Mattie Hammond in 1889 at age 17.
玛蒂·哈蒙德在日常生活中发现了优雅——一顿热闹的家庭晚餐, a maple tree turning golden in the autumn, 一个孩子的礼物——一根冠蓝鸦羽毛——并将这些时刻记录在诗歌中. 在哈蒙德90岁的一生中，她至少写了60首诗，其中许多是在晚年创作的. Her five children received them as gifts, 喜欢它们，然后把它们和其他家庭纪念品一起藏起来.
哈蒙德家的年轻一代直到伯顿·克拉克才知道她的诗, one of Mattie’s great grandsons, 在她死后18年发现了一些诗. Over the years, Clark collected her poems from family members, eventually assembling 60 poems into a book, titled "A Feather," scheduled to be published this summer.
Clark, who lives in Emmitsburg, Maryland, enlisted his friend Nancy Funk, 他是欧博体育官网蒙奥图校区综合艺术助理教授, to write the foreword to the book. 读哈蒙德的诗激发了芬克以她的生活为基础写剧本的灵感. 今年春天，新冠病毒打乱了该剧的演出计划, Funk transformed the work into a radio play, which was read by Mont Alto faculty and staff, along with the Trinity Players of Waynesboro, 并在Zoom和alter上录制下来，分享到蒙奥图的YouTube频道上.
玛蒂的生活并不轻松，但她从小事中获得了快乐. 她经历了很多悲剧，但她能写出如此美丽的诗歌，”芬克说. 她还对哈蒙德在晚年创作了许多诗歌感到震惊. In her foreword to "A Feather," Funk wrote, 就像摩西奶奶画她最熟悉的人物和场景一样, 所以这位曾祖母把她经历的日子诗意化了.”
玛蒂·伊丽莎白·盖尔出生在西塔克顿, New Jersey, 1872年，她在该州度过了大半生. 她嫁给了青梅竹马的米奇·哈蒙德, but he died at the age of 44, leaving her with five children to raise. 大约在1930年，大萧条开始的时候，一场大火烧毁了她在卡姆登的房子. 为了养家，她在一家廉价商店做助产士和店员. In World War II, she lost a grandson, Robert “Bobby” Hammond, when his destroyer, the USS Warrington, sank off the Bahamas in a 1944 hurricane.
她有六个孙子和九个曾孙，她的生活以家庭为中心. When she died at age 90 in 1962, she was living in Bloomfield, New Jersey, with her youngest daughter, Pat.
Funk的戏剧开始于哈蒙德在她90岁生日前夕在摇椅上打瞌睡, looking back over her life. 每一个追忆的场景都由她的两首诗组成, and includes her wedding day, the death of her husband, the fire at her home in Camden, the loss of Bobby in World War II and finally, her last birthday party.
芬克说，这部戏必须采取一些戏剧性的措施. For example, Mitch died of pneumonia, 但芬克补充说，他在第二次世界大战前夕在一家军火厂工作时病倒了. 克拉克说，这个家庭对增加这些东西没有什么困难. “After all, it is a play,” he said. “有些事情我们确实不太了解, such as her wedding, so Nancy had to improvise some of the details.”
克拉克和芬克是在埃米茨堡的国家消防学院工作时认识的, 他在那里担任管理科学系主任，而芬克则是一名承包商，教授传播学课程. 两人因为对写作的热爱而成为朋友. 克拉克曾在华盛顿特区当过消防员.C., 在2014年从学院退休之前，他曾在马里兰州乔治王子县担任志愿消防员, wrote a book about his experiences, "If I Can’t Save You, I’ll Die Trying."
Funk had been writing plays for years, 所以她把哈蒙德作为拍摄对象是她的第二天性. She had just won a competition in Hagerstown, Maryland, with her play “Sisters of the Locker Room,，讲述了当地基督教女青年会一群无聊的老年妇女和她们的生活故事. Clark went to see the play and told Funk, “如果你能给我的曾祖母写一封这样的信, go ahead,” Funk recalled.
When Funk recast “A Feather” as a radio play, members of the Trinity Players, who were going to put on the original play, agreed to participate, 许多蒙奥图大学的教职员工也是如此. 克拉克和黛布·霍伦自愿担任旁白, 1976年方克开始在蒙特阿尔托教书时的一个学生, read the poems in the character of Mattie. “We really didn’t have time to rehearse. 我们做了一次阅读，然后记录下来，”Funk说. “考虑到所有因素，我认为结果很好.明年还计划举行现场戏剧演出.
剧本和这本书的标题都是“羽毛”，克拉克发现这首诗是关于他自己的:
Great grandson brought a feather
From a blue jay wing today,
I do not know why the blue jay
Threw that one away
Maybe just as a token gift
To a little boy
Who on a lovely summer day
does not play with toys…
“I spent much of my childhood with her. 当我读她的诗时，我又能听到她的声音. 找到这首诗并读它对我来说非常激动，”克拉克说. In 2001, 克拉克有过自己的玛蒂时刻当他8岁的孙子, Golden, gave him a blue jay feather. 克拉克说:“直到他跑去玩，我才忍住眼泪。. “That blue jay feather was magic.” He put the feather away for safe keeping.
In 2004, 克拉克的曾祖母帕特去世，享年101岁, “Mom gave me a plastic case, 说帕特阿姨让她把箱子交给我,” Clark said. “当我打开盒子时，里面有一本书，里面有玛蒂所有的原创手写诗歌. 当我翻动书页时，我看到了一首诗《欧博体育官网》，就是她写我的那首.”
他送给她的那根冠蓝鸦羽毛还在那里，夹在书页之间.
