JENNIFER MAHAL -- In the Wings

Joan Drummond Miller does not like the word retire. The 68-year-old

former Costa Mesa resident said she thinks the word sounds like “dead.”

Which is part of the reason that Miller, along with friends Carolyn

Livingston and Julie Houy, wrote “Beyond Bingo,” a tale of three feisty

older women who become involved with medical marijuana. Miller will read

portions of “Bingo” at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Barnes & Noble Metro Pointe,

901 South Coast Drive, Costa Mesa.

“I think the main thing we were trying to do is break from the

stereotype of old age,” Miller said on the phone from her home in Carmel.

A comic caper, “Beyond Bingo” follows the story of Violet Farnsworth,

Katherine Doolittle and Sophie Conway as they attempt to get marijuana

for their friend, Rita, who is dying cancer. Along the way, they find a

body and get tangled up with the local mob.

The book is now in its second printing -- a friend even found the

seven copies of the book in the airport bookstore in Minneapolis. In part

it has been garnering attention for its pro-medical marijuana stance.

“We’ve gotten an awful lot of free publicity,” Miller said.

Personally, Miller said she is anti-suffering and doesn’t think people

with a real medical need should be denied it.

“Which doesn’t mean I believe kids should use it for recreational

reasons,” she said.

The book came out of a reading group that Miller, Livingston and Houy

were a part of.

“We kept reading these books that we didn’t think were very good in

terms of stereotyping old people, and we said ‘We can do better than

that,” said the woman who recently went to a conference titled “Growing

Old Disgracefully.”

The friends decided to set the story in small town where not much

happened, came up with characters, assigned one another parts, started

acting it out and a plot emerged.

“The other two now tell me they were just humoring me,” Miller said.

Maybe so. Miller said that Houy, 83, never bothered to tell her

husband what they were doing until after the book was published. And

then, she was a little uneasy about the topic.

“The book cover has a giant marijuana leaf, a little hard to ignore,”

Miller said. “[Houy] said, ‘Oh dear, oh my. My husband’s against

marijuana.”

But it all turned out OK. And really, the story is about more than

drugs.

“We talk about the fact that one old lady can be ridiculed, but if you

get enough of them, they can be a force for change,” Miller said.

Already Miller has been a force for change in the lives of many Costa

Mesa residents. After all, she taught for more than 20 years at Estancia

High School -- everything from English and creative writing to psychology

and group dynamics.

Linda Hogan remembers Miller as a colleague from her Estancia days.

“She was very bright and also had a big heart,” Hogan said. “I think

her heart and mind were in teaching, and that was reflected in her

attitude toward the kids.”

Though Miller has lived in Carmel for the past 15 years -- she and her

husband own the Rocky Pilot Restaurant -- she said she still feels close

to her hometown.

“Who I’d really like to see [at the signing] is some of my old

students,” Miller said.

* * *

Do you know a local artist, writer, painter, singer, filmmaker, etc.,

who deserves to get noticed? Send your nominee to In The Wings, Daily

Pilot, 330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627, by fax to (949) 646-4170 or

by e-mail to o7 [email protected]

* JENNIFER MAHAL is features editor of the Daily Pilot.