Film director Jonathan Demme begins his award-winning documentary "Jimmy Carter Man From Plains" not with footage of Carter's presidential inauguration or his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech or even with a shot of Carter hammering away in service to Habitat for Humanity. Instead, Demme opens the film with the former president's mother, Lillian Carter, and one of her memorable talk-show appearances.
As Lillian jokes with Johnny Carson about her famous son, she claims that she never offers him advice and that he in turn never criticizes her: "He likes everything I do." Their mother/son relationship is so important, so crucial to understanding the life and mission of the 39th president that Demme refers back to Lillian Carter often.
Later on in the documentary, Carter will recount to a group of Simon and Schuster executives the story of his mother's experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in Vikhroli, India. Carter cannot discuss her without crying and as he apologizes for his tears, he remarks: "I get emotional about my mother."
There is good reason for him to feel such pride and adoration. His new book, "A Remarkable Mother," is a loving tribute to a woman who was as complex as she was plain-spoken. It is also a glimpse into the family dynamics that have helped define his political ambitions, sense of social justice and enduring diplomacy.
The biography is written in engaging conversational prose and includes interviews with family and friends, Carter's own remembrances, black-and-white family photos, and excerpts from Lillian Carter's book about her time in the Peace Corps, "Away From Home: Letters to My Family," which will be reissued this year and should serve as a companion piece to "A Remarkable Mother." The text is structured around the significant events that shaped her life: her courtship, marriage, multiple careers, widowhood, and her son's political rise and fall.
Carter does not sugarcoat his mother's life or character. She drank bourbon, watched soap operas, attended wrestling matches, and regularly criticized her son with public comments like, "There was really nothing outstanding about Jimmy as a boy" and "These days, Jimmy is too full of politics." In our YouTube culture, one cannot imagine a politician surviving the repetition of such statements, especially by his own mother, and it is to Lillian Carter's credit that her outspoken nature was viewed by her son as a means of keeping him humble during his presidency.
Carter was clearly influenced by her fearless independence. Lillian Carter chose to work as a nurse and health care provider at a time when most married women stayed home to raise their families. "I do believe in working women and I feel so strongly that a child is better off not to have the mother every minute of the time."
Even in her absence —- she often worked 20-hour days, usually at no cost to her clients —- she taught her children how to appreciate their privilege, learn to take care of themselves, and respect the impact of her medical work on the lives of impoverished Georgians. A woman clearly ahead of her time, Lillian Carter also insisted on financial autonomy from her husband and achieved it by growing, harvesting and selling her own pecans.
Most importantly, she was a committed force against segregation and the book details how she orchestrated the first racially integrated social event in South Georgia. Lillian Carter was not simply a Southern eccentric or a charming housewife and mother. She was a woman of science, faith and diplomacy —- traits she generously passed down to all of her children.
A recent "Saturday Night Live" skit featuring Fred Armisen as talk-show host Larry King and Darrell Hammond as Jimmy Carter satirized Carter's prolific literary output and made fun of the fact that though many people might receive "A Remarkable Mother" as a gift —- and it is an excellent Mother's Day present —- few would actually read the book. This was probably true of Carter's "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid," where many critics responded only to the title and not the actual text.
It would be a shame if anyone receiving "A Remarkable Mother" did not take the time to learn about Lillian Carter's extraordinary life. Her story is an American story of hope and resilience, charity and good works. She was a woman of boundless intelligence, good humor and no-nonsense wisdom, and her son does his own remarkable job of capturing her life and spirit.
Amber Dermont is an assistant professor of English and creative writing at Agnes Scott College.
NONFICTION
"A Remarkable Mother" by Jimmy Carter. Simon and Schuster. 223 pages. $22.95.
Bottom line: Good mom, extraordinary woman.
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