BRATTLEBORO — A special showing of the locally produced film, Quiet Rebel: Lynn Martin's Story, will be presented at the new arts venue, 118 Elliot, on Sunday, Sept. 27, at 4 p.m.
The 80-minute film is produced by Paul Bennett and Vidda Crochetta, and is being presented with the help and support of BCTV and Write Action. Both the filmmaker and Lynn Martin will be present at this showing and participate in a question-and-answer session afterwards.
Martin, a longtime Brattleboro resident, is an activist, poet, and painter, and a retired HIV Prevention Specialist of the AIDS Project of Southern Vermont, where she worked as a volunteer for 18 years.
In a 2011 story on Martin by Becky Karush in the Brattleboro Reformer, Martin describes her turn toward poetry, at age 50: “'I stood there, and in my mind I put all the people I was angry at...at the bottom of the stairs. And I told them off.
“And then, whatever it was inside me said, 'Okay, Lynn, you are really angry. There is something missing from your life. Where are you going to be in five years? Are you going to be in the same place?' And I dragged the typewriter over, and that's where I started to write poetry. My joy is in giving voice to people who don't necessarily have it, because that was my story."
And from the same article, Karush states, “Here's another thing about Lynn Martin … her story is like oil paints spread on a canvas with a wise hand. Her story is rich and textured. Her story reveals imagination. Her story is unexpected. Her story loves people."
Martin has published three books of poetry (and several mystery stories) and has often participated in open poetry readings as a member of Write Action. Her most recent collection (as she turns 80) is Birds of a Feather.
Her story is told in Quiet Rebel through interviews with her, her family, friends, and co-workers.