The Roanoker - Sept/October 2021 - 24

THE GIST
Grow not only because of her connection to
Belize. She also knows what it means to be
hungry - and to be unsure of how to feed
your children. Friday's three girls are 9, 7 and
6 years old; she is married and living in Cave
Spring. She works as director of development
and fundraising for Child Health Investment
Partnership of Roanoke Valley (CHIP) and
serves as president of Sisters of Change, a
community organization that connects women
worldwide. But years ago, Friday was a single
mother who could not stretch her paycheck
far enough. She regularly visited Roanoke-area
food banks and knows how time consuming
- and soul crushing - it can be to spend so
much energy worried about food.
" It was a very exhausting process, " she
remembers. " It really takes away your sense of
identity and independence. "
That's why the idea of supplying seeds,
plants and knowledge - giving communities
the tools to feed themselves - is important to
her. It's also why she hasn't stopped working,
even though many of COVID's disruptions
have eased.
" Roanoke is a really strong, giving
community so I do think it's a good setting
for this organization, " says Jon Shup, manager
of the Roanoke Co+op's downtown location,
a long-time friend of Friday's and one of Seed
Sow Grow's eight board members.
Find more information at seedsowgrow.
org. I
The Family School of Writing
written and photographed by Dan Smith They both love to write. One wants to be published; the other, not so much.
J
udy and Larry Helms are positive proof
that there is more than way to do it
right.
Since they first met-opposing each
other, representing legal clients
in court-they have found a way to
basically accomplish the same goals with
different methods, and their relationship has
remained quite harmonious.
Even the court appearance that threw them
into different corners wound up playing to both
interests. They liked each other from the start
and " after we slept together, Larry recused
himself " from the trial, Judy recalls.
Each had a notably successful law career,
approaching the law from completely different
specialties. Judy, co-founder of a Chicago law
firm, specialized in insurance defense cases and
contract law; Larry began as state's attorney
in Chicago (for two years) then zeroed in on
medical malpractice and product liability.
These days, living in retirement on Windy
Gap Mountain near Roanoke, they are
traveling different roads as writers.
Judy is a successful novelist, having just
released her second book, " Grudge Tiger, "
and signing a contract with Touchpoint Press
for a third.
Larry writes, too, but his writing is primarily
for Larry, though Judy-and others who've read
his work-insist he is a legitimate talent who
could be churning out saleable books, as well,
but he chooses not to. " I write commercially,
and I accommodate the publisher, " says Judy.
" But Larry's the writer. "
" Grudge Tiger, " a rich page-turner of a read,
Judy and Larry Helms: Different strokes
(of the pen) for different folks.
is loosely based on a case Judy had as a lawyer
in Chicago. The case is a lawsuit involving the
owners of a zoo whose Bengal tiger mauls a
young model.
Judy's writing thus far has concentrated on
stories involving the law ( " cozy courtroom, "
she calls it), while Larry is all over the board:
novels, essays, commentary, poetry and his real
love, music. Their living room is all but littered
with his wide range of guitars and a piano.
Larry sits in his easy chair, writing fluently
on a yellow legal pad and he reads his work
publicly on occasion, especially at a Smith
Mountain Lake writers' group. He tried his
hand at the novel when he was 30, but he
read it to his three sisters, and they pretty
well sent him packing for many years. Parts of
the novel were based on them " and they were
unimpressed, " he says.
He has never had the published author
obsession, he insists, and his long books
(130,000 words or so) would push him out
the publishers' door before he even gets read,
says Judy. Still, " I think, 'So what if I publish? "
he asks. " What if I'm wildly successful, get
New York Times reviews?' It wouldn't change
the way I feel about anything. " So, he doesn't
pursue that.
Larry and Judy make a good match with
their writing, as they do in general. " We
support each other, " says Judy. " We've never
been competitive. I started out letting him read
chapters as I finished and now, I prefer to hand
him the completed book. " Larry likes that, too,
because of the perspective it presents.
Judy recalls that it was on Larry's suggestion
she begin writing. " The first time I put pen to
paper, there was so much joy. "
They have two daughters-Lily Helms, a
pre-school teacher and Grace Kotre, a college
professor-who occasionally read and critique
their work, making the venture a family
undertaking.
It is a family dynamic they can all enjoy. I
24 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021
TheRoanoker.com
DAN SMITH

http://www.TheRoanoker.com

The Roanoker - Sept/October 2021

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