When the pandemic sent Ann Bedsole to her farm on the Alabama River to wait out COVID-19, she did not set out to write a book. She was simply bored. The result, Ann Bedsole’s memoir “Leave Your Footprint,” became one of the most talked-about local releases of 2023, drawing a large crowd of admirers when it debuted at The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile.
Bedsole, a trailblazing state legislator and one of Mobile’s best-known civic leaders, was 93 when the book came out. Its story of how it came to be is as revealing as the life it recounts.
A Book Born From Boredom
When COVID-19 arrived, Bedsole’s children asked her to isolate at her farm in Gosport, on the Alabama River between Grove Hill and Monroeville. The farm is a working operation, and Bedsole runs it. The move was a precaution, not a punishment, but for a woman accustomed to being in the middle of projects, missions and community life, the isolation was hard. She had no one to talk to.
Gosport lies in Clarke County, a heavily forested stretch of southwest Alabama where the Alabama River curves south toward its meeting with the Tombigbee above the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. Grove Hill, the county seat, sits to the west, and Monroeville is across the river to the east. It is quiet country, and for someone with Bedsole’s calendar, it was about as far from the bustle of downtown Mobile as she could get.
There was no dramatic moment of inspiration. She needed something to do, so she decided to write down her childhood memories for her grandchildren.
“It was a way to quell the boredom,” she said. “And it got my mind working, which was something I needed to do in my isolation.”
She sat at her computer for a couple of hours each day. The more she wrote, the more she remembered, and each day seemed to bring back another chapter of her life. What began as a writing exercise became something she genuinely enjoyed.
An Idyllic Country Childhood
Bedsole describes her childhood in the country as idyllic. She was something of a tomboy and ran with the boys until their teenage years, when the boys went off on their own and left her behind. She admits now that it hurt her feelings. Soon, though, a group of older, “sophisticated” girls welcomed her into their circle, and she remains grateful for their kindness.
Those memories, small and personal, formed the foundation of the book. Over time, the recollections widened to take in the career that made her a household name in Alabama politics.
Breaking Barriers in Montgomery
Bedsole was at the forefront of the Republican Party’s rise in Alabama at a time when the state’s politics were still dominated by Democrats. When she was elected to the state Senate, she was one of only a handful of Republicans in the chamber.
“When I was elected State Senator, there were only three other Republicans in the Senate,” she said. “We quickly figured out that if we were ever going to get any of our bills passed, we’d better make friends and get along.” They did.
Bedsole was the first woman elected to the Alabama State Senate, and she has said that recalling her years in Montgomery was her favorite part of the writing process. Her stories offer a behind-the-scenes look at how legislators worked within the system to get things done.
“Those were fun times,” she said. “My proudest moment was passing the 911 emergency bill for the State of Alabama. No one even knew what it was, and it passed overwhelmingly without much discussion.”
Today it is hard to imagine a time before 911, but the three-digit emergency number spread across the country gradually in the decades after it was first introduced in the late 1960s. Legislation that allowed local communities to establish and fund 911 systems was a crucial step in bringing that service to Alabamians. Her political career also included a run for governor.
A Life of Civic Projects
After leaving politics, Bedsole turned her energy to community service in South Alabama. After her mother died, she created the Sybil Smith Trust, which identified needed projects, provided support and encouraged other private foundations to join in. Among the efforts she has led or championed:
- Mobile’s Tricentennial: She led a group of volunteers who organized the city’s 300th birthday celebration, marking the 1702 founding of the French colonial settlement that became Mobile. The festivities included a flotilla of tall ships sailing into Mobile Bay, which drew crowds to the water to watch.
- The Alabama School of Mathematics and Science: She founded the statewide residential public high school in Mobile, leading the search for a building, funding, faculty and the first class of students. The school serves gifted students from across Alabama who may not have access to advanced coursework in their hometowns or rural communities, and all students live on campus.
- The Sybil H. Smith Family Village: Concerned about homeless women and children with nowhere to go, she set out through the trust to assess the needs of these families and to help secure funding to build and staff a shelter.
The Alabama School of Mathematics and Science opened its doors in 1991 in midtown Mobile and has since sent its graduates on to universities and careers in science, engineering, medicine and research. Its model, a public residential high school drawing talented students from every corner of the state, remains relatively rare nationally.
Sybil H. Smith Family Village
To understand the scope of family homelessness in Mobile, Bedsole recruited help from people working with the Homeless Coalition of Mobile and the Dumas Wesley Community Center to identify gaps in services. Volunteers canvassed underpasses at night where people were camped and talked with them. Many were women living with their children.
From that work came a plan for a shelter where families could get back on solid ground, with a safe place to live, food to eat and help rejoining the community. The Sybil H. Smith Family Village is still operated through the Dumas Wesley Community Center’s transitional housing program. The 17-unit village has served nearly 2,500 women and children, with a focus on accountability, individualized case management, life skills and behavior change.
Transitional housing programs like this one fill a gap between emergency shelters and permanent housing, giving families time and support to stabilize, find work and prepare to live independently.
From Memories to Manuscript
As the memories piled up, Bedsole shared them with her close friend and project associate Carol Hunter, communications and marketing director at the Downtown Mobile Alliance. After reading them, Hunter told her, “This needs to be a book.”
Hunter introduced Bedsole to Eddie Curran, a writer and experienced researcher. Curran helped edit the manuscript and offered advice, taking particular care to make sure her recollections were accurate so the book would not create backlash or legal trouble by misrepresenting events. Apart from minor edits, most of what appears in “Leave Your Footprint” is exactly as Bedsole remembered it.
Anyone who has tried to publish a book knows that writing is only the beginning. A finished manuscript still needs organizing, editing and rewriting, followed by a book designer, a printer, a distributor and a marketing push that includes signings and appearances. For Bedsole, that meant events across the region she has spent her life serving.
“It’s been fun,” she said. “Eddie and I worked well together, and I’ve enjoyed visiting with old friends at the book events.”
What the Title Means
The book’s title comes from her father’s advice: leave your footprint, make something of your life. Readers who know Bedsole describe her as a doer, someone who sees what needs to be done and figures out how to do it, without ever seeming to have something to prove. At the time the book was released, she remained involved with the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science and was working on improvements to Bienville Square, the historic park at the heart of downtown Mobile named for the city’s French founder, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, and known for its live oaks and cast-iron fountain.
Bedsole was married to Nick Holmes Jr., a highly regarded Mobile architect and historian who spent time with her at the Gosport farm and was remembered by friends as a true gentleman.
“Leave Your Footprint” is available at local bookstores and through online retailers. For readers interested in Alabama politics, Mobile history or simply a well-lived life, it offers a first-person account from someone who helped shape all three.