Writer's Retreat

Tempo Magazine, The Taos News

UPFRONT

Dee Strasberg's semiannual visit to The Taos Inn is reason to celebrate

By Denise M. Spranger
Photo by Rick Romancito

She saw the sign through the bus window. "The Taos Inn, 45 rooms, 45 baths." When the young woman stepped off the Greyhound near the Taos Plaza, she and her traveling companion decided the hotel would be a fine place to spend the night.

The year was 1951. Dee Strasberg must have liked the place. She has returned ever since for extended visits in spring and autumn.

Strasberg recalls opening the door of The Taos Inn for the first time.

"The whole Inn was covered wall to wall with paintings by local artists," she said, "and there were huge drum tables covered with leather and high round-back leather chairs."

Strasberg remembers that what is now the "library" was the maids' supply room, and three guest rooms occupied the space of today's Adobe Bar.

Dee Strasberg, author of more than 70 novels and long-time guest of The Historic Taos Inn, celebrates the 50th anniversay of her first arrival in Taos. Taking a morning coffee break from work on her current novel, Strasberg enjoys the comfort of her favorite chair in the lobby.

Although the two women from Washington, D.C., had been bound for Santa Fe on a two-week adventure out West, the pair never made it to their destination. What began as a minor stop to investigate the home of D.H. Lawrence became for Strasberg a life-long relationship with a town, a community and, not coincidentally, an inn.

The feeling is mutual. Sunday (Nov. 4) The Historic Taos Inn honored its most loyal patron with a private party at Doc Martin's Restaurant for a number of Strasberg's most intimate friends. The occasion was to celebrate the 50th anniversary of her arrival in Taos. Ruben Romero and Miguel Soto entertained the gathering of several dozen or more with classical Spanish guitar.

Carolyn Haddock, who co-owns The Historic Taos Inn with her husband, Douglas Smith, phoned Strasberg in late September to propose the idea of an anniversary celebration. At first, the Washington, D.C., resident was hesitant about the idea of a party so soon after the events of Sept. 11.

"I told her that we were all depressed," said Haddock, "but perhaps that's why it was even more important for us to do it now."

Haddock had hosted a 40th anniversary for Strasberg in 1991. She said then that, "of all the things that came along with ownership of the Inn, Dee was by far the best."

Strasberg remembers when the Historic Taos Inn library, now filled with works of art, was formerly a "maid's supply room" in 1951.

Since that time, a silver Nambe star has hung on the door of Room 102, better known to Taos Inn staff as simply "Dee's Room." Twice a year that room undergoes special preparations under the supervision of Ramona Maestas, manager of housekeeping.

"When I know that Dee's coming, we put a welcome banner in her room," said Maestas, "and then we order flowers and bring in her special towels. We try to make Dee's room as special as we can."

Yet there is one item that Maestas places in "Dee's Room" more essential than any other -- the typewriter.

The author of more than 70 novels published under her given name, Daoma Winston, doesn't spend her time in Taos just visiting friends. After rising at 6 a.m. and completing her morning walk, she is ready to get down to work.

Before she first stepped foot in the hotel 50 years ago, Strasberg had already published her first novel. The writer known as "Taos' most prolific author" has written in a number of genres though her focus continues to be that of "psychological suspense."

"No matter what I write there is always a dead body in it," Strasberg said with a wink.

The hallway outside her room buzzes with the muffled report of typewriter keys signaling a work-in-progress. In the three weeks since her autumn arrival, Strasberg has completed the rough draft of three chapters for a new novel.

"A few days before I left I was hit by lightning," said Strasberg, "I suddenly got the idea for a book and wrote out the whole synopsis in one sitting."

The writer, who began her career at the age of eight with a poem about Medieval knights and worked as a reporter for The Washington Times following high school, described her writing process each morning at the Taos Inn.

"I need a certain amount of time for pacing up and down," she said, "and then I come out to the lobby and do a few laps around the fountain before moving the pencils around."

Hotel manager Erik Granger enjoys the opportunity to find Strasberg taking a morning coffee break in the lobby's most comfortable chair.

"You realize that there are so many things going on in her mind and they trigger things in yours," said Granger. "I often come up and ask her, 'Dee, have you thought on this? Have you read this book? Do you remember this character?' And she always knows exactly who I am talking about and exactly what I am referencing. It's a delight to have that little stimulation every morning."

Granger added that he considers Strasberg "the official aunt of the Taos Inn."

There are easily dozens of people in the Taos community that consider Strasberg one of the family. Long before her visit, friends passing on the street spread the word of her next arrival date and many faces not often seen at the Taos Inn reappear when Strasberg comes to town.

Strasberg's enduring relationship with Taos is certainly nurtured by her ability to sustain lasting friendships as much as her openness to form new ones. Though frequently surrounded by friends she has had for 30 years or more, you are just as likely to find her in deep conversation with the 22-year-old cocktail waitress who just began working at the Taos Inn.

"The real purpose of my visits is to meet the kind of people that I don't meet at home," said Strasberg, "As cosmopolitan as D.C. is, we all move in our little circles and it's rather limiting."

The author also considers Taos fertile ground for story ideas and the characters who inhabit them.

Asked how her husband, Murray Strasberg, felt about his wife's frequent visits to Taos, she responded, "I have always been an autonomous person. That's the way I was when he married me and that's the way I am now. Probably that's what he liked me. We've been married 57 years, and that says something."

The author, who celebrated her 79th birthday Saturday (Nov. 3), has watched The Taos Inn evolve over the years with shifts in clientele, staff, and even those who have owned the historic establishment.

"The building has its own personality," said Strasberg, "and the trick is to always stay engaged."

As for the changes in Taos, Strasberg remains undaunted.

"The mountains stay the same, the valley is the same, the sun is the same. And the great people don't seem to be lost in the increasingly large population. But if the mountains go away," Strasberg added with a smile, "there's going to be a problem."