Happy Birthday, Sonia!

“My 88th birthday concert was a ‘knock out’ and now I am planning my 89th…”

Sonia H. Davis, Autobiographical Writings, Prose Fragments, 1.22b.

While March 15th marks the death of Howard Phillips Lovecraft, March 16th marks the birth of Sonia (Shafirkin) Haft Greene Lovecraft Davis. Over 140 years ago, Sonia Shafirkin was born and against all odds, (she was a premature baby), she lived a very long and fruitful life. While today is the perfect day to remember her, it is also an ideal day to reflect on the great feats which are happening today for Sonia.

Certainly, great things are happening for Sonia. After a year and a half of studying and compiling her autobiographical writings, Sonia’s first ever full-length autobiography is in the final stages of preparation. It has only taken 50 years to finally see this day come to pass. No doubt there have been several scholars before me who had the intentions of seeing this project through, but with anything in life, things get put in the back burner and become forgotten. I feel very fortunate, especially today out of all the days, to reflect on this feat in making Sonia’s dream come true at last. She had wanted someone, other than herself, to advocate for her worth and achievements, to prove that she was more than just Lovecraft’s wife, and especially more than just an immigrant.

The autobiography is, indeed, coming along very nicely. The most recent accomplishment was another round of revisions on the manuscript which I completed at the beginning of this month. The next step will consist of several more editorial and proofreading passes to be sure the information is properly arranged, and grammatical errors are mended before facing publication. Once that’s all done with, the manuscript will be sent to the printer and if everything goes well with the time frame allotted for printing, we will hopefully be holding the physical book before the year is out. (Just please be patient if it’s not—delays do happen even in the best circumstances.) Not only is that news extremely exciting, but there’s still more to share. 

Not long ago, the artist, Iberê Romani Braga, was commissioned to create an original frontispiece for the autobiography. The preliminary sketch of Sonia is everything we hoped and more. I can say with confidence, having already seen the final frontispiece, that you, the supporter, will appreciate the masterpiece once you’ve received the physical copy of the book. Until then, please enjoy this initial sketch for your viewing pleasure. 

I can’t stress enough how thankful I am to have undertaken this project. Never did I think my wish would come true. A year and a half ago, I only imagined the possibility of bringing Sonia’s story to life, never thinking of it with real certainty. It was just another idea in my writer’s commonplace book. When I began researching the best methods to write a biography, one article suggested to write interview questions as though preparing to interview the person. I thought the idea was wonderful, but I never created the questions I would’ve asked Sonia. However, in that year and a half, while going through her autobiographical writings, I learned a lot about Sonia and all in her own words as though I’d spent day in and day out with her physical self. The reality is there was nothing I could’ve expertly written to express her life as beautifully as she did.

Above all, I am grateful for those who have taken my venture seriously enough to support it. It’s true, some may not consider Sonia to be as worthy as someone as Lovecraft to deserve any scholarly attention. Her own words may not even change their opinion, yet there will always be the faithful few who will see the value in her words and will enjoy these steps taken to bring her story to book form at last. Therefore, let us have some cake and celebrate!