Gail Provost Stockwell is coming home.

The Lancaster artist and author has lived a sort of bicoastal life for the last 10 years — husband Lance teaches at a law school in Tulsa, Okla., so since 1996 or so the couple has split their time between the southwest and the northeast. But now, with retirement looming and the last semester upon them, Stockwell is looking forward to having a permanent base.

“The idea is to know and allow myself to feel I’m coming home,” she said, smiling as she began to list off the many projects she has in mind — art, music, writing — all creative, of course.

Who’d have thunk it?

Though Stockwell said words have always been a part of her life, it’s a bit surprising to her she makes a living as a writer.

“My writing … had more to do with music and art,” she said. “I’ve always written, but it never occurred to me I’d have been writing as a career path.”

Stockwell said her writing started out for herself.

“I wrote to record something that amused me or something I found interesting,” she said. “Later on — I didn’t even think of it as journaling — but I wanted to find out what I was thinking.”

Though Stockwell said she had a wonderful childhood, looking back, she found she deferred to everyone.

“When you’re a kid and you’re a good kid, you do what you’re told,” she said.

It was quite a shock when a college professor returned one of her papers with a low grade and the comment “Not one original thought” scrawled across the top.

“It was turning point in my life because it was someone wanting to know what I thought,” she said. “It turns out there were all kinds of things going on in there.”

Stockwell’s writing has taken many forms: pieces (and art work) done several years ago for the Bolton Common; three young adult book collaborations with her late husband, Gary Provost, who died in 1995, and co-founding and facilitating the Writers Retreat Workshop every year.

“The Writers Workshop is still going on and it’s fascinating,” she said. “The writing couples I’ve met  … have a wonderful life together. Collaborating makes perfect sense, for as much as writing is a solitary act, you’re collaborating with the characters and the world all at once, as a part of yourself.”

The rebirth of David and Max

Living in Lancaster, Stockwell said, is a childhood dream come true, after growing up in apartments in Roselle, N.J. It was that experience that became the foundation for “David and Max,” the second collaboration with Provost, whom she met when she took one of his writing classes.

“The first collaboration was ‘Good if it Goes,’ which came from a piece I wrote in the first course I took with Gary,” she said. “The most beloved character is Max and at the end of ‘Good,’ Max is dying, so we contrived to put out a book to continue with a character that people loved. And so ‘David and Max’ is a prequel.”

At that time, Stockwell said, she had read about Elie Wiesel, a child survivor of the Holocaust. Wiesel had written “Night” about that experience, and Stockwell said reading about him not only spoke to her, it also brought back childhood memories.

Stockwell’s grandparents also lived in that Roselle apartment building, and as a child, she was a daily visitor.

“Sometimes my grandma would sit down with me, not saying anything, just show me pictures,” she recalled. “All these people — her eyes would well up – they were her family and they were murdered. She’d look at me as if I could tell her the answers. It was scary; it was so upsetting to  her.”

Stockwell contacted another family member and asked if he was ready to talk about his own memories.

“He told me whatever was his experience, and we decided to give his story to  Max Levene in our book,” she said.

“David and Max” was originally published in 1987 but has recently undergone a new life. Stockwell has gone through the book and revised it, inserting little seeds for discussions in classrooms.

Also available is a teacher’s resource guide and student activity book developed by Jacalyn Nosek as part of her Teach to Reach series. Nosek is also Stockwell’s neighbor.

“We were visiting and got to talking about religion and politics and our concerns for kids, and wishing there was a way we could contribute,” Stockwell said. “I mentioned I wished “David and Max” could be used in the younger grades. We kept the conversation going, and I returned to Tulsa and she worked on.”

Nosek is the founder and director of Lancaster Education Associates, and the guides include class discussion topics and questions, writing competencies, and cross curricular activities.

“She has a different kind of expertise and she put together a brilliant piece of work,” Stockwell said. “It’s all to help teachers and make it very easy for them to use. We’re following our hearts; it’s just something we have to do.”

The suggested topics in the guide transcend Judaism and the Holocaust.

“Because of Sept. 11 and terrorism, it seems like David and Max right now is a useful tool to get kids learning about that history and the lessons of that whole experience,” Stockwell said. “Issues of discrimination, intolerance and violence are all connected. … The theme is truth — what is your truth. There are multiple truths, and how do you deal with them? … Even though Gary was gone, I felt he’d want that out there again.” 

When asked if the revision was hard without her late husband, Stockwell grew thoughtful.

“It must have been, not technically but emotionally, because it seems I made a much bigger production out of it than I needed to,” she said.

What’s next?

In Stockwell’s view, there’s always a new challenge to seek.

“The next thing I’m going to be writing is a vignette of memories,” she said. “It’s a whole different experience. I imagine it will be a little like writing a chapter but I don’t know. … I’m not doing it for any purpose other than learning the short form and getting the memories down.”

There is no doubt Stockwell’s life is full, and that is certainly good if it goes.

“I’m looking forward to reading rather than doing, getting back to my art and playing the piano,” she said. “There’s so much to do it’s wonderful.”

For more information on Gail Provost Stockwell and her work, visit www.davidandmax.com. Christine Quirk can be reached at mothertown@cnc.com.