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Photo By Geoff Raker
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For Carol Sherman-Jones, life began in Cincinnati.
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A Betty Boop watch peeks out of Carol Sherman-Jones' sleeve. Those who know the former proprietor of Carol's Corner Café -- which later became Carol's On Main -- her timepiece is a reminder of her well-known collection of Betty Boop memorabilia that adorned her restaurant.
At a downtown coffee shop, Sherman-Jones' fascination with Betty Boop becomes clear. With exaggerated hand gestures, a wicked sense of humor and an infectious laugh, she is every bit as animated as the cartoon bombshell.
"I'm kind of a spotlight person. I'm not a wallflower. Maybe you noticed that," she says.
Keeping her in the spotlight is her just released autobiography, My Life as a Gay Man in a Straight Woman's Body. Initially, the idea of writing a book came as a surprise, even to her.
"I didn't even know I was going to write a book until I said the title," she reveals. "I just spit out the title. I didn't even know what it was going to be about yet. I just knew I had to write with that title."
The title was something Sherman-Jones' was adamant about through the editing process. Though warned that, from a marketing standpoint, the title might put off some readers, she remained steadfast in her belief.
"It was a message that was given to me, and I can not change it. It's a risk with the title, but if this book had flopped and I had changed the title, I would have been kicking myself in the ass," she explains.
But there is another challenge in marketing her autobiography. Why would anyone care about her life? "Why not? We're all intriguing. Well, almost all," she says with a laugh.
Sherman-Jones, though, is one of the intriguing ones. She moved to Cincinnati from Tucson, Ariz., in 1984 because this is where her car broke down. The legacy that became Carol's on Main began when she bought the restaurant's original location, a rundown bar, for $1 in 1990. More than that, hers is a journey of finding acceptance, not only from others but from herself.
My Life ignores the chronological parameters most autobiographies employ, opting instead for a series of anecdotes. The writing is as conversational as if Sherman-Jones were relating the stories to a small gathering of friends.
"A Lesson Not Learned" is one of her stories. Its light-hearted and self-deprecating tone makes for a fond childhood remembrance of a sweet exchange between a little girl and her daddy.
But the truth unfolds as the little girl dances around modeling her new coat as she distracts him from the fact that she has lost her hat. "He was giggling, and I loved it because he was laughing and playing with me. We went around a couple of times about the hat and then he abruptly stopped laughing and slapped me hard on the face," Sherman-Jones writes.
"A Lesson Not Learned" is a jarring and unsettling story. But what's impressive is Sherman-Jones' ability to infuse even her most painful memories with a dose of humor.
"There's humor in everything," she observes. "There's humor in life. You have to find some humor or you'll just wither and crack. And I'd rather laugh than cry 'cause my makeup smears."
Her contentious relationship with her father figures heavily in My Life. As a result of her book, Sherman-Jones and her father made amends -- a week before he succumbed to the multiple sclerosis, leukemia and heart disease plaguing him. This, despite the fact that My Life doesn't always paint Sherman-Jones' father in a flattering light.
"He was ill all my life. It made him very angry. He was equally shitty to (the whole family)," she says. "I communicated with him through these stories. He said it was my life, and he said I had every right to write it the way I had lived it."
The timing of the father-daughter reconciliation was more than coincidental. It was a blessing. "I live a charmed life. And I always have. I just didn't realize it," she says.
"My life began here in Cincinnati. That's the first divine thing that happened to me," Sherman-Jones says, speaking seriously about the path her life has taken. But, true-to-form, her trademark wit is right on its heels.
"I know. It's strange to say divine and Cincinnati in the same sentence."
CAROL SHERMAN-JONES will sign My Life as a Gay Man in a Straight Woman's Body from 2-4 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble in Kenwood.
