protestant with a small p

For her entry in Contemporary Authors, Nedra Tyre summarized her life in the following:

"I've worked in offices, been a social worker, library assistant, clerk in a book department, done copy in an advertising agency, and taught sociology. I've done everything and it seems to me I've never made even minimum wage. Life is real and life is earnest, but most of all, it's ridiculous. Now I am a staff writer in an agency that gives financial assistance to desperately poor children in twenty-five countries.

For the last four years I have been totally deaf. It's amazingly interesting to be deaf, though it's awkward socially. Politically I am what would be called a liberal and religiously I am a protestant with a small p. Almost everything defeats me and everything amazes me."

"Nedra Tyre." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 20 Jan. 2011.

Portrait of a Lady

The Peter Pan collar, the bangs and ponytail, the piercing eyes, the slight figure, the perfect posture, and the mysterious smile--friends of Nedra often began their description of her with these details. Other quirks often noted include: storing books in her oven, only eating lunch at restaurants that provided cloth napkins, traveling the world as a single woman, corresponding with all she met, and developing fondness for teddy bears. A Southern woman by birth and upbringing, Nedra challenged many conventions of her time and place while living a life that demonstrated a commitment to pursuing one's dreams.