Trust the Heart for Wisdom

In her day, Wilma Davis Valentine (born 1889) was considered by her peers to be a modern Renaissance woman. She was a multi-talented artist, musician and writer, with her oil paintings exhibited in Texas fine arts museums, including the Laguna Gloria Art Museum and the Elisabet Ney Art Museum in Austin. She was also an accomplished guitarist and a classical pianist. Her poetry won several prizes from the Texas State Poetry Society, and many were included in 1976 in a compilation book published by the Austin Poetry Society. The sonnet, the most difficult to write, was her forte. Unfortunately, when she died, her manuscripts disappeared and were considered lost until 2019 when, miraculously, these written treasures were found. Her granddaughter, Leslie Anne Valentine discovered three tattered boxes of notebooks and journals stored in a garage, and sent them to Zilla Adams (Wilma's eldest granddaughter), who immediately resolved to save and restore these important works which were faded, torn, and damaged so much by age and humidity that it was sometimes necessary to literally piece pages together to complete a poem or story. The restored works include 73 general verses, 82 light verses, 5 epic sonnets, a short story, an autobiography, and a biographical timeline. They are reproduced in their entirety in this collection. After four years of typing and editing, Zilla Adams has published TRUST THE HEART FOR WISDOM: The Lost Works of Texas Poet Wilma Davis Valentine, 1889-1964. With heartfelt gratitude, Zilla revived Wilma's treasures and her memory, and restored her rightful place in Texas literary history.