ST. GEORGE, UT, June 4, 2021
Catherine Forster
“We moved like gypsies, my father chasing the elusive brass ring in sales. He promised adventure, a new state, a new town, a new school, but I found only chaos and menace.”
Catherine Forster’s memoir Tarzan and Me, recently acquired by E.L. Marker, is a story about bullying and the role of imagination when there is no other means of escape. It is also a story of finding yourself in the here and now, because escape Forster asserts, though tempting, is not the answer. Tarzan, Forster’s imaginary companion and protector, was conjured to banish the bullying she faced at home and at school, the freckles and “the pudge” she wished were no part of her. But not even Tarzan, her only confidant and true friend, was going to rescue her. She had to rescue herself.
“Memory is fickle, but defines who we are. It’s not fact but can reveal truth. I am the second child of eight children. We grew up together, lived under the same roof, shared vacations, watched fireworks together on the July 4th, hunted Easter eggs––my Dad’s home movies reveal we did so––but we did not have the same childhood. The book excavates my childhood, and I hope its lessons will for some, help curb the long-term effects of bullying.”
Forster examines her childhood and excavates pop culture and contemporary research to illustrate the impact of bullying on children. Her memoir will appeal to young adult women endeavoring to understand their own childhood story, to mothers raising daughters, and to teen girls vulnerable to self-harm.
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Catherine Forster is a writer, filmmaker, and visual artist working in Chicago. She received an M.F.A. in painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and completed a writing Fellowship with Vermont Studios. Her artwork and films have been exhibited in museums, commercial galleries, and festivals throughout the US and abroad. Forster rises with the sun. She is currently at work on the third draft of a novel.
To learn more, visit https://catforster.com/chasing-tarzan/.