Book examines Day through memories of people she knew

Rosalie G. Riegle met Dorothy Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker movement, only once, but that didn't stop the author from writing a book about her.

Dr. Riegle visited Albany recently as part of a tour promoting "Dorothy Day: Portraits by Those Who Knew Her" (Orbis Books). She spoke at Emmaus House, the Catholic Worker center in Albany.

The author is professor emerita of English at Saginaw Valley State University in Saginaw, Mich.

Many facets

Dr. Riegle said that "Dorothy Day was many things to many people. I admired her in so many ways; and in writing this book, I wanted to present her as the very down-to-earth, human person that she really was -- Dorothy Day with all of her complexities.

"The book isn't a biography. Rather, it describes her as she lives on in people's memories. Some might remember her as charming; others might recall her as being crabby or domineering, cynical, impatient -- or as being a great storyteller, someone with a wonderful sense of humor. She was all of those things, as well as a loving, patient and caring woman. She always cared for the poor and the hungry.

"The fact is, there are so many Dorothy's that we remember. She had an uncanny ability to be exactly what a person needed her to be at the moment. In her core, though, she was a woman who was just trying to live the life that God wanted her to live."

Scores of interviews

For her book, Dr. Riegle interviewed 134 people who met Ms. Day just once or twice, knew her intimately or worked with her at one of the 180 Catholic Worker houses established during her lifetime.

The interviewees include Felicia Carrano Carl, whose grandparents lived in an apartment next to Ms. Day's, which later became the first Catholic Worker house, and Ms. Day's only child, Tamar.

The list also includes Walt Chura, who ran Simple Gifts, a Catholic Worker bookstore and community center in Albany from 1976 to 1987. He now directs retreats on Catholic Worker, Thomas Merton and the Shakers, and volunteers at Emmaus House.

Follow-up volume

Dr. Riegle decided to interview the people after writing her first book on the history of the Catholic Worker movement. While researching that book, which was published in 1993, she became acquainted with many people who wanted to continue telling Ms. Day's stories. Her new book deals with the founder's life from the first issue of The Catholic Worker newspaper in 1933 to her death in 1980.

The author warned that "it's easy to mythologize this woman, who said, 'Don't call me a saint,' and yet is being considered for nomination to sainthood today."

There was a "kind of intensity about [Dorothy Day] that grabbed you. When she spoke with you, you had a sense that she was really listening to everything you said and was genuinely interested in your thoughts. When I met her, Dorothy was 71, yet she still had a tremendous energy about her and an interest in what was going on.

"'Dorothy stories' abound. They ensure her place in the annals of Christian peacemaking. But they might also create an unapproachable saint, one whom people could easily dismiss. The purpose of this book is to keep that from happening."

(Catholic Worker has two websites: www.catholicworker.org and www.catholicworker.com. The latter, which is privately operated, offers information about Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement. For information on Dr. Rosalie Riegle's book, call the Albany Catholic Worker Community at 482-4966. The website for Orbis Books is www.maryknoll.org.)

(1/29/04)