SYBIL'S FRIEND

 


       

                                          Shirley  Mason                              Nancy  Preston

                                                                                                         "The Family"

 

         

 

                                                                                             "Blue is the Color of Love"                                                      

            

     "The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed."   ---Carl Jung 

       

             

Shirley Mason, aka Sybil, was my longtime friend and mentor. We met when she was my art professor at Rio Grande College.  We talked, visited, and wrote letters for over twenty-five years until her death in 1998. My last letter and phone call from her were in January, 1998. She died the following month from the breast cancer that had recurred after a long remission. I treasure the time we spent together for many reasons. Although she was the victim of horrific childhood abuse, she was a survivor. She did not whine nor complain about the circumstances of her youth. She became a successful artist in Lexington, Kentucky, where she lived for many years. She designed toys and formed her own company, Mason Arts, Inc.. Shirley lived quietly, and died quietly, doing the things she loved.   

                Shirley told me of her "Sybil" identity before the book was published in 1973 and swore me to secrecy. I kept that secret until well after her death. It would be fine with her that I am talking about her now. She would want people to know that you either rise above the circumstances of your birth and upbringing, or you sink beneath the mire. Shirley was never one to give up. She endured her  childhood; she endured her DID (dissociative identity disorder); she became a woman to be admired because of her ability to rise above adversity. Others suffering from this disorder can find hope in her story.

            My  book, Life After Sybil...From the Words of Shirley Mason, is based on Shirley's letters to me. Using her handwritten letters, I tell her story in chronological order from 1971-1998. Both the  book and the movie, Sybil, ended in 1965 with the integration of Shirley's personalities.  My book begins Shirley's story in 1971 when she was an assistant art professor at Rio Grande College; and ends with her death in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1998. The director's cut of Sybil and a documentary about the making of the movie were released July 18th, 2006 in a two DVD set. I was interviewed about our long time association and that interview is included in the DVD in the section "The Paintings of Sybil". It is interesting to note that Shirley's name is not mentioned in the DVD.  I was told that it was  due to legal problems with the use of her real identity in connection with the book Sybil. The re-make of the movie, starring Jessica Lange as Dr. Wilbur and Tammy Blanchard as Sybil was filmed in Canada and was recently released in the United States. 

 

                                                                                                                                  

                

                            Sally Field, Sybil                                            Sybil, 1976 movie                                           Joanne Woodward, Dr. Wilbur                                                              

                                                   Jessica Lange and Tammy Blanchard star in CBS's two-hour movie 'Sybil.'                                                   

                                                                                   Sybil remake, Jessica Lange and Tammy Blanchard

      

    

   My Links:    

        E-Mail Me  

Shirley

Details about my friend, aka Sybil

                                                                                            

Shirley's Art

 Fresh A.I.R. Gallery, Columbus, Ohio

 (Exhibit of Shirley's Art)

"Footbridge in Georgia"

(Shirley's gift to me)

  A Watercolor by Mary     

     

Excerpt from my Book

Life After Sybil...

From the Words of Shirley Mason

 

Shirley's Letters

We corresponded until her

death in 1998.

 Quotes from her letters to me

 

Nancy's World

(Author Blog)

Oct. 6, 2008: "On the Road Again"

                          

    Associated Links:

About Shirley Mason / Sybil

   Sybil.biz - Shirley Mason's Art

   Yahoo – Whatever happened to Sybil?
   Wikipedia - article about the book Sybil.

 

Dissociative Identity / Multiple Personality Resources

   Merck Manual – Dissociative Identity Disorder

   International Society for the Study of Dissociation
   Wikipedia -  article about DID
   Swan Pond Press
   A blog by a young woman with Multiple Personality Disorder
   Beautiful Dreamer: Living with Multiplicity

 

 

 

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