THE WRITING LIFE — 80 Years and Still Writing
80-year-old fulfills lifelong passion
Note: The Writing Life is a column that focuses on how writing can impact one's life. It features Wisconsin residents.
By Meagan Parrish
 Throughout most of her life, 80-year old Betty Mortimore has refused to let a moment of free time or a scrap of blank space go to waste. Amidst the bustling noise of restaurants and pubs, she has scribbled her stories on the backs of placemats and all over napkins. Next to her mother’s bed in a nursing home, she once wove the beginnings of a mystery novel.
Although Mortimore has never been published, she has succeeded in completing one book and has worked on many. Now a retired professor living in Coventry, England, Mortimore, a former Madisonian, is currently writing a science fiction novel she hopes to one day publish.
But to be a writer and accomplish what she has been able to, Moritmore has always had to overcome obstacles. Throughout most of her life, finding the time to write has been once of her biggest challenges. Mortimore, who was married for 40 years before her husband died, has one daughter. She also earned a doctorate in physiology, and spent 20 years working in academia as a biology professor. Writing, though, has been her secret passion.
“[Writing] just always seemed more interesting than doing other things…like grading papers,” Mortimore confessed.
In the late 1980s, Mortimore’s husband died and she retired from teaching. With more time on her hands, she relocated to Madison to be closer to her family. She also finished a book in which she wrote about the life of a woman who had been forced to endure the witness protection program.
Mortimore wrote this “story of hardship” as fiction. However, without neatly fitting it into a literary genre, she had trouble finding a publisher for it. Then Mortimore struggled with the weather in the Midwest; she battled allergies.
Two years ago, Mortimore found a city more suitable for her health and ambitions as a writer. After attending her granddaughter’s wedding in England, Mortimore decided at the age of 78, to relocate once again, this time across an ocean.
She moved into an apartment in Coventry across the street from her newly wedded granddaughter, who had fallen in love with a Brit while attending college there.
The two often get together to have “writing nights.” Although the idea is to brainstorm ideas, Mortimore said that sometimes they “degrade into drinking wine and giggling.” This process is helpful as Mortimore works through the details of her complicated stories.
“Characters don’t always turn out the way you want them to. They’re like children that way,” she said.
In London, Mortimore’s allergies have improved, and she has an easier time breathing. The city’s urban design also allows Mortimore to be more active by walking to places in her neighborhood. At local pubs she often sits and writes her science fiction novel into notebooks. When writing, she likes to be “around people, but not interacting with them.” Mortimore, who confesses to having a “busy” mind. She said this environment helps her focus.
Her age, though, is taking its toll. Her handwriting is becoming difficult for even her to read. If she doesn’t quickly transfer her notes to a computer, Mortimore might lose parts of what she accomplished. Intensifying this visual obstacle are cataracts. Mortimore has had two operations on them and still has problems seeing at times.
Despite these challenges to her health, Mortimore hopes to finish her book and have it published one day.
Mortimore said she will always write. The 80-year-old added, “As long as I can see.” |
