Stories
Chena Weitzer's Book
A Root, a Road, and a Wing, her grandmother's story
HOW ON EARTH can a person take a collection of family letters, and build from them a story so closely observed, so deeply felt, and so smart that it reads like the best of novels?
For MLC alumna Chena (Julie) Taylor Weitzer, it took 26 years, great perseverance, trips to the Midwest, trips into her own psyche, and the deepest dive into her family's understandings of their own history.
Chena's book, A Root, a Road, and a Wing, was published in summer 2026. It tells the story of her grandmother, Julie Hoiles DeStaebler, from the day of her mother's death, in 1948, in St. Louis, until the end of Julie's life, in rural Indiana.
It tells the story of the youthful days of Julie's daughter Jeanne, or Jenny—Chena's mom, and Tommy's, Marga's, and Stuart's, known to the MLC community as Jan Taylor, or Juliette Angell. It is in this way a background story for four loved alumni.
And there is an undeniable, what, sociological aspect, relevant to MLC and to the era preceding our founding: this is a story of divorce—of freedom, liberation, convention flouted and costs borne, at a time and in a place when these were very rare.
On this page are selected text and images from the beautiful book, designed by MLC alumnus Matthew Galaher, presenting the author's perspective and enough of a taste, perhaps, to intrigue you. Books can be ordered (at cost of production plus mailing) from Chena at chena@nwcpdx.com. – Sam Lowry
Above: thumbnail, Julie Hoiles DeStaebler, at right, and her 18-year-old daughter Jeanne—known to the MLC community as Jan Taylor, or Juliette Angell—on the porch of Julie's cabin, on her farm in Shoals, Indiana, 1950. Below, counterclockwise: the cover of Chena Weitzer's new book; Chena's words on the back cover; Julie DeStaebler in 1946; Chena's introduction, page iv.
