Fearless Women, Champions Of Change: Bonnie Lee Black, Author

By Carolina de la Cajiga

In 2015, Bonnie Lee Black attended the San Miguel Writers’ Conference. "It was my first time, and I was immediately captivated by the town and its people."

At the age of 70, she was ready to retire, so she made the major decision to sell her small condo in Taos, New Mexico, and move to San Miguel de Allende. “This was one of the best decisions of my life,” she says.

Bonnie’s life has been a journey of resilience, marked by both highs and lows. In her most challenging moments, she has never succumbed to despair; instead, she has fought with all her strength and intelligence. Her story is a testament to the human spirit’s ability to overcome adversity and emerge wiser, if not always triumphant.

A turning point in Bonnie’s life was when her ex-husband abducted their daughter. For many years, Bonnie did all she could to find her daughter and be reunited. As a last hope, at 33, Bonnie decided writing a book would help her reach her daughter, so she attended Columbia University on a full scholarship and earned a B.A. in Literature and Writing. Her publisher, Viking Press, sent Bonnie on an author tour across the United States in 1981, when the issue of parental child abductions was at its height in the news.

‘Somewhere Child,’ Bonnie’s memoir, helped to bring the issue of child-snatching to the forefront and was partially instrumental in the establishment of the Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

At the age of 51, Bonnie joined the U.S. Peace Corps, working with mothers and children as a health and nutrition volunteer for two years in French-speaking Gabon, Central Africa. “I later wrote about that experience in a memoir titled ‘How to Cook a Crocodile,’ which won a ‘Best in the World’ award from Gourmand International, Paris, in 2012,” she said. In 2001, Bonnie returned to the States and earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University in Los Angeles. “Now, I could teach writing at the college level. I settled in northern New Mexico, where I taught for ten years at UNM in Taos. “I was humbled when, one year, I was voted ‘Most Inspirational Instructor.’”

Living in San Miguel has been a learning curve for her. "My only Spanish was culinary when I arrived," she jokes, like "chile con carne"or "enchiladas verdes." "And I’m still desperately trying to learn how to converse comfortably in Spanish. I’m not giving up! I like a good challenge.”

Since moving to San Miguel, Bonnie has been writing The WOW Factor, a weekly blog about living in San Miguel as a single, older woman. “It’s already been ten years writing about my love for México, its culture and history, its food and music, but most of all about its people.  I have interviewed other mature, single women expats here and have found their stories to be similar to mine. We are so grateful to be here in San Miguel, happily giving back in whatever ways we can.”

Going back to her own story, Bonnie says, “Last year I wrote ‘The Other Side,’ a sequel to my first book, ‘Somewhere Child, ’ attempting to understand why my ex-husband did what he did and share what’s happened in the intervening years.” This past May, Bonnie turned 80, and the thought of aging became unavoidable. “I can’t help but think a lot about what Mexicans call la tercera edad (the third age). I firmly believe we older women have a lot to offer – even a responsibility to do so. We have more free time and certainly more life experience than ever before. Most importantly, I believe, we are wiser, more compassionate, and more understanding because we’ve known heartache and loss. And we have so much less to lose now that our lives are almost at an end. We’ve become more fearless than ever.”

A line from the Beatles’ song ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ keeps repeating in Bonnie’s mind: ‘Living is easy with eyes closed.’ She admits, “It isn’t easy to stay in the fight – to wake up, stand up and speak up against the injustice and inhumanity we see in the news daily. But we must try. Each of us must do whatever we can."

“I strongly feel we older women shouldn’t allow ourselves to be sidelined. We have to keep our eyes open during these dark and difficult days to see where we might make a positive difference in this world.”

For details, you can go to:

www.bonnieleeblack.com