Crashing into the Third Heaven

First-time novelist, Janis Baker, has written a story that seems at first glance to be somewhat fragile, but don’t be fooled. After flipping a few pages, the finely-honed characters reel you in and you suddenly realize that Crashing into the Third Heaven; Book One: A Thorn in the Flesh is a powerhouse tale of the importance of developing faith, courage, and forgiveness in this life. For readers born in the 1940s, or before, your long-held memories will surface and connect you to the story unraveling at breakneck speed. To readers born after 1968, settle-in and learn about America’s history and the atmosphere in which children and adults grew-up. This tale shines a brilliant flash of light on two, Irish-American girls’ lives and in the background, spinning out an audacious, but often, heinous account, is America’s Civil Rights Movement. This most surely tests the girl’s faith and affects their thinking, their deep-seated feelings, and how they treat people. In the summer of 1955, Erin O’Hara and Lily McCarey travel from Gateway, Colorado to Lamar, Colorado for a week’s stay with relatives. During this visit, the girls are challenged by fourteen year-old, Salvie Baldwin, a Negro, to learn about the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 landmark decision that segregated schools were unconstitutional. Before 1955 came to a close, Salvie sends them a newspaper clipping of Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her bus seat and her arrest. Eventually they accept the challenge, but little do they know that this hard push would profoundly assess and strengthen their moral fiber and build a foundation of unwavering beliefs addressing the human condition. The story is rich with memorable characters, whose words and actions will remain in your inner thoughts long after you have finished the book. Erin O’Hara, the storyteller, is smart, tough, independent, and a persistent contender by nature. Her best friend, Lily McCarey, is highly intelligent, artistically gifted and ceaselessly loyal, and is a master at becoming invisible. Both girls desperately want their fathers’ affections: Erin wishes for her father to love her as much as he does her older sister, Kylie. Lily works hard at becoming a top-notch student and to earn her place as a prima ballerina to gain her father’s approval. They suffer in silence while strict love is meted out and wait in vain for validation that never comes. Joy O’Hara, Erin’s mother, exemplifies decency and teaches unconditional love through her words and actions. Behind her soft voice and gentle demeanor is a sharp, inquisitive mind. This is a blessing, as Dan O’Hara, Erin’s father, grew-up in the rough and tumble world of a poor Irish family and begins working when he is eight years old to help his family. In his mind, earning as much money as possible is his first commitment to his family. Dan has a “winning is all” mentality and is intent on controlling everything in his life. Mayleen Watson, a Negro, is hired by Joy on the premise of helping with housework. Joy’s honest intent in hiring Mayleen, who is a wise, good woman, is to help her husband overcome his racial prejudices and to keep their children color-blind. Mayleen grew-up in the back bayous of Louisiana, and at fourteen years of age, buries her grandmother in their backyard and provides a righteous service for the woman who raised and loved her. Mayleen stays in their home with only her grandmother’s shotgun for company and continues her schooling in a one-room, ramshackle building until she graduates. Erin and Lily dearly love Mayleen, who hands out tough love through sass and laughter. She and her husband have six children, but he is of little help, as he is an irresponsible alcoholic. To Erin, Mayleen is the soothing salve that is administered to a blistered part of her aching body, when her father fails to recognize her accomplishments. In 1957, Erin and Lily are mature enough to fulfill their promise to Salvie. They go back to the incident concerning Rosa Parks and are soon introduced to the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. They begin to learn about the Civil Rights Movement, as their city’s newspaper headings and pictures announce what is happening in the Deep South regarding the fight over school integration. Following these activities becomes a true commitment. In the beginning of her sophomore year in high school, Erin suffers a tragic fall on the track field and nearly loses her left leg to gangrene. A little less than a year later, after a grueling recovery period, she is told that her days of participating in sports are over. Her physician encourages her to set her sights on other endeavors. In short order, Erin learns about an opportunity to represent Gateway County, at the State Pageant for the 1963 America’s Junior Miss Pageant. Additionally, Erin reads about a scholarship contest sponsored by Seventeen magazine; the prize is a fully paid scholarship to the Tobe-Coburn School of Fashion and Design in New York City. Erin is determined to win both, which will help her redesign her life. She represents Gateway and wins the State title and in March, 1963, Erin and her mother are passengers in a plane that is blasting down the runway towards Mobile, Alabama. In a stop-over in Shreveport, Louisiana, Erin runs into a nasty little man, the security guard, who exemplifies racially-driven hatred and words are exchanged over which drinking fountain she will use. Joy escorts her daughter out of the airport, telling her that she does not wish to spend their first night in the Deep South in a jail cell. A cold chill runs down Erin’s spine, as she realizes that she is now in a place where she does not belong. Once in Mobile, the girls are welcomed by their host families. On Sunday morning, after attending a church service, they see all of the lovely spots in the city. On Monday afternoon, the girls ready themselves for the highly celebrated Pageant’s Parade. As the parade begins to move forward, Erin’s senses are assaulted by the degrading signage that plasters the buildings, announcing if and where the “Colored” may receive services. She is now sick at heart, as she realizes that she is in the middle of Dixie. As she looks over her shoulder, she sees an unending line of sparkling white Cadillac convertibles, each carrying a state winner, dressed in white ball gown, draped with a State Sash. At this point it dawns on Erin that not one state out of fifty has a Negro girl “representing the wholesome development of the youth of America,” and she loses control and tears stream down her face and onto her beautiful gown. By Tuesday evening, Erin is ill, once again. That evening they meet their chaperones at a special dinner. The parents are waiting to join their daughters and as Erin hugs Joy, she tells her that she must speak with her immediately. Erin is keeping a solemn promise to her parents. Joy already knows her daughter is ill, as she is burning up with a fever. They return to Joy’s hotel room and the host family is summoned. After a few moments, it is determined that one of the hosts, a fine physician and surgeon, should be called. After listening to Joy’s story about Erin’s past illness, while he examines her, he announces that her condition is serious and she will not be allowed to continue with the pageant rehearsals until her health improves. He states that if her temperature is down tomorrow morning, she may attend her interview session. This ends up being painfully disheartening, as the information the Judges have before them is no longer relevant. Erin sits out most of the next three days, until Friday evening, when she dresses in a simple evening gown and gives her talent presentation.