Leaping Past Zinnias

Elizabeth Tingley is a remarkable writer. I am very familiar with many of places she writes about in the book since I live in the Illinois town where she grew up. I also know many of the neighborhoods and locations she describes in New York and in the Boston area. I am in the rare position to report that she describes these places exactly as they are (or were in the later 20th century).

The madness and murder in the title concerns her brother-in-law Michael Laudor, who killed his pregnant girlfriend in 1998 during a psychotic episode, which was covered (after it happened) by the tabloid press.

Tingley's story is extremely honest, and devoid of sensationalism. It is an intimate portrait of the Laudor family, and a beautifully written account of how her experience with them intersects with her particular daemons (which she is able to work through methodically in the course of her life). It is a beautifully told story of survival--a book I really didn't want to put down.

While looking at reviews of other books and articles about Michael Laudor, particularly this review of this book, I thought about illusions of windows into the minds of people we are close to can only give us a suggestion of what might be happening in their minds. I have also observed that people suffering from mental illness are not necessarily reliable witnesses.

Elizabeth Tingley tells the story of her own life in detailed connection with Michael Laudor's brother Richard. She is a reliable witness, and an honest one.

If Gidi Rosenfeld's review about the shortcomings of Rosen's book resonates with anyone interested in the subject of Michael Laudor or of mental illness, I would suggest reading Elizabeth Tingley's memoir in order to get a more nuanced picture of Michael Laudor.

This is also an important book to read if you are interested in how childhood trauma (and I imagine everyone has childhood trauma to some degree) can, if addressed and worked through with good mental health professionals, be far less of a burden in adulthood than if unaddressed. Elizabeth Tingley became a child psychologist in order to figure out how to process her childhood trauma, and she became a writer in order to be able to write about it. And she did. And I am glad. It just came out last week, and I am honored to be one of the first readers. 

 Here's a link to the book on Amazon.