Author Joyce Godwin Grubbs Remembers:     Greyhound  Lady Walking  Suspense  Series

The author, Joyce Godwin Grubbs is founder of The Trula Godwin Project. It has been a 100% volunteer project to help victims move thru the underground to escape abuse be it domestic violence or rape sexual assault. The Project maintains an underground mail system for victims to help them establish during their transition into their new identity and locations.There has been a sense of giving back for help her own family members received in her lifetime.  

Mother Marguerite was a domestic violence victim in a time when there were no services and both girls learned first hand the struggles of a woman in the 40's and 50's trying to survive, escape and start over as a single mother. Marguerite set a path for them when she stood up to the culture around her that said, "you made your bed, now lie in it." 

Trula would become a police officer and sex crime expert after being raped in her home after the birth of her fifth child. She would become the second female officer on the force, first in the nation to have her own squad car, and set many standards for women in policing. 

 Joyce would become an author when the realization that all the "stories and experiences" would die with her if she did not document them into a series.  She made sure that she protected the identities of the victim/survivors, and made their stories empowering as she told of their rape/sexual assaults, and victims of domestic abuse. She always championed them as they found their way to becoming strong women in more than a dozen novels and books and in over 1 million words in print.

With three children and eleven grandchildren, her husband of more than fifty years has been at her side through thick and thin, success and failure. You might enjoy the legacy story of the "blip on  our marital radar". 

They continue to build on their common Oklahoma background and   "in common"  family challenges from childhood.

Her's is a lifetime worth exploring.  Her humor as well as her  insights continue to encourage everyone to find the best in their lives and pass it forward. Her legacy stories are forthright and unconventional in their down to earth "tell it like it is approach."       

1984 was a Red Letter Year in the Family, each winning prestigous awards in their fields.

She also reveled in her sister, Police officer Trula Godwin's, recognition as one of  the top five women in the Women's International Law Enforcement Association. Trula also won an Award  from the National Women's Police Association for heroism.   Trula is a pioneer as a woman police officer and is recognized in the Iowa Women's Archives at the University of Iowa recognizing Influencial Women in Iowa's history.  

                                               *****           

 That same year her step father, Dr. Willard M. Smith,  was recognized as International Chiropractor of the Year, and her mother Marguerite Godwin Smith, was  honored by the Women's Auxilary of the International Chiropractic Association.   

VIOLATED: It started before first grade so one could say my childhood was lost. Being forced to keep secrets, fearing the threats of the perpetrator against my parents , and always wondering  what I had done to be “chosen”. Was I a “bad seed” ?  Was it my fault?

What I notice about this picture is that I had cut my own bangs for this school picture infuriating my mother who couldn’t understand why I would “destroy” the permanent that cost her so “dearly.” She said she got it for me to make me “cute” for my school pictures.  She would never have understood that I didn’t want to be “cute” or “noticed.” And the fact that the permanent, though done by a “professional,” fried my fine hair and was breaking off at the ends just compounded my frustration.

VICTIM: I would live years into my teens before I knew how to disguise the shame as a victim. One could say that period of my life honed and refined my acting skills, earning me the 1961 Best Actress Award at my high school my senior year. Through the efforts of my drama teacher in high school, I was even given the opportunity to go to the famous Pasadena Playhouse in California to study acting, but my parents thought acting was a scandalous profession and wouldn’t “allow” it. In hind sight, I would have been a high-risk “bumpkin” out there.

SURVIVOR: It took working with other victims and then telling their stories and mine in novels created to give the victims “voice” to release some of the pain. In most instances, were their stories not written, like mine, the stories would have died with me. Thus the Greyhound Lady Walking suspense series was born and to protect the identities, the locations, the workers and the methods by which we put victim/survivors underground.  In each book the locations, characters and methods are disguised in a format of an ongoing group of rescuers that worked to set victims free and help them start new lives.

Vini: I came to the part of my life where I could allow someone in; I could trust and love.

Vidi:I Saw that in life one could be “bitter or better” and it was a choice.

Vici: I Conquered  I was no longer afraid to speak out; I chose to wear an abuse “charm” that symbolized the anvil that in the Bible is spoken of as being tied around the neck of a perpetrator who harms a child, and then the perpetrator is thrown into the deepest depths of the ocean. (The idea for the charm actually originated when my husband suggested that all perpetrators should be forced to wear an anvil around their necks to identify what they were.)

