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Going Blind: A Memoir - Sr. Mara Faulkner, Ph.D.
By Amy Stubblefield
English professor Sister Mara Faulkner would tell you that while her memoir, “Going Blind,” tells the truth, it isn’t quite a memoir.
“Going Blind,” which came out on July 9, was inspired by the story of Faulkner’s father and his struggle with a genetic disease which caused him to gradually go blind. But Faulkner says many other themes arose out of this first bit of inspiration.
“I became interested in the notion of blindness,” Faulkner said. The result of her research into the topic is not so much a memoir as “a series of closely linked essays about cultural and social blindness,” a collection of chapters which Faulkner says can be read individually.
The book is the culmination of ten years of work and research for Faulkner. She spent many summers and one sabbatical researching for the book, often cutting herself off from her computer and telephone to “go as deep as I could into my memories,” she said.
“I wrote four chapters during my sabbatical,” Faulkner said. “It was just me and my yellow pads and my books — I had to fight it out.”
Faulkner admits that most of the “memoir” is not based on her memories at all. The book is heavily influenced by her old journal entries, her research and stories told to her by family members — but all of it is truth. “In contemporary memoir, what people don’t remember, they make up,” she said. “But if it didn’t actually happen, I can’t write about it.”
Faulkner admits that writing about real people, including members of her family, was “terrifying.” Faulkner, who grew up with five sisters and one brother, let her family play a crucial role in her editing process. “I sent it to all of my sisters, my brother, my nephews,” she said. “It seemed like the only respectful way to tell stories that aren’t my own.”
In addition to her family, Faulkner sent her book to as many as 60 publishers in the hope that one would pick it up. And when the State University of New York Press expressed an interest, so began “one of the busiest years of my life,” Faulkner said. She spent Thanksgiving Day 2008 in her office making revisions. In July, Faulkner was able to see the fruits of a nearly ten-year labor, and she’s been pleased with reader reactions.
“I had a friend who read a couple chapters, and he told me to trust my readers — ‘Let what you say resonate in the echo chambers of their minds,’” Faulkner said. “I think people are finding a way to connect to it because I’ve restrained myself from saying everything. The readers do the other half of the work.”
Now that her book is on the shelf, Faulkner’s work is done, and it is time for the reader to finish her story.