Dee Lee, a 55-year resident of Harvard, has had a long and varied career in financial planning. She has written for the Boston Herald; answered questions on a WBZ talk show; spoken at numerous conferences across the country; founded her firm, Harvard Financial Educators; and written six books about financial matters. But in a recent conversation, she said that nine years ago she received a very different challenge from her then 7-year-old granddaughter. Cassidy was visiting from Virginia for the summer, and Lee asked her if she wanted to participate in the library’s challenge to read 40 books and what she might like as a prize. “I’ll read 50 books if you write a book for me,” Cassidy replied.
The outcome of that challenge was Lee’s children’s book, “Moynihan Memories,” illustrated by Cassidy and published in 2014 using her own imprint, Flying Pig of Harvard. The publishing name is explained in a story Lee told about her grandmother. Lee’s mom was the youngest of 17 kids and when the U.S. entered World War II, Lee’s dad went into the service and her grandfather needed his daughter’s help on the farm. So Lee’s grandmother took care of her, and they grew very close. Lee was always asking if she would get tall. “Aye, when pigs fly,” was her grandmother’s repeated response. The book is a chapter book for 8- to 10-year-olds. The cover is bright pink, chosen by Cassidy, with Cassidy’s drawing of the main characters on the cover—“a little girl who bends the rules and a very kind and smart grandmother,” said Lee with a smile.
Dee and Cassidy Lee sign copies of their book, “Moynihan Memories.” (Courtesy photo)
The chapters are based on stories Lee had told Cassidy over the years. She said she began when Cassidy was very young. Lee’s son, Bryan, was sick, and he, his wife, and baby Cassidy moved in with Lee and her husband. Sadly, Bryan died not too long after. When Cassidy and her mom moved into a condo in Harvard, Lee and Cassidy would have story time every night. When Lee’s daughter-in-law moved to Virginia, Cassidy missed the stories, so Lee would phone every night and Cassidy would listen in her closet on her mom’s phone.
Real life stories of Priscilla
After Cassidy started school, she announced she was “done with the Snow Fairy stuff,” said Lee, so they invented “real life” stories of the adventures of Priscilla. Together they created a family for Priscilla: A mom (often absent), GranDee, PopPop, five older siblings, an adopted family of 10 older siblings, and two dogs. And, very importantly, a new best friend, Billie Jean King. When Lee asked what the family’s name should be, Cassidy said she liked O’Brien. Surmising that the name should be Irish, Lee countered with the name Moynihan, and Cassidy approved. Cassidy would present Lee with a mishap Priscilla had gotten into, and Lee would create a story “of epic proportions to the original dilemma.” “Luckily I have a good imagination,” she added.
When the challenge came from Cassidy that summer she was 7, Lee started writing down the stories she had been telling, filling two composition books. “Moynihan Memories” begins in September with the whole family, in multiple vehicles, saying goodbye to Priscilla’s mom, a pediatric surgeon who is flying to Africa. Then first grade begins, and Priscilla meets Billie Jean, who is with Priscilla through all the ensuing adventures. At Halloween they dress as bunnies, but Tommy, a boy at their school, throws up on their costumes. For Thanksgiving, they make cranberry sauce and on their way up to the classroom, Tommy comes barreling down the stairs and cranberry sauce is everywhere. Christmas brings a visit to Santa Claus, but after waiting in a long line, Priscilla misses her chance to see him.
GranDee makes sure that for every disappointment, there can be a happy ending—like when Priscilla gets hoisted on her brother’s shoulders to put the angel on the tree to make up for having missed Santa. And there are many life lessons from the “kind and smart” GranDee. When Priscilla is pouting because something isn’t fair, her grandmother acknowledges that but says Priscilla has a choice to either remain miserable or to move on. When Priscilla wants to “punch out” a boy on her soccer team, GranDee helps her see that punching would not make her feel better. GranDee explains the difference between a lie and a little white lie, where the latter is told out of kindness.
The book is set in “Harwood,” which has a Common with churches at both ends. At Halloween all the kids gather in town center, and one of the churches has a spook house. There are two large orchards, and the best cider donuts in the state. Many details seem clearly from Lee’s own childhood, like when GranDee gives Priscilla a small tree to keep decorated all year long and brings down an old box from the attic full of tiny hearts and birds that “her grandmother gave to her.” The household is constantly busy and noisy, full of affectionate teasing and hugs, the smells of baking, and, always, lemon squares and oatmeal cookies. Priscilla is a lively, mostly agreeable child whose 6-year-old’s misunderstanding of some things makes for part of the book’s humor. And, of course, she loves math.
With a year’s worth of adventures for Priscilla, Lee faced a problem. She knew she couldn’t type the stories herself, but she didn’t think anyone else could read her handwriting. Her daughter suggested she make a recording of the stories and then hire someone to type from that. From there, Lee edited the manuscript and put it in Amazon’s drop-in format, which she said was easy, quick, and cheap.
The cat’s meow
Lee said the book was a great project; “Cassidy believed in those characters, they were real, and the best part of it was what it did for our relationship. The book was for her, and in her eyes, I was the cat’s meow.” (What grandparent doesn’t want to be the cat’s meow!)
But Lee was the cat’s meow even before “Moynihan’s Memories.” At the age of 50 she went to Simmons College full time for her MBA to become a certified financial planner. She wore jeans and a sweatshirt, hung out with college students after classes, and studied in the Simmons library with Bryan, who was then at Tufts. At graduation, the program noted certain students, and at the ceremony, Bryan called out from the back of the hall, “Way to go, mom, you made the honor roll.”
She was on the radio for 18 years answering questions on money and financial planning. She became a financial educator and conducted workshops across the country. Working with state treasurers, she created conferences on women and money, and even traveled to Japan to talk about retirement. Her six books include two “complete idiot’s guides” and one called “Women and Money,” which is readable, humorous, and full of helpful information.
While Lee was passionate in talking about her career as a finance educator, it was clear that an even greater joy lay in writing “Moynihan Memories” for Cassidy: “It was a work of love,” she said
