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Stories leave legacy
Fredericksburg woman publishes collection of children's stories
Date published: 11/7/2006 By KATHLEEN LEWIS By KATHLEEN LEWIS After undergoing emergency surgery two years ago, College Heights resident Ella Marr took some downtime to recuperate at a beach. Before she came home, she had written a story about a boy who discovers that his grandmother is a secret agent. Two years ago, Marr knew she had survived death. With the emergency double bypass, she had been given the gift of more time. And on that beach, while resting, she asked herself what she was going to do with it. For years, Marr, who is now in her 50s, had worked in broadcasting in Cumberland, Md. She did the morning show and filled in as talk-radio host for WCBC. She also worked for WROG, a country music station. In addition, Marr wrote and performed songs. In the early 1990s, some of those tunes made the hit charts in European countries. Marr could look back at her life and see successes. But on that beach, she was thinking about priorities and the kind of legacy she wanted to leave for her own family when it really was time to go. She knew she wanted to spend more time with her grandson. She wanted to be able to give him more of herself. That spiraled into creative thoughts about a boy who discovers that his grandmother is a secret agent. Her traffic-light cookie jar is a special phone, the shopping cart in her garage is a flying machine and her dachshund and cat are the vehicle's pilot and co-pilot. Marr realized she had the makings of a story. And she was surprised. "Up until then, all I had written was music, news, sports and commercials." She took out a notebook and started writing. "Once the idea came, it didn't stop," said Marr. She completed the first story in a matter of hours. "The Adventures of Curtis and Grammy" is about the secret missions of a grandmother and her grandson. The pair have to find a way to prevent a villain with turbo-powered vacuum toes from sucking all the water out of the oceans. In addition to the book version, Marr narrates her stories on CD. She said that each story carries a moral message. One of the themes is accepting people who are different. "Basically, the golden rule," she explained.
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