Forgiving Effie Beck

"Forgiving Effie Beck" was presented the Will Rogers Gold Medallion Award October, 2014 for a "combination of excellent content and high production value." The story, which takes place in 1930s America, is about the blurred line between right and wrong and what happens when all the "good" people look the other way. Mike LeMay, a cynical Federal Writers' Project interviewer arrives in a small Texas town a few days before the town eccentric, Effie Beck, is reported missing. He learns over the course of the story that the enigmatic, elderly "Miss Effie" moved through the lives of the town's populace "like brown smoke." What happened to Effie that she'd just walk out of her house and disappear? What secrets did she take with her? How can a community of caring people cling to the idea of goodness without practicing it? A bittersweet tale of perseverance and hope.