When they called her name at the awards ceremony, Catherine Maiorisi pushed herself
out of her chair and then steadied herself before aiming her body toward the stage. All I
could see was her shimmering white hair drifting like a cloud as she made her way,
small step by small step, up the stairs and across the stage to the presenter.
I don’t know how long it took. Two minutes? Five? Not once did the applause drop. They
kept clapping until she stood at the podium.
I know she gave a good acceptance speech afterward, but that’s not what I remember. I
remember her determined movement. I didn’t know how old she was, but it was clear
she was probably the oldest person in the room.
The next morning, I was lucky to find her in the lobby, before she left Orlando to return
to her home in Manhattan. Catherine is not an imposing figure—she is small, slightly
stooped with a soft smile and intelligent eyes. I congratulated her on her win. She
nodded, smiled, and said it had been unexpected and appreciated. She told me the
stairs to and from the stage were the first she’d climbed and descended since having
knee replacement surgery within the past year. She said she’d forgotten that until
later—forgotten she hadn’t done stairs in months. There had been no discernible
hesitation in her going up or coming down those stairs.
She told me she was eighty-eight and that the hardest part of aging was the physical
decline. Then she shrugged and smiled again.
A couple days later, I read a Facebook post of hers: “Back from the GCLS conference
fired up as usual to write. I’m bouncing between three different romances–an opera singer,
an alcoholic, and a grieving widow that will probably be short stories or novellas. But,” she
adds, “I think I'll concentrate on the mystery I wrote in November 2009,” which she says
she’s been working off and on ever since. In another post, she tells someone she hopes to
see them in Portland for next year’s GCLS conference.
Catherine Maiorisi is eighty-eight years old and still climbing stairs.
That’s Inspirement.
Catherine Maiorisi’s GOLDIE from the Golden Crown Literary Society was for her novel, “Blood of the Innocents.”