Pauline Nevins

Media Q & A

 

Why did you name your memoir, “Fudge”?

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It was the only sweet thing I was called while growing up as a half-black child in a village in England. As the only person of color among eight children in a white family I heard racist slurs and put downs, including “fudge.”

 

My mother had an affair with a black American soldier during World War II. So I’m one of more than two thousand mixed-race children born in England during the war, many of whom grew up conflicted about their racial identify and feeling abandoned by their black American military fathers who were stationed throughout Great Britain during World War II.

 

I won’t repeat the other things people called me, but you can read about it in my book. It’s my hope that we can all learn to be quicker to stop ourselves from saying something hurtful to others and faster to intervene when racism occurs right in front of us.

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What inspired you to write about your experiences?

I want to give young people hope. Anyone who is living in an unhappy and chaotic family, as I once was, and feeling like they don’t quite belong, as I once did—I want you to be reassured: don’t give up. Life does get better. 

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In your memoir you search for your father. Did you ever find him?

Yes! After more than 30 years, I did. Ancestry.com connected me to his family. Again, never give up hope. I have a photo of my father now. He’s deceased, but I enjoyed a visit with his family. They gave me a warm welcome and accepted me completely. Proof that miracles do happen. Never give up hope.