Nancy

 

"Shirley was my teacher, my mentor, and most of all...my friend."

 

 

   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 what she had endured earlier. She became a successful artist in Lexington, Kentucky, where she lived for many years. She designed toys and formed her own company called Mason Arts. 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 overcome 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 some of Shirley’s art is featured in it. Both movies are now frequently rerun on cable television.    

                                                                                                                                              

 

    

                                                                                                 

  

 

Created by Lori D. Conley-Mercer 2006