On Reptile Romance by Harley Elliott
By Tracy Million Simmons
This is Tracy Million Simmons, owner of Meadowlark Press in Emporia, Kansas, for High Plains Public Radio Reader’s Summer Reading List. As a regional press specializing in stories from the Midwest, I’d like to take this moment to introduce you to our newest memoir, Reptile Romance, by Harley Elliott.
Harley is an artist and a poet from Salina, Kansas. Reptile Romance is the delightful story of Harley’s teen years. On the day I was handed this manuscript, I sat down at my kitchen table to give it a glance. Opening on a scene from a 7th grade boys’ P.E. bench, I must admit I experienced a moment of pause. Curiosity made me turn the page and I ended up clearing my schedule for the evening. I stayed right there in my chair until I had savored every morsel of this story. I laughed. I cried. I learned more about snakes than I ever knew I wanted to know.
This is a brilliantly written story about a late 1950s Kansas boyhood. Girls and sex are the world’s biggest mysteries. Reptiles, especially snakes, are fascinating . . . and catchable. And awkward adolescent boys—thank goodness—form friendships that help them navigate the realities of life and all its mysteries, including growing up. The most important people in our lives are sometimes only there for a season, and in Reptile Romance, Harley shares the season of his teen years with humor and respect.
Through Harley’s eyes, I gained a greater appreciation for the Kansas landscape and its creatures, even those that slither. And though I was a teenaged girl of the mid-1980s, I truly appreciated and loved this view of the early stages of a young artist and environmentalist in the making. I connected with the words and the sentiment.
In the opening chapter, Harley writes, “From elementary school on, my role in social situations has been that of Observer. I was a child of few words, preferring to watch the way others acted and reacted, rather than being a part of the process.” That first chapter ends as follows:
“I grew up rural, around horses and chickens. The prairie was right at hand, and I began exploring it, the weather, the plants, the creatures. By the time I was in high school, I’d developed a strong interest in birds, primarily raptors, and reptiles, primarily snakes. It didn’t occur to me at the time that these interests would not be helpful in attracting females. Didn’t hawks and owls kill cuddly, furry things? And a snake freak? Please.”
This will be one of my most recommended books this year. I think you will like it too.
I am Tracy Million Simmons for the High Plains Public Radio Readers Book Club’s Summer Reading List.
Tracy Million Simmons, Owner/Publisher of Meadowlark Press, enjoys reading and writing about the people and places of her home state of Kansas, both real and imagined. She founded Meadowlark Press in 2014 as a publisher of novels, memoirs, and children’s books with a focus on Midwest settings and authors. Meadowlark is the home of 105 Meadowlark Reader: A Kansas Journal of Creative Nonfiction and, as Meadowlark Poetry Press, publishes poetry nationwide and awards the annual Birdy Poetry Prize. Learn more at meadowlarkbookstore.com.
