INTRODUCTION
In Sane Places is actually the third book in a series of books that Carolyn wrote based on her experience in nursing and nursing school. The first two books, On Duty and On Call were non-fiction and based on her direct experience and the experiences of a number of here nurse friends. While the books basically told the stories from nurses’ perspective, they really spoke to deeper human concerns. They speak of people, of illness, death, happines, life, and love.
In Sane Places is fictional but is based directly on Carolyn’s experiences. Carolyn’s joined me in Douglas, Georgia in the spring of 1975. Carolyn and I had grown up together in New Mexico and had lived in number of places outside the South though much of our lives. Carolyn had earned her BA in English at the University of Michigan and had taken graduate course in English at the University of Chicago. In Douglas she decided that the best thing she could do for herself would be to go back to school and become an RN. She finished nursing school and passed the nursing boards shortly after her 40th birthday. As she took the nursing courses and as she started working in nursing, she continued her first love, writing. On Duty, On Call, and In Sane Places are the results of that combination of a love of people, of nursing, of life, and of writing.
The characters in this book are fictional creations. Most are combinations of people that Carolyn met but some are character who simple showed up on her pages and became people. I am sure that there never was an Elam Jefferson except that in many ways he may well be based at least in part on some of my characteristics. I remember well Carolyn’s creation of Cracker and Duveen. She was amazed that they seemed not only to name themselves, but to find their own identity and grow almost out of control.
Carolyn died of Melanoma cancer in 1997. At that time she had started a new book based on interviews with other cancer patients. While that last book is incomplete, its few chapter are available like In Sane Places here on the internet. Please take a look at Still on Duty.