Former New Madrid resident pens her biography

NEW MADRID, Mo. — In many ways Mary Sue Anton’s new book is a story of resilience.

Her tale begins with growing up in a family of 10 children, living on the banks of the Mississippi River. She recalls watching the river rise in 1937, forcing her family to take refuge in the New Madrid County Courthouse.

Yet her family persevered.

As she grew up, she knew she wanted more from life than her small hometown could offer. She would move from Southeast Missouri to find the love of her life only to find her world turned upside down when her husband decided to attend medical school. Together they would build a better life for themselves and their young family.

When the pandemic, shut down daily life as everyone knew it, Anton turned it into an opportunity. Anton, now in her 90s, used those days of isolation to write about her life creating her newest book, “Leaving the Homeplace: Tales Beyond the Levee.”

On Friday, April 19, Anton’s book will be introduced to New Madrid residents at the Friends of the New Madrid Historical Museum’s annual meeting.

During COVID, Anton said she initially urged the residents at her independent living center to write about themselves. She would suggest questions they might use to begin their stories. After about a month, she realized not everyone is a writer.

“So I thought, I will just do this for myself,” Anton said. As the sentences grew into paragraphs and the paragraphs into pages, Anton realized she was writing a story others might want to read.

The book includes stories about growing up on a dairy farm in New Madrid County, the Great Depression, her Catholic education, World War II and her life as a wife and mother.

“I think we had a lot of childhood tribulation,” reflected Anton. “But you can get through that. You make a plan for your life and you pursue it.”

Leaving her childhood home behind, Anton said her plan was to seek out the love of her life. Laughing, she said, she found him almost too quickly and soon married Arthur David Anton. Together they would raise three children, Arthur David “David” Anton Jr., Beth Anton Papasakelariou and Philip Jerome Anton.

Over the years Anton has worked as a computer tutor, soybean farmer, lecturer on genealogy and freelance editor. Also honed her writing skills, publishing “New Madrid: A Mississippi River Town in History and Legend” in 2009 and “Tales from a Century-Old Courthouse: New Madrid County, Missouri” in 2016.

Writing her most recent book Anton said has given her the opportunity to share memories with her siblings, which she included in her book. She has also rekindled relationships with more distant relatives including a cousin, Lee Shallat Chemel, an award winning television director and producer.

The challenge the book posed, Anton said, is learning when you have said enough.

“You don’t want to get carried away. You don’t have to write everything, just what is interesting to your readers,” she said.

As for what is next, Anton laughs and insists “Leaving the Homeplace: Tales Beyond the Levee” is her last book.

Pausing she adds, “Well, my father-in-law was a funny guy and told funny stories. I do have a lot of them.”

Perhaps Anton isn’t done writing books yet.

- - -

“Leaving the Homeplace: Tales Beyond the Levee” is available through AcclaimPress.com and other major online booksellers. Commemorative editions are also available at the New Madrid Historical Museum with proceeds supporting the Museum.