Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Joan Clayton wrote nine books, hundreds of articles for magazines and anthologies, 13 essays for the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series and — as many faithful readers probably know — more than 1,000 religion columns for this newspaper.
She never got paid for the newspaper columns.
“I don’t write for money,” she said. “I write for Jesus.”
It’s important to note she did not preach about her religion in those newspaper reports. Instead, she showed us her faith through her stories.
That was way better.
Clayton started writing after a 31-year career teaching school. Her first newspaper column appeared in the Portales News-Tribune on May 21, 1993.
All of her columns were based on a biblical truth. Her mission was to help everyone find heaven.
In 2014, when she was 85, Clayton decided to retire from writing. “I know in my heart that the time is right,” she said. And she backed it up with Scripture: “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
She answered a few questions via email before closing that chapter.
She said she owned about 20 pair of shoes. “So they can match my wardrobe,” of course.
She offered sound advice: “Be nice to everyone.”
She remembered well her first school teacher: “She spanked me with a ruler!”
Her favorite book was “Life is Delicious.” “Because I wrote it,” she said.
Her greatest fear: “My computer breaking down.”
She had a celebrity encounter at an airport once.
“I saw Adam Cartwright of “Bonanza” (Pernell Roberts), but he said ‘No’ when I asked for his autograph.”
For more than six decades of her life, one of her favorite subjects was her husband Emmitt. They were married 64 years. He died in 2013.
She described him as, “handsome.”
“(He) said ‘I love you,’ to me every day,” she wrote in her email interview.
The wedding ring he gave her was her most prized possession.
They met in high school. “All the girls wanted him, but he only wanted me,” she said.
Joan Clayton, 91, died Friday. So today seems a good day to remember her.
And if you never got the chance to read one of her inspirational columns, there’s one published online today.
Be blessed.
David Stevens writes about regional history for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at:
More local history:
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