The Other Side of Everything

"You are the modern Erma Bombeck," relates Anne Mount's dear friend, Sharrie Williams, grandniece of Tom Lyle, creator of Maybelline, regarding her funny and inspirational memoir of essays. Beginning with Mount's memory of when she was three years old and did not die in a car accident because, "I guess God had a plan for me," to hilarious stories of growing up with two brothers in the 1950's to the 1970's, the journey begins. The name, "Griswold," comes to mind, as Anne Mount recalls family vacations of helping her U.S. Marine father set up a heavy canvas tent in the rain, by car headlights at night, and next to a train track hidden on a hill. "When the train whistle blew at dawn, we all jumped up like a bunch of jackrabbits!"

Always pursuing her dream of being a writer, having begun publishing her poems as a teenager and receiving an encouraging letter from Erma Bombeck herself, ("You're on your way at age sixteen; when I was your age, I couldn't write my name on my gym suit!"), Mount recalls her determination to pursue her goals against insurmountable odds and laugh- out-loud happenings. Making her way from the Midwest to New York City, dealing with the 1977 blackout, the subway strike; and staff "cat fights," over sample shoes from Milan, while working as an assistant features editor at Harper's Bazaar, her book is full of various adventures that will entice the most reluctant traveler.

Moving from the East Coast to the West Coast with two children, a dog, and "enough stuff to fill up a football stadium," Anne Mount further relates stories of motherhood, and later being a grandmother ("Mimi"). And, like the finishing touches on a birthday cake, Mount recalls all the wonderful people she met along the way, like Carlos Santana, whose son was in her daughter's kindergarten class; Robin Williams in Taco Bell; Friz Freleng, whom she met in the "Green Room," and Bugs Bunny, who introduced her first book on the Today Show.

In a masterful blend of humor and encouragement, Anne Mount also relates her stories of perseverance and resilience, as she recalls moving back to California from Texas after a heartbreak, finding love again, and caring for her husband who died from ALS. She shows us all, in her "journey of a lifetime," that even though life can be full of trials, it can also be full of love for God, family, friends, and country. Come join her on this incredible journey, and buckle up!