In a fast paced, high tech, drama filled world, I fear the writings of authors such as Jean Bell Mosley will soon be completely overlooked. Her writing style in SEEDS ON THE WIND brought to mind the works of Laura Ingalls Wilder that were published in the "Missouri Ruralist". (These articles were published prior to her Little House Series books and included her descriptions of rural life in Missouri as well as personal stories and opinions.) Like Wilder, Mosley was able to connect with her rural readers by sharing simple stories of her daily life and details of her natural surroundings. It takes discipline to be still, observe , describe, and present both the complexity and simplicity of nature in a relatable way. Jean Bell Mosley's writing seems to belie this discipline with prose that appears effortless. I consider SEEDS ON THE WIND to be a bit antiquated; all the more reason there is something comforting about reading them. In my opinion, we must not forget that life was not once so complicated, at least not with computers and devices that now dull our senses.
Jean Bell Mosley was born in St. Francois County Missouri in 1913 and passed away in 2003 in the same county. She wrote articles which appeared in such magazines and newspapers as Readers Digest, Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal, Farm Journal, Country Gentleman, Extension, Southeast Missourian, Covenant Youth Today, Woman's Day, Progressive Farmer, Bootheel, and Guidepost. SEEDS ON THE WIND is a compilation of many of the articles she wrote for these various periodicals. Seamlessly woven together, Mosley follows a seasonal pattern for her outline, beginning with the month of September in the first chapter and ending the book with the month of August. The book includes personal stories from her childhood, as well as events that were more current memories at the time of her writing. Sometimes her stories have a moral wisdom attached to them, while other times, they are just meant to entertain the reader.
As I read Jean Bell Mosley's work for the first time, I began to recognize the beauty of stand alone sentences and paragraphs that deserved to be highlighted and remembered. When reading, I felt like I was extracting beautiful, literary nuggets that I could store away and enjoy again and again. One such paragraph may be my favorite of the entire book:
"Let me make friends of the sycamore, the ash, the maple, lay my cheek against their rough bark, look up through their branches, see the harmony of tree and sun and sky, and let my very soul climb up to heaven. "
"Give me a woods to walk in and I will give back to the world a person at peace with God and man."
Jean Bell Mosley's first book, THE MOCKINGBIRD PIANO (1953) , won the Missouri Writer's Guild Award. Her book THE DEEP FOREST AWARD won the CS LEWIS Silver Medal Award for the best children's book in religious literature. She was also the recipient of the Southeast Alumni award, the Dingledein award for outstanding achievement in the arts, an Alumni Merit Award from MACC (Moberly Area Community College), and the Women's Impact Award from the Girl Scouts Otakhi Council.
(Information on Jean Bell Mosley taken from her obituary published July 11, 2003.)
Personal Note: The book SEEDS ON THE WIND was gifted to me by my parents for Christmas 2021. I believe they obtained it from Jean Bell Mosley's family and I was fortunate to be gifted an autographed copy. I do see a few, used copies for sale online starting around $25. The book was not previously listed on Goodreads but I added it along with my review.