I wear it yet today at age 73, and I keep crystals hanging in windows to allow the sunshine to keep rainbows in my life.

                           .

A closing thought is this: Forgiveness is the answer to the child’s dream of a miracle by which what is broken is made whole again, what is soiled is made clean again.
Read more at: http://www.azquotes.com/quote/122349 Former United Nations President Dag Hammarskjöld.

Vici: I Conquered  I was no longer afraid to speak out; I chose to wear an abuse “charm” that symbolized the anvil that in the Bible is spoken of as being tied around the neck of a perpetrator who harms a child, and then the perpetrator is thrown into the deepest depths of the ocean. (The idea for the charm actually originated when my husband suggested that all perpetrators should be forced to wear an anvil around their necks to identify what they were.)

I wear it yet today at age 73, and I keep crystals hanging in windows to allow the sunshine to keep rainbows in my life. to edit text

The12 books of the Greyhound Lady Walking Series and her platform.

On January 8th, 2010, Joyce Godwin Grubbs was recipient of the Cable Muse Network, LLC 2009 Editor's Choice Award for her work ‘Conspiracy in the Heartland’ and ‘Angels Unaware’ which concerned the plight of the Cedar Rapids Flood Victims.

“Joyce spoke for people when they felt their stories were  lost”.

"Life is not a journey meant to end with a pretty body tied up in a    pretty package, but rather to come skidding in broadside, at full  speed and out of breath shouting; "Wow, What a ride". (Borrowed).                                                                           

This author has lived such a life. Now turned 70, this babe of the  forties grew up in the segregated south so poor her white family   rented from a black landlord. In the segregated south of the forties:that was poor.

In  childhood her family had many members who were dysfunctional    with problems ranging from domestic violence, divorce, and alcohol  abuse. This led , in some cases, to sexual abuse and a need to learn   coping skills far beyond her years. But, the author has found humor, love, strong work ethic and the love of God made her a valuable  person. Life rewarded her with a loving husband,  devoted  children, and a new generation of grandchildren who call her Grandma Lady.  

The author, Joyce Godwin Grubbs, currently resides in Iowa with her husband, a retired teacher, coach and fanatical supporter of Greyhound adoptions.

 She remains tightly attached  to the cousins and relatives of her Oklahoma childhood who  experienced many of the adventures and disasters of the times of hardship and struggles. Her first novel was written as a "game" with her cousins which resulted in their names being used as characters. It was so successful and fun for the shared "genius points" of the author and people in her family  knowing their names were used, she continued it for characters in all of her novels, with a liberal sprinkling of "non-family and friends" as well.

Her three children are grown and live in Iowa, Wisconsin and Ohio. and the grandchildren, eleven of them, are in those same states.

December 19,  2015 began as any other “lazy” Saturday for me as I opened my email to slice and dice the content. One email jumped out: Email from CBS News “48 Hours” re: Annabelle Kindig Miglia. The content is self-explanatory though contact information is redacted for the privacy of the sender.

Dear Joyce

My name is Anthony Venditti and I am a producer with the CBS News program 48 Hours.  I’m writing because I’ve been reading about Annabelle Kindig Miglia’s incredible story, and of course I know that you and Annabelle co-wrote “Footsteps Out of the Darkness” together. I would like to speak to her about a series we produce called ‘Live To Tell’, which features people who have survived tragic events who then manage to find a way to take that tragedy and help others, usually through speaking engagements or by working with victim’s advocates or other survivors. If you could give me a call when you get a chance I would greatly appreciate it. My number in New York is ( REDACTED by Joyce Godwin Grubbs).

Thank you,

Anthony

Anthony Venditti

CBS News- 48 Hours

(Redacted contact info by Joyce Godwin Grubbs)

New York, NY 10019

I put in a call to  Anthony Venditti to validate the email and its intent. I did not want Annabelle “blindsided” by the possibilities.  She remains a private person and while intent on supporting the “message,” many changes in her life have caused her to keep a tight control on her work and personal life since the book was published in 2012.  I left  a message for Mr. Venditti. 

