Former Potomac resident Bella Martin will be in town later this month to sign her new book, “Fun Between Falls.” Martin, who attended Holton-Arms School, is the sister of the late Margo McConihe, founder of the Potomac Almanac and Elie Pisarra Cain’s mother.
The book is full of old Potomac history and anecdotes and includes many photos, Cain said recently of her aunt’s memoir. These include the story of Martin’s move to Potomac with her mother, traveling out River Road when it was still a dirt road, and a photo of the Potomac crossroads on page 32 which is worth the price of the book on its own.
“We stopped in Potomac and Mom bought the ‘fixing’ for a picnic and some ginger ale,” writes Martin. “There was one ‘all purpose’ store on the northwest corner in Potomac, and on the other corner was Mrs. Henderson’s Beer Parlor, that was all. On the left side was a baseball field.”
“It’s quite funny,” said Lynn Morgan of The Surrey, who enjoyed the anecdotes.
“This wonderful retrospective is a colorful account of friendships, fun and derring-do, in which Bella Martin’s joy of life leaps out from every page,” write Austin Kiplinger on the book’s back cover. “No one will read it without coming away exhilarated.”
The title of the book refers to horseback riding and not the Potomac River, although the river’s presence recurs throughout the book.
“The title of my book evolved from my many mishaps and falls throughout my years of dealing with horses,” Martin writes in her author’s note. “One day [my husband] Gene said, ‘Why don’t you give the whole thing up?’
“I said, ‘Never! It’s so much fun between falls!’”