An Interview with Judy DePue

I’m a retired psychologist. In my career, I focused on research, teaching and clinical work in health care. Interestingly, at the beginning of my memoir, Lady Vagabond, I described leaving a job in this line of work, because I thought it was not a good fit. As it turned out, I ended up doing exactly that kind of work in a similar high-intensity place as back then. In the end, my growing confidence and enjoyable teamwork at Brown’s medical school made it a better fit.

But there’s more to my bio that circles back to writing this book. As an undergrad at Syracuse University, I majored in English. At that time, psychology interested me, but I thought those courses focused too much on rats and experiments. I thought literature did a better job of featuring all the curious dimensions of human nature. Later, I pursued multiple graduate degrees at Boston University—in education, counseling psychology, and public health—giving me the technical skills I needed for my work. And all along I continued to be an avid reader. In retirement, I’ve come back to books, now as an author, to continue exploring human nature’s deeper facets.

Nature is my muse. My husband and I live on the edge of the woods. We’re often hiking and looking out for local wildlife. I also volunteer for a local food pantry, and passionately advocate for protecting the nature that sustains all of us.

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Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

In February 1980, a year after I came home from my round-the-world trip, I gave a public talk that I called Lady Vagabond. It drew a full house. It seemed I had lived many people’s dreams. After my slideshow and public Q&A, several people stayed for more private questions. They asked what I packed, how I dealt with risky situations, and how I decided to leave my job. This all gave me the idea that if I wrote a book, I might find readers. I started writing soon after that but eventually had to put the project aside in order to make a living. Then I picked it up forty-five years later and here we are.

Those two words, “Lady” and “Vagabond,” also represented my identity conflict during my travels. I wanted to be seen as a young professional, a lady. Yet, I was so often a houseguest, passed from one contact on to another, or by happenstance, like a hobo, rarely paying for my own lodging. I felt ashamed that my meager funds led me to accept this charity. At the same time, I felt incredibly privileged that so often people invited me into their homes and grateful for this perspective on the places I visited. When I discovered I wasn’t the only traveler with such invitations, I felt better about it. “Vagabond” has other meanings as well, such as a seeker of our own truth. That meaning also fit my experience. There would never be a different title for this book.

How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?

When Atmosphere’s art director, Ronaldo Alves, asked me what I envisioned for the cover, I couldn’t imagine one scene working because my story covered so many vastly different settings. Therefore, I suggested some type of collage, and I submitted some of my own photos for their inspiration. I was thrilled with the work of cover designer, Matthew Fielder, as he stylistically stacked my own photos. My readers are telling me they love the cover, too.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

I believed I had stories worth sharing from my 1978 experiences. But after putting down my project so long ago, I thought too much time had passed. Many travel memoirs had come out over the years since then. Eat, Pray, Love was a big hit in 2006. Was my story still worth telling? Although my experiences were different from Elizabeth Gilbert’s. Then, the more I learned about memoir, I understood its purpose is meaning-making of a particular time in our lives. Also, if I could highlight the universals in my story—how it relates to all of us—and if it’s a good story, it is worth telling. Readers are always looking for good stories, I was told. Therein lay my mission. I dug in to hone my storytelling skills with my own truth.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

I hope people will be encouraged to make connections with the people they meet, not only during far-away travel, but also with neighbors down the street. We’ve become less trusting of people who might seem different from us. Some connections might challenge our usual thinking, but that’s not a bad thing, as we may get to think through what we most value. And when pursuing dreams, those connections may help us get there. We are taught that self-reliance is the way to do things, but I found that collaboration became more important. When I asked for help, I found a whole string of people, collectively, helped me find a solution. The connections I made led to opportunities I hadn’t imagined.

What creative projects are you currently working on?

I’m thinking about article ideas that might use excerpts or spin-offs from my book, while also featuring some of the same themes. I’ve seen other authors do this to promote their books. I just need to find my own mini-story that fits into article-mode. I’m also working on my blog for my website and that’s becoming a source for article ideas. While some authors expand short pieces to make a longer book-length story, I’m working on refocusing my book themes into shorter pieces that could stand alone.

How was working with Atmosphere Press? What would you tell other writers who want to publish?

My production and publicity processes are still underway and I’m learning all that’s involved. I can say that the editing and design stages were wonderful. My developmental editor, Tammy Letherer, helped me hone my craft. Tabinda, Alex, Ronaldo, and Cassandra patiently helped me through the proofreading and design phases. I’m excited about the final product we created—how it reads, how it looks. Now, I have so much to learn about publicity and marketing, and I’m especially grateful for Mia Coombs’s coaching.

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