girl and other family members. However, when Betty was married the second time, she did not ask me to be in the wedding party. I guess she thought I jinxed her the first time.

Betty Taylor

When I grew into adulthood, I lived a normal and active life. I kept in contact with Betty through emails and Facebook posts. Through this, Betty knew I had an interest in writing. When I retired, she invited me to join the Hartley Writer's Group. It was very rewarding to be associated with Betty in this way.

I had a story published in an anthology thanks to Betty's editing. I also had a Christmas story published in a magazine that Betty submitted in my name. She told me about it later. Betty was convinced that I could write poetry, so she urged me to submit a few pieces to an Iowa publication. I've had three published so far!

I loved all of my aunts and uncles, but have a special place in my heart for my Aunt Betty. She was with me when I started my life, and never left me until her life ended.

Roger Brockshus

Spirit Lake