Q&A with Linda Murphy Marshall

 

 

Linda Murphy Marshall is the author of the new book Immersion: A Linguist's Memoir. She also has written the memoir Ivy Lodge. She worked as an analyst at the National Security Agency for more than 30 years.

 

Q: What inspired you to write your new memoir?

 

A: A number of things inspired me to write this memoir.

 

First of all, my first memoir ended with me stating my conviction to leave the town in which I grew up — Kirkwood, Missouri — and I felt like I needed to continue the story. Many people have asked me (directly or indirectly, through friends), if I was “okay” after the events I describe in Ivy Lodge. So I wanted to continue the story, especially since it has a happier ending.

 

Secondly, very few people — to this day — are aware of the sort of work assignments I went on, still think of me as “little Linda” from the Midwest. I wanted to open that curtain, reveal what I -really- did for a living. Of course, this entailed getting permission from the various government agencies I worked for, but the assignments are a big part of who I am, and how those often dangerous trips helped me discover who I was, my true identity.

 

Q: In our previous Q&A, you described this new book as “a continuation” of your first memoir. Was your writing experience similar this time around?

 

A: I think it can be considered a continuation, but also a stand-alone. I don’t think you have to have the context of the first book to jump into the second book, into Immersion.

 

My writing experience was different with the second book. In Ivy Lodge, I chose the structure of the rooms of Ivy Lodge, and objects contained in those rooms, and all within a single day, so it has a specific framework. But each object and each room offered lots of surprises and discoveries and translations along the way (hence the name — Ivy Lodge: A Memoir of Translation and Discovery).

 

In other words, I remembered, for example, that more than 50 percent of Ivy Lodge’s second story was bare, unfinished, empty space, but until writing about it, I’d just accepted the concept that this was our “attic,” even though it was never really an attic, so I looked at it with new eyes.

 

The same was true with regard to sharing a tiny bathroom with my sister and my parents on the second floor when I was growing up. It had never occurred to me that that was odd, given that each of my brothers had his own large room and his own spacious bathroom on the first floor. In writing the book, I became much more enlightened.

 

With Immersion, there are also discoveries along the way. I initially thought I was just writing a second memoir about my work adventures overseas, the assignments I had during wars, coup attempts, the end of apartheid, the terrorist attacks.

 

But, working with an editor, she showed me that there was much more to this second memoir, that my travels to often dangerous places were part of my ongoing quest to carve out my own identity, apart from my family of origin. So, in that sense, although I knew the particulars of the various trips, I really didn’t realize what their significance was until I’d written it all down.

Q: The writer Donna Koros Stramella said of the book, “Immersion is a fascinating exploration of not only the key role of language but also the personal journey toward self-realization.” What do you think of that?

 

A: My use of language — as depicted throughout Immersion  — was key to helping me discover my potential, my identity. No one in my biological family had any fluency in foreign languages, so this was “my” field, and venturing into these other languages physically and emotionally lifted me out of their idea of who I was, an idea that I had held up as my mirror, unfortunately.

 

The various languages I’ve studied have enabled me to separate myself from a world in which I believe I was viewed as inferior, damaged, have allowed me to create a more authentic identity.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?

 

A: I hope readers take away numerous ideas.

 

First of all, that it’s never too late to live an authentic life, that if -I- could do it, anyone can.

 

Also, I hope they come away with the belief that, just because people close to you believe they know who you are (and aren’t) and lead you to believe you’re “less than,” you don’t have to look in their mirror forever. You can begin to see yourself with new eyes, build your own identity apart from them.

 

The downside is that you may lose people along the way, people who don’t like you spreading your wings, becoming confident, living your own life, but to live an inauthentic life is a much higher price to pay.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Right now, I’m doing a number of things. I’m putting together a book of illustrations from Ivy Lodge: my grandfather’s coffee pot, my mother’s elaborate necklace, my father’s train collection, etc., and I’m adding words from Ivy Lodge to those sketches.

 

Secondly, I’ve published about 30 essays and a few short stories, and I’d like to have them published together in several volumes.

 

There’s also my work with the Library of Congress as a docent, work I love, as well as my affiliation with the National Museum of Language, where I’m an Associate.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I’m a big believer in quotes; I have notebooks filled with ones that have uplifted me, inspired me, helped me find my way when I was down, but one of my favorites is one by Calvin Coolidge, about persistence, and maybe this is because I believe I am a persistent person, above all.

 

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Linda Murphy Marshall.