Today we are
talking with one of my friends and favorite authors, Donna Janell Bowman, about
her
newest book WINGS OF AN EAGLE: THE GOLD MEDAL DREAMS OF BILLY MILLS,
co-authored with Billy Mills and illustrated by S.D. Nelson. Donna, I was blown away by this wonderful
story which will be released on July 2nd.
How did you come to collaborate with Lakota Olympian Billy
Mills on WINGS?
In some ways, like Billy’s Olympic journey and ultimate gold
medal, my own journey with WINGS has felt like a long-distance test of
endurance, stamina, and metamorphosis. Our collaboration, even more than the
book itself, was my reward.
I learned about Billy about ten years ago while researching
for a different book. I couldn’t stop thinking about his remarkable
come-from-behind journey to the Olympics. He had overcome great odds, from
losing his parents as a child, life on an impoverished reservation, health
challenges, and systemic racism. His was the ultimate underdog story, and it
resonated with me deeply.
At about the same time, I entered VCFA’s MFA writing
program, focused on children’s and young adult literature. As part of my
creative work, I drafted a picture book about Billy that showed promise. But I
couldn’t consider submitting the manuscript until I reckoned with whether it
was appropriate for me, a white woman, to tell Billy’s story. There was no
legal reason why I couldn’t. But was it right? My agent and I agreed that the
answer was no unless I had Billy’s blessings and input. But reaching Billy proved
more challenging than I expected.
Long story shortish, 49 months and 43 emails, phone calls,
and social media direct messages after my 2015 first draft, my college athlete
son and I sat in the Mills’ living room for an interview that lasted all day.
During those glorious hours, Billy and his wife, Patricia, shared stories, photos,
cultural artifacts, sacred items, family history. At one particular display
case, Billy recounted memories attached to his Olympic souvenirs and
memorabilia. He even slid his gold medal over my head and rendered me
speechless.
Ultimately, Billy not only invited me to tell his story, but
he agreed to collaborate with me to ensure a narrative that was authentic to
his truth. That moment, and the countless phone calls, Zoom calls, emails, and
texts since then, have been the honor of my career. The rest, as they say, is
history.
This book is beautifully written. Why did you choose to
write the narrative with a lyrical style and metaphors? In other words, how did
you choose the voice?
First, thank you! I think about voice a lot when I begin a
new story. My goal is always to use voice as a soundtrack, of sorts, to set a
tone and reflect the story subject. Even before Billy and I began our
collaboration, I had been immersed in decades of his interviews and speeches
that are preserved in print, audio, and video, so I had a base to work with. At
the same time, I read a lot of Native literature and poetry. Native
storytelling has some of the most evocative and powerful metaphorical language
that I have ever seen. To honor Billy and his Native culture, it felt right to
blend his voice with lyricism. At every step, I ran the text by him for
approval. Well-placed metaphors and similes are used to stitch the highs and
lows of his life together as throughlines. For example, the term “wings of an
eagle” is attributed to an episode from Billy’s childhood. After his mother
died, his father told him he had broken wings, but if he chased a dream, he
could have wings of an eagle. That inspired the bird-related metaphors that
evoke struggle, freedom, and flight in the story. Likewise for the Lakota
prayer, “we are all related,” and the motif of footprints, which Billy often
refers to in his speeches. Metaphorical language has layers that can pack an
emotional and thought-provoking punch in few words.
What is the research process like for a collaborative
project like WINGS OF AN EAGLE?
My initial pre-collaboration research was fairly typical:
newspaper and magazine articles about Billy, U.S. census records, military
records, Indian census, video and print interviews, witness accounts, books, broadcast
footage of the 1964 Olympic race, etc. But that wasn’t enough. When I started
communicating regularly with Billy and Pat, they filled the gaps that external
sources couldn’t by helping me understand what made Billy tick as a young
person, and by offering historical information not available elsewhere. Billy
also reminded me that we are all shaped by the people and events that came
before us. Among other discomforts, I needed to face the beast that caused
generational trauma and generational poverty. That meant getting real about United
States history: colonialism, western expansion, Manifest Destiny, Doctrine of
Discovery, repeated broken treaties, etc. None of that is part of the WINGS
narrative, but it all shaped the child from the Pine Ridge Reservation who grew
up and chased his dream to the Olympics. For me to be a worthy collaborator, I
owed it to Billy to personally peel back the curtain that had insulated me from
uncomfortable truths for most of my life. In doing so, I realized just how
deeply my generation was deceived. The history textbooks, curriculum, and media
of my youth presented falsehoods, racist stereotypes, and revisionist history
about Native Americans that persist today. I was/am appalled by the compounded
injustices and the perpetuated ignorance about them.
On a personal level, I’m surprised by how much I have
changed since working on this book. I like to think that I have always been
open and compassionate to the perspectives of others, but my journey with Billy
and WINGS has changed me. I’m still a white woman who was invited into his
world, but I now feel more connected, informed, aware, and sensitive. That, I
think, is a benefit of deep research and close collaboration. It’s impossible
not to be changed when we make concentrated efforts to listen, learn, and empathize.
How does Billy feel about the book and what does he hope young readers
take from the story?
Billy and his family are delighted with the book! They are
already actively promoting it globally and in association with Billy’s
seemingly endless speaking engagements. With a bit of luck, he will even sign
books in Paris while he is there for this summer’s Olympic Games. Which, by the
way, will mark the 60th anniversary of his gold medal win. How cool
is that?
The first prominent theme in the story can be summed up with
Billy’s quote from years ago, “Follow your dream. Every dream has a passion,
and every passion has a destiny,” even when the destiny doesn’t reach Olympic
proportions. Also, he encourages kids to embrace their cultures, honor the
past, and use their voices and their choices to make the world better, because
we are stronger together when we lift each other up. When we collectively do
that, we can reach global unity.
Donna Janell Bowman is
an award-winning author of books for young readers, including Step
Right
Up: How Doc and Jim Key Taught the World About Kindness; Abraham
Lincoln’s Dueling Words;
King of the Tightrope: When the Great
Blondin Ruled Niagara; and
Wings of an Eagle: The Gold Medal Dreams
of Billy Mills, co-authored with Billy Mills. Donna’s books have garnered
such accolades as starred reviews, state book awards, and honors from NCTE,
NCSS, ALA/ALSC, and more. Donna has an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of
Fine Arts. When not writing at her central Texas home, she enjoys speaking at
schools and coaching writers.
