News, Citizen Profile, Sylvia L. Davidson Buckley, LaSalle Parish, La.




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Submitted by: Craig Franklin of The Jena Times, Jena, LaSalle Parish, La.

Sylvia L. Davidson Buckley - Citizen Profile  

Wednesday, February 7, 2001, page 1B

A Times-Signal Feature "Citizen Profile" A Very Special Salute

This woman is linked to literature and poetry

It's ironic. Growing up, Sylvia Buckley never liked school and in fact found
it to be boring. And yet it is literature and poetry that will forever be
linked with this LaSalle Parish native who is known across the State of
Louisiana and the nation.

This week, we look at one of LaSalle Parish's most prolific writers whose
poetry has been recognized by governors, judges, congressmen, and poetry
experts from around the world. Her goal though, is not to promote herself, but
rather to bring attention to her hometown parish of which she loves
passionately.

Born in Little Creek on September 12, 1931, to Thomas Jefferson and Ellie
Hudson Davidson, Sylvia L. Davidson spend the first part of her life dealing
with the poverty situation that struck the entire country due to the Great
Depression.

"Life was hard for the whole family, my parents, my brothers and myself," she
said. "However, most of the hardship rested on our parents trying to take care
of us children."

Mrs. Buckley, who will turn 70 this coming September, has an exceptional
memory and can recall much about those early years and life in Little Creek.

"We had food, such as it was, but our clothes had to last a long time," she
remembered. "I was the oldest, and the only girl, so I didn't have hand me
downs which left me with whatever we could piece together from feed sacks."

She started school at Good Pine High School and would go until she finished
the tenth grade. One would think that the future Louisiana State Poet Laureate
would love school, but in fact, just the opposite was the case.

"I really didn't like school," she said. "It was boring to me then and I did
not realize just how important it would be in the future. I did find out that
I loved literature and was fascinated with Shakespeare, and I suppose my
personality had a lot to do with that."

Even from an early age, Mrs. Buckley had always, and still is, been intense
and passionate about the things she loves.  She attributes this to her free
spirit which also was the reason she resisted the rules that she needed to
follow during her school years.

While attending high school, she met Huey R. Lott. Although Mr. Lott was quite
a bit older than her, she describes him as a good man, which allowed her
parents to let her see him.

"He was a veteran of World War II, having served in the South Pacific for
three years," she said. "We were married on August 20, 1947, which is why I
didn't return to high school my senior year to graduate."

Although Mrs. Buckley loved to read and had several passions during that time,
for a while it appeared that she would relent to become a typical housewife,
staying home and taking care of the home, her husband and her children.

In July of 1949, the Lott's had their first child, a daughter, named Constance
Anne. In March of 1952 a son was born, Hardtner Rafferd. Mr. Lott worked in
the oil fields and Mrs. Buckley stayed home and took care of the children,
made a garden and canned food for the family.

However, when her two children started to high school, Mrs. Buckley was
compelled to start a new chapter in her life, which centered around the love
she'd always had - literature and poetry.

She started writing, joined the Louisiana State Poetry Society in Baton Rouge,
and began studying the rudiments of poetry in group sessions. The more she
studied, the more passionately the fire burned for this timeless treasure of
poetry, that dates back to Bible times.

"During this time I entered contests and was published in Lyrics IV and V, an
anthology," Mrs. Buckley recalled. "I wrote as if there was no tomorrow and
pushed myself to learn as much as possible and to become better."

Her goal was to write works that not only had a surface beauty to them, but
also had more profound wisdom that she learned counts in most pieces of work
that are considered highly literary.

She had found that the most prized pieces of work were those that came from
God, who spoke the message through the writer who in turn pinned the words.

Just as she was reaching her goal of producing valuable works of poetry, a
tragic event took place that would test every fiber of her being.

"In 1977 the most tragic thing in my life happened," she said. "My husband of
thirty years and nine days was electrocuted at a well site. I'd watched him
walk to his truck around noon, and that was the last time I ever saw him. He
was even too badly burned to have an open casket."

The following three and one-half years were described by Mrs. Buckley as the
worst of her entire life. Not only did she have to face the horror of her
husband's sudden and terrible death, but for the first time in her life she
had to learn to live alone, including finding work to support herself.

She decided that in order to find work, she had to first go back to school and
finished her education there. She did just that, earned her diploma from high
school and then enrolled at the Huey P. Long trade school. She also went to
work, and landed a job at the LaSalle Parish Sheriff's Department in
communications, which is where she met her second husband, Loyd C. Buckley.

It had been four years since she had dealt with the sudden loss of her first
husband, but upon meeting Mr. Buckley, God allowed Mrs. Sylvia to love once
again. The two were married on April 11, 1981, and are still married today,
making their home in Zenoria.

"God has really blessed me with a wonderful husband," she said. "Christ is the
most important person in my life, but my husband is a very close second."

At first, Mr. Loyd had no idea of his wife's secret passion for writing, due
in part because during the time after her first husband's death, she'd
actually stopped writing. It wasn't until after their marriage that he
questioned her about the content of boxes in a closet that he learned of her
talent.

"I told her, 'Lady, you don't know what you've got here,'" he said. From that
point on, he encouraged her to pick up her writing again, afterf what he
describes as "hounding and harassing" her about it. 

