The Life and Writings of Barbara Nelson Blinn

This is a story of a child who was given everything he wanted physically, emotionally, mentally, and socially, and never learned the consequences of his actions. It is the story of his mother who had her own mental health issues and created a child who would go on to hurt many around him.

This is also the story of a woman’s bravery and determination. She came from a poor family with strong values that helped her overcome many obstacles and the abuse of a spoiled child who became a spoiled adult who could not cope with life outside of substance abuse and his mother. It is also a story of the woman’s daughter, who with the help of her mother and the strength she instilled in her, succeeded in overcoming the odds and lived a brighter future. Intrigue, mystery, two court trials, continued threats of murder, vivid details of violence, a corrupted jury, and law enforcement failing to enforce conditions of probation and prosecute crimes are all prevalent in this riveting novel. Prejudicial treatment to a well-respected family even when crimes are committed against an out-of-town woman who was never excepted by the community she married into is themed throughout this novel. 

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The book is based on the life of Jean and Barbara Blinn, their son Marky, and their daughter Carol. I have changed a few minor facts and changed names in order to protect identities.

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In order to best write this story based on my parents’ lives, I felt it was important for the reader to understand their parents and how they grew up. I then talk of the couples’ courtship and the trials they were dealt with, some of which were not of their making. Later, I explain the abuse, how the court system became involved, and their lives after the marriage disintegrated.

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I hope this book will be an encouragement to those who are walking through difficult areas of their own lives. We all have our struggles. How we handle those struggles defines us. Barbara’s outlet was her writing. Over the course of the abuse Barbara endured at the hands of Jean, she wrote mainly poems, but also short stories. She went on to win nearly two hundred awards in at least fifteen states in poetry contests that she entered.

If Barbara were alive today, she would state that raising her daughter of whom she was proud, and her writing were the two things she was most proud of in life. The third would be overcoming my father. She often talked of those accomplishments and in that order.

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For those readers suffering from abuse, please know that there are ways out of your situation. Please seek help. It is available, and much more so than it was forty years ago.