An Interview with Sandra Baldwin

Born into the mountains of Southwest Virginia and spending early childhood with a family of artists, Sandra Baldwin’s Appalachian childhood and travels have given her a unique American perspective. Though she resided in Virginia, New York, North Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Kentucky, and finally Delaware, her notoriously ‘itchy feet’ have taken her through forty-seven states. An avid horsewoman, she and her husband Sid rehabilitated and rehomed horses on her Riner, Virginia farm. It was there that they shared their farm with eleven foster children over the years. Their family of fifteen grandchildren and one great-grandchild have filled their hearts. Sandra is now retired but will always be an educator and artist at heart.

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

My daughter has lived through so much of this life with me, and she is the one who pushed me to at least write my memories or memoir. As I was doing so, it became clear that there was a much larger story that needed to be shared.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

I’ve worked in sales, been a real estate broker, taught college and middle schoolers. But as I journeyed through higher education, I also slung pizzas, was a motel maid, taught physics labs, and was a private investigator for a very short time.

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

As I was writing the memories, I kept thinking, “I’ve never shared these stories.” I thought of Simon and Garfunkle’s tune The Boxer: “I am just a poor boy, though my story’s seldom told…” and it kept resonating. So, the name, Seldom Spoken just materialized in my mind and it never changed from its working title.

What part of publishing your book made it feel real for the first time?

The moment I got the notice that the book was online, my heart jumped for joy.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

The Boxer, of course. Many of Simon and Garfunkle’s. Paul Anka’s Having My Baby. Barry Manilow’s Somewhere Down the Road. My tastes are kind of eclectic. I’d have to add some classical and folk in there too.

What’s one thing you hope sticks with readers after they finish your book?

I’ve been through a hard candy childhood, midlife trauma, bad marriages, and more. Read the book, LOL. I had the lowest of low times and attempted suicide. But somehow, I kept putting one foot in front of the other and made it through the hard times. I was able to parley all that into helping others, rehabbing and rehoming horses, and most satisfying and challenging, to work with children both as a foster parent and as an educator. The train derailed can correct its course. “Faltering is fine. Failure is not an option.”

What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?

I had no idea that I needed so badly to speak those words that I had not spoken. They were hidden inside of me, covering in layers the trauma I had lived.

What creative projects are you currently working on?

I’m not working on any more writing as yet. I continue to paint. It’s therapeutic for me. But at some point in the future, perhaps some children’s books or travel adventures might come to light.

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