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Mouse Story Was A Family Effort

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By JAN HOLLINGSWORTH, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 19, 2007

PLANT CITY - Rose Taylor has entertained her grandchildren for years with her tale of Timothy T., 'The Mouse with a House in Cat Valley.'

Now the story of the industrious little rodent with a heart of gold is available in a spiral-bound children's book illustrated by two of Taylor's six grandchildren.

Her inspiration, she said, came from Plant City historian D.E. Bailey Jr., who was Taylor's English teacher at Plant City High in the 1950s. 'I knew she had some talent, and I tried to encourage her,' Bailey said. 'I'm glad she's pursued that all these years.'

Taylor, who moved to Seffner more than a decade ago, discovered her love of writing as a first-grader at Jackson Elementary. That's when her teacher, Irvin Wilder Hawkins - better known as the second Florida Strawberry Festival queen - assigned her students to write a Mother's Day poem.

Words soon became Taylor's constant companion.

'I've always written, but just stuck it in a box,' she said.

Two years ago, following the death of her husband, Austin, Taylor set out to assemble the loose ends of her life. Stashed among her writings she found the drawings her granddaughters had made to illustrate the story she had told them for years - about the kindly mouse that saves a lost kitten.

Lauren Taylor, now 17, began drawing her vision of Timothy T. at the age of 6, when she would stay at her grandmother's house after school. Lauren's father, Timothy, is Taylor's oldest son and the mouse's namesake.

The two have much in common, Taylor said. 'Tim was always kind, like Timothy T., who puts himself at risk to help the kitten.'

Taylor gathered Lauren's drawings together and typed up the story, dividing it into small blocks of text for each page. Then she hopped a plane to Arizona, where Lauren's 16-year-old cousin, Gabrielle, spent two weeks filling in the illustrative gaps in the story. Gabrielle's father, Robin, is the youngest of Taylor's three sons.

It is a family project that has helped her work through the grief of losing Austin, a fellow Plant City High grad she met on a blind date and married seven months later. He died in January 2005, a month shy of their 41st anniversary.

Order the $10 book from Taylor by calling (813) 689-0603.

Reporter Jan Hollingsworth can be reached at (813)865-4436 or jhollingsworth@tampatrib.com.

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