Kathryn Ross column: These women impacted my life. Who impacted yours?
As Women's History Month continues, I find that it is a perfect time to recall some of the women in my life who influenced or impressed me. I think all of us should be doing that and giving credit where credit is due.
For most of my life I have dabbled in the arts, painting, drawing and just being generally creative. I'm sure it is in my DNA. My mother was creative. My grandfather worked in wrought iron, creating most of the iron railings that decorate the porches of many local homes. But I'm crediting my kindergarten teacher for instilling in me that artistic rebel spirit which still permeates my life.
She told me I couldn't color a night sky black. As a 5-year-old I didn't agree and have resented that dictate ever since, causing me to advocate against society determining what is and isn’t art. I don't think that teacher ever realized what she did to an aspiring artist.
Yet I credited another teacher for me becoming a writer. Pauline Brewster was my 6th grade teacher. She introduced me to Uncle Remus, Mark Twain and nurtured my love of history by teaching our class about World War II and the Holocaust. She also kindled my interest in mythology, and she let me write. It may have only been the class newspaper, but it obviously set a precedent.
In my late teens and early 20s I was obsessed with horses. Through that obsession I met four women who encouraged that love and taught me much about life.
The first was Betty Sweet. She originally owned and trained my horse Saracen. Betty was an artist who painted in the style of Andrew Wyeth. She was too young to have a young daughter, but she was coming into her own and knew that as an artist she needed more training.
She set her sights on the NYS School of Ceramics, but first she had to get her GED. Then she worked to get into Alfred University and graduated to go on to graduate school at Harvard. She showed me what determination can achieve.
Riding with Deanna Russell and Maryann Whitehouse showed me that you don't give up your dreams because you are raising a family. You find the time. But it was Maryann’s mother, Marion McClure, who showed me you're never too old to follow your dreams, and that a love of riding horses is a lifetime deal. Seeing her riding in her elder years impressed my 21-year-old life. I’d love to climb into a saddle again.
When I attended AU there was one teacher, Carol Shilkett, who totally overwhelmed me with her knowledge and love of medieval literature. Dr. Shilkett was a mentor, my teacher and became my friend.
While still in high school I loved to read a weekly column in the local paper called “Up With the Crocodile.” The columnist was Marilyn Lester. When I became a reporter I had the good luck to meet Marilyn. We became friends and she regaled me with stories of what she had dealt with when she had my job. She taught me that the sacrifices were worth it in the end.
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As reporter I was privileged to meet many women who taught me that we women can make a difference in people's lives, in getting government and social programs to work, and that women can be dynamic. Today there are more women in government than ever before, and I think these women helped pave the way.
Kath Buffington was a teacher who spent time on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota teaching kids to read before coming to Belmont as the traffic safety coordinator and youth director. Deb Aumick, who had previously held the job, spent most of her life helping children through the legal system.
Joan Sinclair, as the director of social services, made the lives of hundreds of women and children better. Susan Myers was a county legislator who worked for all of us. Dolores Cross, as the only female head of the county legislature, worked to make the county a better place. She worked hand and hand with state senator Pat McGee, whose thumbprint is on many betterment projects across the county.
All these women showed me that getting involved, taking a stand, and living a full life with family and friends is possible and that women don't have to give up one area in life to become involved in another.
These women are some of the best women I have ever known.
— Kathryn Ross writes a weekly column appearing Friday in The Spectator.
This article originally appeared on The Evening Tribune: Ross: During Women's History Month, remember those who inspired you
