Poet starts from the heart

By Sara Flindt

At 3 a.m., most people are sound asleep. Not Betty Winn, for whom the spark of inspiration ignites during the quiet hours. 

Deep into the early morning, Winn can often be found seated in a cozy chair under a dim lamp in her living room with an 8½-x-12-inch yellow pad and a black fine-tip Sharpie, scribbling down her thoughts and ideas as they pass by. 

“I love writing poetry; it comes to me easily, and it makes me happy,” said the 80-year-old Clark County resident.

Winn, who grew up in Vancouver, has a knack for writing poems that come from the heart, starting when her fifth-grade English teacher asked students to write something of their own. She recalls her first poem, “Moles Dig Holes,” and winning first place. 

In the sixth grade, Winn submitted another class poem to the newspaper of First Presbyterian Church Vancouver. After it was published, the minister’s son read her poem out loud during Sunday school. She was so embarrassed that she ran out of the church, never to return; however, the experience didn’t dampen her passion for poetry.

A knack for business

In 1980, Winn turned her love of writing into a moneymaker: singing telegrams. The premise for the telegrams, called Wondergrams, consisted of taking an old, popular song at the time and rewriting the lyrics to fit the occasion she had been asked to perform at, including work events, birthday parties, holiday parties and anniversaries.

She advertised herself by sticking large magnetized signs on both sides of her car with the name of the business and her phone number. 

The business was called Wondergrams because Winn dressed up as Wonder Woman when performing. She had a seamstress make her two Wonder Woman costumes, bought two dark-brown wigs from a local costume shop and wore a pair of ruby red leather cowboy boots that she’d had custom-made. She charged $25 per telegram.

In 1993, a few years after she closed the business, she moved to Tucson, Arizona, and began honing her poetry skills. When a good friend suggested Winn join her to attend a writing group of professional and published writers, she was worried what they might say about her work. 

“I kept expecting them to tear me apart and criticize me and my poems because I hadn’t been published,” Winn said.

She was shocked at the encouraging response to her poems and the accolades from the other writers. Attending the class helped build her self-confidence, and she became even more passionate about writing.

A word of caution

Winn draws on her life experiences, other poets and various art forms to write her poems. While watching the film “Silent Men,” directed by Duncan Cowles, she was compelled to write a poem about the stigma encountered by men who expressed emotions and were told to bottle it up. She wanted to turn the poem into a song and publish it, tapping back into her singing telegram days.

What drew her attention was a Facebook ad of a recording studio in Nashville, Tennessee. 

“I read the reviews and googled the owner,” Winn said. “It all looked legit.” 

A notification popped up on her phone that the profile she was messaging was a scam, so she immediately pulled back. Upon further examination, she realized that the payment method was not secure. In the URL of the PayPal website, she noticed that the “s” — meaning secure — was missing from the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). 

Winn urges people trying to publish their writing to check for anything suspicious with websites or digital payment services, or between email and messaging chains, and to be extra cautious of Facebook ads.

Taking a chance

In 2018, Winn moved back to Vancouver and joined a writing group that pushed her even further in her writing career, eventually leading her to assemble a book of poetry titled “My Life at 3 a.m. Poems from the Heart,” that she dedicated to her late son, who took his life in November 2020. 

“He was a fabulous human being,” Winn said. “He always had my back.”

After his passing, a friend reached out to check up on her. As they talked, the topic of writing came up. He mentioned that his sister had been submitting poems to a local newspaper, The Messenger, and suggested that Winn should do the same. 

Winn has been submitting poems to The Messenger for 4½ years, and she isn’t stopping anytime soon. She encourages other aspiring writers and poets to publish their works because they never know where it could take them.  

“You don’t need a college degree,” Winn said. “Just write from the heart.” 

Sara Flindt is a Clark County writer who enjoys reading, dancing, singing and all sorts of outdoorsy activities. She attends the University of Montana, where she is a double major in journalism and dance.