Samuel Freedman
Everyone gathered together in a room in the Vertical Campus at Baruch College, eagerly anticipating the arrival of the guest speaker Samuel Freedman who would speak about his book Who She Was, a memoir written about his mother. When the well- known author and head of the Columbia School of Journalism walked into the room, everyone suddenly became quiet. Finally able to put a face to his name, the class sat and pondered about the delicate and appealing comments their guest would give to some of the very personal and intriguing questions they had prepared to ask him. Silently, they also wondered if Freedman would be totally and completely honest with them, or if he will dodge the questions if he felt they were just a little too personal.
To be fair, Samuel Freedman’s book, itself, was very open. So many details that many would consider useless and extraneous, Freedman felt would truly enhance the book and make it more engaging to the reader. For example, Freedman was insistent on putting all the information he knew about his mother’s former boyfriends, which not everyone would feel so comfortable about writing regarding their own parents.
Therefore, with the detailed book in the back of their minds, the students listened carefully, and with complete attentiveness to Freedman describing his long and remarkable writing process.
It is absolutely inspiring to see the amount of dedication Freedman put into this book. Partly it is because he knew, through writing this book he would “earn his right to be his mother’s son”, and also he wanted to get every detail in to truly create his mother’s whole lifestyle. As Freedman so eloquently stated “his brain was cut in half between his memories and the research”, just like a duck brain cut in half for him to eat on his trip to China. This created the balance and equilibrium in the words of the book between his emotions and the actual history he uncovered. Freedman searched through Social Security records and found the jobs of his grandfather and the salary that he earned. And as a whole world opened up to him, Freedman realized that “what the heart wants to feel can sometimes change with what the head knows”.
But Freedman also went to interview his mother’s acquaintances. He traveled to interview old childhood, or adulthood friends, and former boyfriends, most of whom added more names for him to research and interview. This was not easy because people did not open up to him right away and he had to try numerous times. In addition, Freedman made use of the Internet, actual letters from past boyfriends, and photographs that he perused over many times. And as he sat in his study putting all the research together in an organized fashion, as well as while he interviewed people, Freedman would put on music from the time period to try to capture people’s memories.
While writing the book, Freedman kept going back to the question: “what made her feel so unfulfilled”? He believes now that he full- heartily answered that question. But during the process, when he was still grappling the matter, Freedman found out some very interesting information on the way. “The most shocking information I found out was that my mother got “C’s” in college, and the depth of her relationship with Hy, her former boyfriend”.
After a two- year research period, and an eight- month writing process, Samuel Freedman finished the project that he, in a way, really wrote for himself. He felt the details he used made the book come alive because every life includes the same core foundation with love and family. Therefore, the details of his mother’s boyfriends were important because they were central to her life force. In addition, Freedman says he learned very important lessons from this book. First, he realized he must be more open to his children, and that he must not pass on the hatred that his mother so bluntly showed towards her mother while he was growing up. In fact, Samuel Freedman reads his children Who She Was, so they would know about their grandmother. And after the great speech, the class all ran up to get their book autographed by their awe-inspiring guest.