Heartland

Heartland

"America didn't talk about class when I was growing up. I had
no idea why my life looked the way it did, why my parents' young
bodies ached, why some opportunities were closed off to me. I suppose
we never completely do, not even with hindsight. But the hard
economies of a family, a town, a region, a country, a world were
shaping my relationship to creation--to my womb, yes, but also to what
I wouldn't have a chance to make of myself."
Many who grow up under conditions of poverty and privation and
go on to achieve success understandably leave the past in the past.
Sadly, a few, notably a certain ex governor of the State of Maine,
despise, demonize, and make things harder for those still in dire
distress. Then there are the beautiful few who let early hardships
spur them to make a difference. Sarah Smarsh is certainly one of
them. Her Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the
Richest Country on Earth seamlessly combines her child and teen
experiences and the trajectories of family members with a hard hitting
analysis of the ways this country's negligence and cruelty trap so
many people at the bottom rung of the socioeconomic system.
One of the most telling aspects of this book is its unusual
format. Smarsh writes the book as a long letter to August, the never
born child she was expected to give birth to in her teen years as
generations of women in her family had done. She explains quite
frankly the strengths and weaknesses, the opportunities and
deprivations August would have experienced if she had come into the
world Smarsh inhabited. Ultimately August's never being born served
to save two generations.
"My family's labor was undervalued to such an extent that, while
we never starved or went without shelter in a chronic way, we all knew
what it felt like to need something essential--food, shoes, a safe
place to live, a rent payment, a trip to the doctor--and go without it
for lack of money. That's the sort of mess I wanted out of. That's
the sort of mess I never wanted you to experience."
Many people see the poor as lazy and unambitious. If they only
tried, they could make it. Smarsh inculcated respect for the
struggles they must wage just to achieve basics the rest of us can
take for granted. If you suspect that they have become collateral
damage to our nation's huge wealth gap and that something needs to be
done to create a fairer, more just playing field, you'll find
Heartland to be a must read.
This amazing and quite polished book is Smarsh's debut. I can't
wait to see what she serves up next.
On a personal note, over the weekend UMaine hosted Special Olympics.
It's an event dining services looks forward to. The participants and
their entourages are so excited and proud. They take nothing for
granted. Their happiness is contagious and their appreciation
gratifying. We love being able to contribute to their experience.
A great big shout out goes out to our Special Olympians and their
families and coaches.
jules hathaway


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