Laughter and Hats: Remembering Betty-Erle Rhodes

Photo courtesy of Denise Gentsch

When I met Betty-Erle Rhodes, she’d just moved to northwest New Mexico. She was a storyteller. She had the kind of face that always seemed ready to break into a smile. She wore embroidered skirts and glorious hats. We served together on the board of the local arts council and met up for lunch and tea every so often. A few of my books were out in the world, but I struggled constantly with self-doubt, never knowing when the publishing faucets would run dry. Betty-Erle had been a children’s librarian and she believed passionately in the power of books and reading.

Once, when I was contemplating quitting this writing business, as I did from time to time (did I really need all that rejection?) she said, “Well, if you don’t write those books, they’re going to be stuck in your head, rattling around!” And she made a rattly noise, halfway between rainstick and rattlesnake. We both laughed and I had to admit that yes, self-doubt was a frivolous indulgence..

I kept writing my books and was lucky enough to get several more published. We both moved away from that odd little corner of northwest New Mexico. I lost and regained contact several times with my friend Betty-Erle. We talked on the phone occasionally. As happens over time, those occasions became less frequent.

This summer I got an email from her daughter Denise, who had shared a blog post of mine with her mother. It was the one about personal geographies in Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Her daughter wrote that Betty-Erle “enjoyed reading your review and asked if your contact information was the same. She said to tell you she loved you and missed you although she has not been in contact in quite awhile.”

I called, and found my friend in a car with her daughter—they were on their way to the hospital. She sounded tired but she could still laugh.

Betty-Erle Rhodes passed away in Abilene, TX July 8, 2023. In the best of all possible outcomes, there’s an afterwhere, and she is lending story and laughter to it.