Due to her husband's prodding, thankfully, Mrs. Buckley continued her writing
and her pieces of poetry became a regular feature in The Jena Times. She'd
actually submitted her poetry to the local paper for years, dating back to the
late 1960's, but after her second marriage, with her life more stable, more
and more works were being produced and published in the paper.

"People have actually stopped me many times in the grocery store or other
places and told me they like my work and when was I going to have something
else (in the paper) for them to read," she said. "This is a joy for me and is
one reason why I kept submitting the poems for the paper."

During this time as well, she continued to study poetry and literature, from
reading everything she could on the subjects to taking creative writing
courses to help fine tune her art.

Mrs. Buckley continued as well with her membership in the Louisiana Poetry
Society, and her works were published in many different media forms, from
newspapers to anthologies and as far away as London, England.

"I'm really nobody," she modestly says. "But I believe in my work. Even if
nobody else liked reading my poetry, I'd still write. It's just a part of me
and a way that I express myself.

But the truth is, people do enjoy her work. Mrs. Buckley is constantly sought
after to write poems for different people who realize that she has been
blessed with a gift from God. 

In 1992, following the re-election of Governor Edwin Edwards, Mrs. Buckley
send him her resume', after learning that the state appointed position of Poet
Laureate was open.

Along with her resume', Mrs. Buckley included some of her works of poetry and
a letter of recommendation from her attorney, Chris Roy, Sr. of Alexandria.

Approximately two months later, she received a letter from Governor Edwards
noting that he was going to appoint her to the position, but she would still
have to be approved by the legislature. Mrs. Buckley contacted senators and
representatives during the next few weeks and a short time later she was
approved by both houses of the state legislature. Later in 1992, she took her
oath of office in Jena, administered by Judge Jimmie C. Peters, officially
becoming the Louisiana State Poet Laureate, a position she would hold until
1996.

"I am happy to be known as the country poet from LaSalle Parish," she said.
"As far as I can ascertain, I am the only laureate from my home parish. Rural
areas do not have privy to many appointments and other things to better our
people. Being named as the Poet Laureate was a tremendous honor, but honestly,
I was happier for LaSalle Parish than myself. This was an opportunity to bring
attention and recognition to our parish more so than myself. That's the reason
the appointment was so fulfilling."

Two years later, Jena attorney J.P. Mauffray, Jr. won the election as the new
28th Judicial District Judge. As a long-time friend of Mrs. Buckley's, he
asked her if she would write a poem to be read at his oath of office ceremony.

"I told him I only wrote by inspiration, so I'd have to be inspired," she
said. Shortly after speaking with Judge Mauffray, her then 14 year-old
grandson Hue Lott handed his grandmother a small, brass colored lapel pin
which had the image of a Colonial figure signing a document with the words "We
the People." Twenty-five minutes later, with the inspiration she needed, the
poem was written.

That poem, entitled "America, We The People", was indeed read at Mauffray's
ceremony, and then again before the Louisiana Legislature, who accepted it as
the first poem to ever be accepted as an official document.

The poem then traveled to Washington, D.C., where Congress there included it
in The Congressional Report.

In 1995, Mrs. Buckley published a book entitled "You: Romantic musings from
the heart of Louisiana", and is currently working on a romance novel.

She attends First Baptist Church in Georgetown, where she has been a dedicated
member for many years."Jesus Christ is the most important thing in my life,"
she said. "Even during those hard years I remained faithful to Him and the
church."

Mrs. Buckley says that to be a poet, the only way that she has found to be
successful is to allow God to speak through you in obtaining works.

"I really don't know how to describe it, but it's like when I see something,
and it could be various things, God uses that to speak to me and allows me to
pen the words to poems," she said. "It really is God working through you,
after all, some of the best poetry in the world is found in the Psalms and
Proverbs. The poetry comes through your body - not from your body."

In the center of her living room, the family Bible is opened to the book of
Proverbs, which she loves to study and read.

Today, with Mrs. Buckley soon to reach the age of 70 and facing several
different health problems, she openly admits that her time on this earth is
drawing to a close.

"I'm getting ready to die," she said, "and I want to leave a legacy for
LaSalle Parish. My prayer is that through these poems and works, people can
find strength as well as in some way bring recognition to our great parish."

There is one word in the English language that means more to Mrs. Buckley than
any other. That word is loyalty. Throughout her entire life, this large word
has guided her, through ever situation, good and bad.

"I'm a Christian, and I am loyal to Holy Father," she said. "I have been loyal
to my husbands, and reared my children to the best of my ability. To those of
you who have encouraged me, I owe a debt of gratitude. May God bless every
undertaking to make this parish a better place to live . . . and last but not
least, may God bless and protect this wonderful country we call 'America.'"

(Caption under photo)
THIS DRAWING by Jack Willis, is one of Mrs. Buckley's favorites, partly due to
the long-time friendship the two have enjoyed and their common interest in
literature and writing.

(Caption under photo)
SYLVIA BUCKLEY of Zenoria, has been writing poetry for years, however, few
people in LaSalle Parish know the history behind this nationally known woman.
Read about her accomplishments and life in this week's Citizen Profile. (See
story.)