Within hours we were talking about the book and Annabelle’s story. For an hour and a half we went over the path from Annabelle’s email to me to ask me to write the book, to the book signing in Boulder, Colorado, a mere 10 months later. This of course had been Annabelle’s goal, to produce the book by the 40th Anniversary celebration of MESA (Moving to End Sexual Assault)  thus her search for an author who would take on such a time challenge, and the difficulty of the content.  This  was the organization that came into being in 1972 to honor both Annabelle and Jessica Schaffner (her friend who was abducted with her, but did not survive the brutal gun shots in the snow banks of Sunshine Canyon while the two girls were hand-cuffed together.  It was Annabelle’s 11th birthday, and Jessica was also 11.)  MESA was among the first five victim services organizations in the nation and is now a premier model for such organizations.

 After the initial call there was a flurry of emails back and forth as I tried to reach Annabelle. Her response was what I call, “typical Annabelle”. Laid back and   practical questions in a quiet and measured pace. It had been like that during the writing of the book. Our method was to have her send me a written sequence of the happenings, and then I would create a flow that told the story to the reader without “hype or grizzly details”. Hundreds of hours of phone interviews between the two of us, but choosing to never skype. What surprised Anthony Venditti  and many readers, was that Annabelle and I never met until the actual book signing in Boulder.

The very first time that Annabelle and I met face to face was at the Hotel Boulderado at the 40th Anniversary of MESA. Overflow audience and stayed beyond the signing time to 10:30 at night to get all the books signed.* Read the blog post  RIDDLE ME THIS: WHAT DO BOOK SIGNING, BOULDER CO, AND BELATED, ALL HAVE IN COMMON?

The process to pitch the idea of featuring Annabelle’s story  for the “Live to Tell” was to have it go through the main body of producers and “higher-ups” for vetting. Meanwhile all information, pictures and updates were sent to Anthony and he honed them into a formal presentation.

THE DECISION

Despite the overwhelming enthusiasm of our vested producer,  Anthony Venditti, the final decision was that it did not fit the criteria for the Live to Tell segments. Major factors in the decision included the fact that is was now a 42 year old case, thus challenging relevancy. It was also thought to be a challenge to inspire the investment sponsors that would be needed to support the show.

ANNABELLE’S REACTION

In her quiet, un-assuming voice, she repeated the reasons to me  for CBS declining.   She was okay with that as she felt it was an honor to know that it had drawn the attention of a prestigious producer, and his animated and enthusiastic endorsement and efforts.  It meant the “message” was still moving those who heard it.

MY REACTION

I will never forget the enthusiasm, animated conversation, and efforts of Anthony Venditti. His voice still resonates in my mind as does his laughter and his excited questions and hopes. BUT THE TAKEAWAY IS THIS. While it did not fit the venue of CBS for the 48 Hours, “Live to Tell” there may well be a show “down-the-line” somewhere,  that will hear of the case and have an appropriate setting for it.  If so, well and good. But at this time we are satisfied to have her case validated, to know that Footsteps Out of Darkness is resonating with those who learn of it. Our thanks to Producer Anthony Venditti for his interest, efforts, time and caring. What more could one ask for, than that this story inspired such a man and he acted on his enthusiasm?

                ANNABELLE’S STORY AND LIFE REMAIN RELEVANT TODAY

• She has been active on behalf of Jessica’s law and was a voice for change at the Colorado legislature when they finally passed a law even tougher than Jessica’s to contain predators.
• She continues to inspire law enforcement, prosecutors, judicial officials, victims, survivors, and advocates at workshops including an overflow crowd at an annual COVA Conference.
• She remains a role-model for young victims everywhere. At age 11, law enforcement credits Annabelle Kindig with “bringing down her perpetrator” in just hours, by her un-canny sense of immediate recall of every detail of him and the RV he used to abduct the two girls. Though critically wounded with gun shots which would require years of surgery to correct, she dragged her friend through sleet and deep snow to a 40 degree embankment to a road. The two were  handcuffed together, and Jessica was dead.  9:30 at night in deep snow she finally freed herself and climbed the embankment to flag down a stranger for help. SHE NEVER GAVE UP.
• Her message is being read and carried forward by others today.
• Caitlin Steimle of Davenport, Iowa will carry the story to the National Speech and Debate competitions June 16-17, 2016 in Salt Lake City. She will be presenting her original oration created from Footsteps Out of Darkness .