Columnist says she hopes to speak for all women

Turning a humorous eye on the everyday experience comes naturally to Augusta-based author Karin Gillespie.

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"Everybody in our family has a really great sense of humor. We like to one-up each other with our jokes and our stories," she said.

She'll turn that sense of humor toward the readers of The Augusta Chronicle in a biweekly column that begins today.

For Ms. Gillespie, who recently published Bet Your Bottom Dollar and has two more books under contract in the series about a fictional Southern town near Augusta, finding subjects for her column means looking at her life and the lives of women around her.

"Women, we all have this common consciousness, these common concerns," she said. "It's just so much fun to think of things in my life and make them universal to every woman."

Despite a "quirky" personality, Ms. Gillespie, a former essayist, said the column should resonate with readers because of its local touch and unabashed truth.

"I'll talk about the kind of things that interest all women: food, diets, men, clothes, hair ... the kind of things women talk about when men leave the room."

Ms. Gillespie said she intends to provide a voice not often heard, meant to be read like a conversation between best girlfriends.

"There really isn't a woman's column. This is speaking for us," she said.

"I want a woman to look at (this column) and say, "I recognize those people. I recognize those feelings. I've been there."

Reach Kamille Bostick at (706) 823-3223 or kamille.bostick@augustachronicle.com.

--From the Sunday, October 10, 2004 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle