Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was one of seven Democratic candidates running for Governor of Georgia last April when I first wrote to her. Ann Smith, the CEO of Featherstone Center for the Arts and a woman with a vast archive of personal knowledge about Vineyard-connected creatives, had told me that Bottoms spends time on the Island. Bottoms’ memoir, “The Rough Side of the Mountain,” was about to be published. I emailed her publisher (Mariner Books) and asked if Bottoms would be interested in joining us at Islanders Write in July to talk about her writing process. The answer was yes.
A month later Georgia held its primary and Bottoms became the Democratic candidate for Governor. I reached out again to ask if she’d still be available. “I’m looking forward to it,” Bottoms replied.
About her memoir, MV Times Voices columnist Sharisse Scott-Rawlins wrote: “While “The Rough Side of the Mountain” chronicles an extraordinary public life — from attorney to mayor of Atlanta — it is remarkably uninterested in building a monument to accomplishment. Instead, Bottoms, who is currently running for governor of Georgia, introduces us to the people who shaped her. We meet Keisha the granddaughter before Keisha the mayor. The daughter before the public servant. The young woman learning to navigate grief, identity, marriage, infertility, motherhood, and faith long before she ever steps onto a political stage. This is not, at its heart, a political memoir. Politics simply becomes one of the many mountains she climbs. At its core, ‘The Rough Side of the Mountain’ is a memoir about becoming.”
On July 16, Bottoms arrived at Featherstone for Islanders Write with her husband, Derek, and a few dear friends and took part in the final panel discussion of the day. In a fascinating conversation, moderated by Sherry Sidoti, the author of “A Smoke and A Song,” Bottoms and Belle Burden, author of the best-selling memoir “Strangers,” talked about how they approached writing their memoirs.
Then, on Nov. 3, Keisha Lance Bottoms made history by becoming the first Black woman to be elected Governor in America! All of us at the MV Times and Islanders Write congratulate Governor-elect Bottoms.
Below are a few of her remarks from last summer’s Islanders Write.
On organizing the memories of her life
What was really helpful for me is that I had assignments. Write about your father’s incarceration. Write about your infertility. Write about your mother’s hair salon — what did it look like, what did it smell like?
On the best advice she got about writing
The best advice I had received was from David Axelrod [former chief strategist for Barack Obama], who said he got this advice from President Obama, was to stop writing for perfection and just get it out.
On exposing so many personal details about her life while running for political office
I didn’t write under the lens of ‘I’m going to run for office again,’ so it allowed me to just be more free. In fact, when I made the decision to even run for office, when I gave it [the draft of her memoir] to my political team, they were like oh do you really want to say that? I’m like, yes I do and we are leaving that part in the book.
On what got left out
I didn’t feel that every story was my story to tell. I could have written three more books on the things that I left out, but I thought this is somebody else’s story to tell.
On what she hopes readers will take away from reading her book.
That you are enough. I write about struggling with imposter syndrome, or not thinking that I belonged or I deserve to be in certain rooms. Whether we look like we’ve been through it or not, most of us have been through something. We have overcome something, and so many of us fight so hard.
Please shop local and find out more about the life of Keisha Lance Bottoms. “The Rough Side of the Mountain” is available at Edgartown Books or Bunch of Grapes.
