Homer Alaska - Arts

The daughter of American pioneer missionaries, Porte's playground was rich with the scents and colors of the Serengeti Game Reserve, animals most youngsters dream of, experiences some adults never face. These are the canvas on which Porte writes her stories. She slips easily from first to third person. Some chapters are colored by the perspective of innocent children. Other stories focus on the horrifying shock of a people plunged into war. The comfort of family ties serves as stark contrast to the uncertainty of life and ever-present dangers.

Throughout the stories, Porte slips in and out of the action. Her introduction, "Wild Child in Africa," details her upbringing — a father who changes dramatically from the wild boy he once was, a mother characterized by her strength and feistiness, the distance in miles and time separating the family from events happening in the United States during the uncertain years of World War II, the confusion of a child trying to make sense of it all.

In "The Spirits Lie," Porte is the big sister, grabbing her young siblings hand and running for their lives. Some details have been added to fill in the memory blanks of childhood, but what Porte experienced is directly from the events of that unforgettable day.

"It was the one and only time I ever saw my mom hold a gun," the Homer author said of that day.

In "Return of the Stormbird," Porte's experiences surface again as she recalls the ruins of a cotton ginnery that had been destroyed by fire and could be seen from her childhood home and the fascination they held.

"My father wouldn't let us go to the ruins so I made up the story about going there, who had lived there, why it had burned, what kind of stories the walls could tell," she said.

In "Scourge of the Serengeti," Porte is again present, witnessing the immeasurable heartbreak of African families torn apart by the ravages of disease.

"I went with my brother and we had to get some corn from a farmer and they had a baby that they tried to give me," said Porte of her own experience that closely resembles details the story. "We had no place to take him and it's bothered me ever since, wondering what happened to that little boy. He'd be a teenager now."

Such experiences have left their imprint on Porte, motivating her to do much more than write about Africa. After meeting a young Kenyan man and his sister whose parents were massacred by a neighboring tribe, Porte and her family have offered their assistance. The young man has now completed college and hopes to attend a seminary and return to his village. The sister will graduate from high school this year and also wants to continue her education.

"Living in our country, we are so sheltered. It's just all those African people, over there," she said. "I think the world just kind of shrugs but they're human beings. They hurt like us. If they get cut, they bleed just like we do, to paraphrase somebody."

In 2006, Porte returned to Africa for the centennial celebration of the school she attended.

"A lot has changed," she said of the Africa she knew compared to the Africa of today. "It's no longer safe to run around like we did when I was a kid. There seems like so much more robbery, anger. A lot fewer ways for people to make money. And, of course, over there, there's no kind of safety net. People live very close to the edge."

Of the 12 stories in "Stormbird of the Serengeti and Other African Tales," does Porte have a favorite?

"I got terribly involved in each one of them, but I would say "Dani, the Serengeti Warrior,' because it's about the effect of someone else's war on people. It shows there can be meaning in life through the bad things that happen to people," she said.

A long-time member of the Kachemak Bay Writer's Group, Porte uses the weekly meetings to sharpen her literary skill.

"Sometimes they're very helpful. Other times they just listen and nod. Other times they find where I've goofed up. Sometimes you just have to read it out loud," Porte said.

In spite of the abundance of details and plot changes, Porte promises there is much she has left untouched. In fact, there are plenty from which to draw for the novel on which she is currently working, the third in her African trilogy. Its working title is "Pale Lion Rising." Porte anticipates it will be completed within the year.

McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky.@homernews.com.