Berkstairs Hill

MARTHA SEEGER LAMSON was the author of several books as well as an award-winning artist, columnist, editor, and newspaper owner. Born and raised in Texas, she graduated from The University of Texas at Austin in 1947 with a degree in Art and a minor in Journalism. From 1961 to the early 1970s, she taught Art and English at schools in Sinton, Odem, and Refugio. She contributed columns to the Refugio County Press newspaper, which led to the development of the long-running column "Gladly." In 1987, she launched her own newspaper, the Refugio County Advantage, and later acquired the Refugio County Press. She retired from the newspaper business in the mid-1990s and later penned the children's book Oliver and the novel Berkstairs Hill. She enjoyed a lifelong interest in art, specializing in watercolors and pastels but also demonstrating a special aptitude for sculpting. She was an active member of the Art Center of Corpus Christi from the 1970s to the 2000s, winning awards for her paintings. As a modern-day Renaissance woman, she also earned her pilot's license and enjoyed traveling, tennis, piano, and bridge. She and her husband Bill raised their three children in South Texas.