The Pest Maiden
As I mentioned earlier, Penelope Scambly Schott and I will be speaking at the Chappaqua, New York Public Library on April 12th at 2 PM. Here is an article about Penelope's book "The Pest Maiden":
A Mind of One's Own
Penelope Scambly Schott is back with a new book of her poems, and in 'Cool Women Volume Three.'
It's a good thing Penelope Scambly Schott is a poet and not a marketing executive. Had she been the latter, she might have titled her book Dancing with Demons. Bravo to Ms. Schott for calling it The Pest Maiden: A Story of Lobotomy (Turning Point, 2004), a name that more accurately reflects the point she is trying to make: that a woman could be subject to lobotomy merely because she was considered a "pest."
Speaking from her home in Portland, Ore., Ms. Schott brings up the case of Rosemary Kennedy, J.F.K. Jr.'s oldest sister, who died in January: "She didn't even have mental illness," says Ms. Schott. "She may have been dyslexic. Her father had her lobotomized, without telling her mother (Rose), because he didn't want Rosemary to embarrass the family with her sexual escapades."
These so-called escapades were instances where Rosemary would run away from the convent where she was cared for to meet boys, says Ms. Schott. "The irony is, after her lobotomy, she lived out the rest of her life in the care of nuns."
Not only did the lobotomy fail to control Ms. Kennedy's mood swings, but it left her with an infantile mentality, staring at the walls. Her speech became unintelligible babble.
Ms. Schott, a Rocky Hill and Griggstown resident for 30 years, will return to the area for three book-related events in early April. She will read from The Pest Maiden at Chestnut Tree Books in the Princeton Shopping Center April 9. Also a member of the Cool Women poetry group, Ms. Schott will appear at the Princeton Public Library April 10 for the launch of Cool Women Volume Three (Cool Women Press, $15), and then again April 11 at Barnes & Noble in West Windsor.
The Pest Maiden is a collection of poems about Ms. Schott's distant cousin, Jean Heuser, who was afflicted with mental illness — probably schizophrenia — and, without her consent, treated with lobotomy. Sadly, this happened in February 1954, two weeks before Smith Kline Beecham received the patent for the anti-psychotic drug Thorazine. Since then, lobotomies are no longer used to treat psychosis.
More
A Mind of One's Own
Penelope Scambly Schott is back with a new book of her poems, and in 'Cool Women Volume Three.'
It's a good thing Penelope Scambly Schott is a poet and not a marketing executive. Had she been the latter, she might have titled her book Dancing with Demons. Bravo to Ms. Schott for calling it The Pest Maiden: A Story of Lobotomy (Turning Point, 2004), a name that more accurately reflects the point she is trying to make: that a woman could be subject to lobotomy merely because she was considered a "pest."
Speaking from her home in Portland, Ore., Ms. Schott brings up the case of Rosemary Kennedy, J.F.K. Jr.'s oldest sister, who died in January: "She didn't even have mental illness," says Ms. Schott. "She may have been dyslexic. Her father had her lobotomized, without telling her mother (Rose), because he didn't want Rosemary to embarrass the family with her sexual escapades."
These so-called escapades were instances where Rosemary would run away from the convent where she was cared for to meet boys, says Ms. Schott. "The irony is, after her lobotomy, she lived out the rest of her life in the care of nuns."
Not only did the lobotomy fail to control Ms. Kennedy's mood swings, but it left her with an infantile mentality, staring at the walls. Her speech became unintelligible babble.
Ms. Schott, a Rocky Hill and Griggstown resident for 30 years, will return to the area for three book-related events in early April. She will read from The Pest Maiden at Chestnut Tree Books in the Princeton Shopping Center April 9. Also a member of the Cool Women poetry group, Ms. Schott will appear at the Princeton Public Library April 10 for the launch of Cool Women Volume Three (Cool Women Press, $15), and then again April 11 at Barnes & Noble in West Windsor.
The Pest Maiden is a collection of poems about Ms. Schott's distant cousin, Jean Heuser, who was afflicted with mental illness — probably schizophrenia — and, without her consent, treated with lobotomy. Sadly, this happened in February 1954, two weeks before Smith Kline Beecham received the patent for the anti-psychotic drug Thorazine. Since then, lobotomies are no longer used to treat psychosis.
More
posted by Christine at Monday, April 04, 2005
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