Juneau Empire Online Archive Preview News: Fowlers release 5/14/98

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Thursday, May 14, 1998

'Beautiful' is a story about coping with a serious illness told within the context of a close relationship between a boy and his uncle.COURTESY OF JIM & SUSI GREGG FLOWLER
Fowlers release

Local writer and artist husband tell the story of a dying man and his nephew

Last modified at 3:48 p.m. on Thursday, May 14, 1998

By KARLA HULT
THE JUNEAU EMPIRE
Susi Gregg Fowler debated the appropriate artistic medium to use to commemorate her late friend George Chapman. Perhaps she could sew a quilt, she thought, that wove together and conveyed his warm personality and generous ways.
But that idea faced what she described as an innate challenge: ``I'm not very talented that way,'' she said, and so, ``Because I write for children, that's what came to me.''
On Jan. 23, 1996, Fowler scribbled the first notes in her journal for her book, ``Beautiful.'' One month later, a publishing agent accepted it. And six months after that acceptance, Susi's husband Jim Fowler completed the book's illustrations. The couple is celebrating the release of their fourth collaborative effort this spring.
``Beautiful'' is a story about coping with a serious illness, told within the context of a close relationship between a boy and his uncle, who both share the love of gardening.
The book is available locally, and the Fowlers will be signing copies from 1 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 17, at the Nugget Mall Hearthside Bookstore.
Talking amid family pictures and Jim's artwork in their living room, the children's books duo described ``Beautiful'' as less a documentary of Chapman's death - he died of AIDS at the age of 39 in 1990 - and more a story about important relationships and ``treasuring those moments that we do have.'' In fact, Susi said, although the original draft concluded with the Chapman character's death, she later omitted that section to emphasize the story's stronger message.
``When I got to the point of him dying, I kind of hurried it up,'' she said. ``This is a story about people living in transition, rather than a story about coping with death itself.''
Besides holding several government positions, Chapman was a professional gardener. He sowed the first seeds in the city museum lawn, served as the governor's gardener, and became Juneau's first city gardener in the 1980s. He oversaw the construction and initial planting of floral beds in medians throughout Juneau's main arteries.
A black and white photo of Chapman - wood in hand and constructing a floral bed - sits among the Fowler family photo collection. With emotion muffling her voice, Susi described how Chapman planted the iris that borders the family garden and pruned her grandmother's beech tree. He grew up in the house where the Fowlers now live, enjoyed cooking and was a devoted uncle and friend.
``He was very generous with his time and talents,'' Jim said.
In writing a story about his life, Susi tried to capture Chapman's love of gardening and warm nature. But she exercised some poetic license in relaying how Chapman battled his illness and in the actual story line.
``Beautiful'' tells the story of a boy who learns gardening and life lessons from his Uncle George. Together, the boy and uncle prepare the soil and plant seeds. Prior to leaving for treatment for an unnamed illness, George instructs his nephew how to care for the growing plants.
When he returns to the boy's home, the plants have grown bigger and he has grown weaker. As both boy and uncle accept George's condition, they enjoy the fruits of their gardening efforts - a bouquet of red, yellow and orange flowers.
``It's beautiful as the title,'' said Jean Rogers, also a local children's author, about the Greenwillow-published book. ``It's very delicately handled. . . . It bears a wonderful message. It emphasizes love and growth and the continuation of life. It's a book for all ages.''
To further tie the story into Chapman's life, a Chapman and Fowler-family friend, Jim Asper, served as the model for the Uncle George character in Jim's illustrations. Susi's sister, Jan Gregg Levy, and her son, Abraham, were models for the boy and mother characters.
The illustrations convey what the text explicitly does not: in one picture, an IV-tube is hooked up to Uncle George. Uncle George himself undergoes a physical transformation throughout the illustrations, becoming leaner and losing his hair.
And according to Susi, those images help support another story premise: ``The core essence of a person will remain even if the physical and mental capabilities will fall away.''
Although the book does not directly refer to or discuss AIDS, the Fowlers hope groups - like Hospice - will use it as an educational tool for children coping with a loved one's battle with a serious illness.