'Split at the Root' author to explore race, adoption and identity at DHS library Nov. 17

Volunteering in a library, surrounded by books and curating an author’s series provides me with a steady stream of information, education and inspiration. I get the opportunity to choose the authors, read their books and interview them. At least that's how it usually works.

It was different with Catana Tully. We met for lunch before I read her book "Split at the Root: A Memoir of Love and Lost Identity." She had told me over the phone that she would bring me a copy. I immediately recognized this striking older Black woman from her website, and the moment I saw her enter the restaurant, I became fascinated with her beauty and easy-going sophistication.

From my research, I knew Tully grew up as an adopted child in a German, Spanish and English household in Guatemala. Her well-to-do adopted family gave her every advantage, even sending her to a fancy private boarding school in Jamaica that was affiliated with Cambridge University in England.

With her life of privilege and education, and her knowledge of many languages, Tully aspired to be an international interpreter. While studying in Germany, she fell in love with acting and became an actress, fashion model and appeared in films in Germany, Austria and Italy. While in Munich she met and married American actor Frederick Tully and moved to the United States. Soon after, the couple had a son, Patrick, a mixed-race child.

Tully decided to complete her degrees, including a Doctorate of Humanistic Studies, and served as an associate professor at SUNY, Empire State College in Albany, New York, before retiring in 2011.

While in her 40s, despite having accomplished so much, this amazing woman became aware that her fairy tale life had caused her issues with ethnic misplacement due to being raised within a culture by people who were very different from her. It began to dawn on her what it meant to be Black in the United States.

I began asking her questions about her birth mother and her involvement with her white adoptive parents. I wanted to know if she'd had a chance to be with her biological parents and the siblings they'd had after her birth. And if so, what were their relationships?

She gave me a wry smile and said: “Read the book and you will find out.”

I went right home and started reading. "Split at the Root" examines the cultural issues that surface when a child grows up in a family of different races and the consequences it can have on forming relationships. And it’s one of those special books you find difficult to put down.

Tully will present her book Nov. 17 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in the Community Room at the Desert Hot Springs Library, 14-380 Palm Drive, Desert Hot Springs. For more information, call (760) 329-5926. Seating is limited to 72 and is on a first-come basis. The event is free and open to the public. The book will be available for sale and signing by the author.

There will not be a featured author in December, but the series will resume with a new lineup in January.

Sally Hedberg is the curator of the Friends of the DHS Library Author Series.

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