The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1951-08-20
Women In
The Mems

American resident of British
North Borneo. first went to that
remote outpost of Empire in 1924.
That was when she married Harry
Keith, Conservator of Forests and
Director of Agriculture there.
Since then Mrs. Keith has written
a couple of fascinating /. books
about her experiences. Folks all
over the world read them, she
has just turned out a new one
called white Man Returns" This
book-her thirds more like her
first, called Land Below The
Wind"
Her most dramatic book. of all
was the one she titled, Three
Came Home" Perhaps you saw
the movie Hollywood made of it.
II was a heart breaking account
of the authors four-year impris.
onment in japanese camps under
unspeakable conditions. Even to-
day, Mrs. Keith finds that she
chokes up when she talks about
those terrible four years. She tells
US that the only thing WI ;ch car
ried her through was her love
for her husband and their young
son. S
Mrs. Keith is a handsome wo-
man, with dark hair which she
wears brushed straight back in a
simple coiffure. Her manner is
extremely pleasant, but there's a
sad expression about her eyes,
even when she smiles. Those ex-
periences in the prison camp have
left their mark on her.
BY comparison with three
Came Home" seems almost gay,
The writer and her six.year-old
son returned to Sandakan, the
capital of British North Borneo,
in l947. Mr.. Keith had gone there
a few months earlier. The author
had hard time recognizing the
place. She says. "The town. had
been burned to the ground by
the Japanese. There was no shell
ter. except palrn-leaf shacks, for
anyone. All fishing boats, all mot
or vehicles and all transport ami
mails had been destroyed, The
rice output had fallen disastrous
ly. Rehabilitation of the entire
country was necessary" And she
goes on to tell how this was ac-
coinplished.
Mrs. Keith has chatty, infor-
NAL way of writing. She tells in.
teresting stories about the native
tribesmen, Chinese and Euras-
ians. And she tells how they adore
American comics with Malay
texts--the big favorite being
"Superman." They've interested
in all else American, too, and al
ways ply Mrs. Keith with ques-
tons about this country.
Women are stubborn, so they
do what's impossible and dust off
their hands when they're finished.
Take the intriguing new psychol-
ogy book, Your Normal Mind, !"
by Luby Loo - Bel pollack.
She says that she really had no
business writing it, because she
isn't a psychiatrist. She isn't even
a psychologist. Just a housewife
mother-lecturer-and article-writ-
er. What did she know about the
strange and weird mental phen-
omena--tricks of the minds that
happen to normal people?" Moth
ENTHUSIASTICALLY So she wrote
a book, and it is selling well. In
fact, it's so good that Mrs. POLL
ack's husband, a Milwaukee psy-
chiatrist who had disapproved Of
the whole thing right from the
start, came to her when it was
done and said, sHere. Dear, IS
yoJF gold medal. You hesefr& ex1
eI cafat of NJ &ttAalk tl1(
- sl& 4s-1twosby NH
replica of the dust jacket Of Luby
Pollack's first book.
1t took her two and one half
years to write it. Most of the re-
search was done at Marquette
University's medical library. The
work was sandwiched in between
cooking, cleaning. running q nine
room, house and fandinu IN f1yn