Topic: Author Interview
Alma Halbert Bond the person:
1. What three words do you think describe you as a human being?
Beauty loving, creative, introverted.
2. How do you think others would describe you?
Loyal, totally reliable, creative, intelligent.
3. Please tell us what you are most passionate about outside of writing.
My three children and 7 grandchildren, ages from 1 ½-19. To my great delight, every adult in my family is an author. My late husband, Rudy Bond, was an actor. He was on the road with a play when he died. In his suitcase was the last chapter of his book, “I Rode a Streetcar Named Desire.” We had it published posthumously. I have two sons and one daughter, and all have had books published. My daughter, Dr. Janet Bond Brill, is a nutritionist and her book, Cholesterol Down, has done very well. My son, Jonathan Halbert Bond, who is in advertising has written a book on that topic, Under the Radar: Talking to Today’s Cynical Consumer. My son, Zane Phillip Bond, has published an autobiography entitled, A Prophet Operating at a Loss. We’re all writers. As we say in my house, it’s publish or perish!
4. Do you have any pets? If so, introduce us to them.
No. I had a dog once named Ginger, but as a character in one of May Sarton’s books said, “I had one husband and one dog.”
5. What is your most precious memory?
It is a toss-up between the birth of my first child and the publication of “Who Killed Virginia Woolf?”, my first book.
6. What is your most embarrassing memory?
When I was 11 years old, I was standing wth a beloved teacher and some classmates. The teacher, who was discussing a few students who had left the school, said, “We still have some old treasures left.” I cleared my throat and said, “Humph!”
7. If you weren’t a writer, what would you be doing with your life?
I’d be a sculptor.
8. In two paragraphs or less write your obituary.
8. In two paragraphs or less write your obituary.
Dr. Alma Halbert Bond died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 107. Dr. Bond acheved eminence in a number of careers. As a young woman, she was an actress who played a small part on Broadway in “The Terrorists” and another in a film called “The Triangle Fire.” If you see it (it is still played on TV) and hear a woman screaming loudly, that is Dr. Bond. Then she returned to school and received her doctorate at Columbia University, went on to post-doctoral work in psychoanalysis, and conducted a highly successful practice in Manhattan for 37 years.
Then Dr. Bond was in a terrible accident. A cab hit her while she was jogging in Central Park. She had seven broken bones, a concussion, and was in a coma. As she was coming out of it, she had a thought: I’ve had a good life, a good marriage, and three wonderful children. There is only one thing I wanted to do badly and have not done, and that is to write full time. She asked her son, Zane,“Do you think I would be crazy to leave such a high-paying job for a low-paying one?” He answered, “I think you’d be crazy not to.”
Then Dr. Bond was in a terrible accident. A cab hit her while she was jogging in Central Park. She had seven broken bones, a concussion, and was in a coma. As she was coming out of it, she had a thought: I’ve had a good life, a good marriage, and three wonderful children. There is only one thing I wanted to do badly and have not done, and that is to write full time. She asked her son, Zane,“Do you think I would be crazy to leave such a high-paying job for a low-paying one?” He answered, “I think you’d be crazy not to.”
She gave her patients two years’ notice, terminated analyses with many and sent a few to other therapists so that they could finish up with someone else. After that, she moved to Key West and stayed in Florida for 14 years. That’s where she wrote most of her books. Then, having accomplished that, she felt she could return to New York.
Alma H. Bond the writer:
9. Can you describe the time you realized you were indeed a “real” writer?
When I was 11 years old, I wrote a poem called “Ambitions.” It began,
“When all the world is sleeping sound
My pencil is writing and my head’s going round.”
I mention many things I would like to be and then end with:
“But best of all, it seems to me,
Is a writer and this I should love to be.
And if I try hard and long
I’m sure to fulfill my ambition strong.”
“When all the world is sleeping sound
My pencil is writing and my head’s going round.”
I mention many things I would like to be and then end with:
“But best of all, it seems to me,
Is a writer and this I should love to be.
And if I try hard and long
I’m sure to fulfill my ambition strong.”
10. What is going on with your writing these days?
A play of mine, “Maria,” about the life and loves of Maria Callas (which was produced off-off Broadway several years ago), will be given as a monologue on January 25, 2008 at the Dramatists Guild. Another play, “Bella,” about the great activist, Bella Abzug, is in process. I have just begun a new book about Jackie Kennedy Onassis. I said to my daughter, “I’d like to write about Jackie, but so many books have been written about her.” My daughter replied, “But yours will be different.” So I decided to try.
11. What are your future goals for your writing?
To write a great work of literature that will be on the best seller list.
12. Can you describe a typical writing day for you?
I don’t keep regular hours, but write whenever I feel like it, which is most of the time.
13. Why do you write?
I have to write. Writing is my core. It serves as a governor and keeps me on track.
14. What writer most inspires you? Why?
Freud, for the depth of his unmatchable insight. Virginia Woolf, for the sheer beauty of her prose.
15. How do you define your writing?
My writing is me.
16. In one sentence—what do you want people to say about your writing in fifty years?
She was a great writer.
Alma H. Bond the details:
17. Can you tell us where to find more information on you? Website?
18. Is there a place where readers can reach you?
My email address is almahb@aol.com. I will be happy to hear from anyone who wants to contact me.
19. Can you list all your book titles so people can look for them?
Camille Claudel, a Novel; Old Age is a Terminal Illness: How I Learned to Age Gracefully and Overcome My Fear of Dying; The Autobiography of Maria Callas: A Novel; Tales of Psychology: Short Stories to Make You Wise; Who Killed Virginia Woolf? A Psychobiography; Profiles of Key West; On Becoming a Grandparent; I Married Dr. Jekyll & Woke Up Mrs. Hyde;
Is There Life After Analysis?; The Tree That Could Fly (Children’s book);
Dream Portrait; America's First Woman Warrior: The Courage of Deborah Sampson (With Lucy Freeman), and the Dr. Mary Wells Murder Mysery Series consisting of The Deadly Jigsaw Puzzle, Murder on the Streetcar; and Who Killed Marcia Maynard? or The Psychoanalyst is Dead. My latest book, Margaret Mahler, the Biography of a Psychoanalyst is presently in publication with McFarland Press.
Is There Life After Analysis?; The Tree That Could Fly (Children’s book);
Dream Portrait; America's First Woman Warrior: The Courage of Deborah Sampson (With Lucy Freeman), and the Dr. Mary Wells Murder Mysery Series consisting of The Deadly Jigsaw Puzzle, Murder on the Streetcar; and Who Killed Marcia Maynard? or The Psychoanalyst is Dead. My latest book, Margaret Mahler, the Biography of a Psychoanalyst is presently in publication with McFarland Press.
20. For new readers—what can they expect when they read your book(s)?
They will learn things about themselves they never knew.
In conclusion:
21. Take as much space as necessary to speak to our readers—what would you like them to know about you and your writing?
I think my answers to your 20 questions says it all.
Posted by joyceanthony
at 12:01 AM EST
Updated: Saturday, 17 November 2007 1:46 AM EST
