Leslie Karst

My Mom, the Potter

Tomorrow marks the official release of my newest Orchid Isle mystery, Murder, Local Style. The book is set in a small neighborhood reminiscent of the street where Robin and I live in Hilo, Hawai‘i, and concerns the local orchid society that my protagonist, Valerie Corbin, joins in order to make some friends in her new-found home.

Robin and I adore our neighborhood and are eternally grateful to my parents, Ken and Smiley, with whom we originally bought our house. We first started visiting Hilo because of my mom and dad, who fell in love with the place back in the early 1980s. But it was my mother who was the primary force behind our purchasing a home here together, for she would have loved to have moved here permanently. Since my father was unwilling to do so, we came up with a compromise and went in together on a house where Robin and I would spend half the year, and my parents would come for several months at a time.

Ken and Smiley on our front lānai

Both my parents are now gone, but everywhere I look in this house I am reminded of my mother. She and I purchased much of the furnishings together on Saturday garage-sale trips, and the two of us picked out much of the art that hangs on the walls. But mostly it’s the myriad ceramics she made, which can be found in most every room.

Smiley was a talented potter, and once she started spending time on the Big Island, she began crafting ceramic works of art inspired by this amazing place: pieces depicting ancient Hawaiian petroglyphs, tropical fish, and volcanoes:

And this amazing spatter cone:

More fish, including some fantastical ones:

So when I started drafting the manuscript for Murder, Local Style, I knew I wanted to include Mom in the story somehow. And what better way than by having ceramics be part of the plot? Thus was born the fictional Mo‘o Gallery in downtown Hilo. You can thank my mother for the details about glazes, firing, and modeling techniques, for although I did have to research a fair amount, I was surprised at how much information about pottery had rubbed off on me from her over the years.

And yes, I named one of the potters at the studio Doris, after my mother’s given name: Doris Smiley Cook (though she went by Smiley all her life).

So mahalo, Mom. Aloha wau iā ʻoe.

Readers: Do you have things around your house that remind you of someone who’s no longer with us?

37 thoughts on “My Mom, the Potter”

  1. I have my great-grandmother’s sterling silver teaspoon. You can feel the weight of the spoon, it’s that heavy/solid. Not like the spoons they make today.

    I remember going to visit her and she would ask me to make her some tea with her special teaspoon and her Social Tea cookies.

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  2. Leslie,

    Thank you for sharing this. I can tell it means a lot to you, and that makes me very happy.

    Sadly, I have no family heirlooms, because of being the black sheep. But I do try to go north occasionally to learn about my heritage, and try to find souvenirs that represent my PA Dutch background that I am very proud of.

    For me? My authors are my family. So that means in my souls I’m from everywhere and have a Heinz 57 pedigree.

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  3. Leslie, thank you so much for sharing that your mother inspired the plot for MURDER, LOCAL STYLE. That’s so beautiful. After my mother died, I took one of her sweaters. I keep it on the back of my chair in my office.

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  4. I have some antique wooden Japanese bowls passed down to me from my Mother, who received them from her grandfather. I also have some modern Japanese lacquer ware pieces made by my Mother’s sister, who became a master at it. My husband and I have matching chopsticks my Aunt made for us two decades ago; we use them at least a couple of times a week.

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  6. Congratulations on the new book, Leslie! I recently read WATERS OF DESTRUCTION in anticipation of MD 38 and thoroughly enjoyed it!

    My dad was in the Army and as it happens, I was born at Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu. My parents had moved there in early1959, just before statehood, and I have my mom’s territorial driver’s license.

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  7. Leslie:

    When my father retired to Sun City, Arizona he joined a pottery class and produced many wonky cactus-shaped ornaments that now grace my tree in Wyoming every Christmas. I suspect he was less into pottery and more into the female attention he received as the only man in class. 🙂

    He’s been gone 22 years, and it’s great to have a memory of him that makes me smile. Thanks for providing that, and congratulations on your new book!

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  8. What a lovely way to honor your mom! I love how personal and special the inspiration for this book is.

    I have some lovely reminders of my parents and grandparents. Along with all the pictures, I have a fabric basket woven from pieces of some of my mom’s favorite shirts, two vases that were hand painted for my grandmother and the shillelagh my dad toted all over Ireland to bring home when we were there 40 years ago! That one always makes me smile.

    Congrats on the new book release!

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  9. Leslie,

    I really enjoyed reading how you included both your mother’s talents and her name in your series. What a wonderful tribute.

    I keep my favorite picture of my mom by my bedside. I can still remember the day long ago when I snapped the photo. She’s sitting in a lawn chair on our back patio on a bright summer day, a big smile on her face, wearing one of those wildly colorful outfits you only wear in the summer, waiting for company to arrive. All is ready in the kitchen, the table is set, and family and friends are on their way. A minute later they arrived and my mom didn’t sit down again until they left. She loved being the hostess and company loved being with her. Just like I did. She’s been gone way too long, but the memories of that day are always with me.

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    1. That description of you mom brought a little tear to my eye, Debra, as it’s such a beautiful and vivid memory. Your mom sounds like someone I would have truly loved. I have similar memories of my mom, too. Sending you hugs.

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  10. Lovely post, Leslie. And as you know, there’s tons of Mom’s pottery all over our house and yards, as well as some of Mom and Dad’s furniture. I treasure the reminders of them on a daily basis.

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  11. Leslie, how beautiful. And I love your mother’s pottery. I have so much that reminds me of my parents. But my favorite thing is that my mom had a bazillion scarfs. Gorgeous ones. When she passed, I brought them to Mom’s memorial luncheon and let all the women take the ones they liked best. A lot of them put the scarves on right then, so it was like a sea of Mom memories at the luncheon!

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  13. Leslie, what a beautiful post! Thanks for sharing about your mom and your book.

    I have different mementoes of my mom, but one that I see frequently see are these seashell wind chimes that I hung up. One of the first trips my parents took (when they could afford it) was to Oʻahu…

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  14. What a lovely post! My mom was an artist so I have a lot of her paintings, and a couple of her failed attempts at pottery… but I love them because her hands made them. (Her birthday was yesterday, BTW!)

    I love that her name was Smiley! That tracks. Looking at those pictures, and having met Laura recently in SF (hi Laura!), I can see that the genes run *strong* in your family, from the physical resemblance to the creative expression, all the way down to the martinis! 😊

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  15. Martinis run strong in my family as well. When we buried them (my parents, not the martini) we had a lovely luncheon in Carmel and ordered everyone at the table a gin martini. A grand salute to the folks. I also have some paintings of theirs — watercolour of Paris and one of Barcelona streets. I have a painting of my paternal grandmother painted by my great great aunt. And my daughter will inherit a pastel portrait made of me when I was six years old. The artist was Doug Jones, a well-known Chilean artist living in LaJolla where he had his studio and gallery.

    I love this photo of your folks. I’ve got a huge stack of “to read” books now and when I finish I shall order your latest! Congratulations on yet another mystery story!

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  16. Leslie, what a beautiful tribute to your mom! My mom’s name was also Doris. And she didn’t go by her given name, either. My house is so full of my parents’ things that I can spot an item from any spot in any room. In fact, my sister’s 40s bedroom set fills my office (which doubles as a guest room). I really enjoyed taking ceramics classes at summer camp each year. It’s a lot harder than it looks, ha!

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