C2 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, October 3, 2001 The Grannies Not your usual knitting nanas By Carol Baldwin ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR eenagers don't have a monopoly on raising hell. In fact, The Grannies (formerly known as Hell's Grannies) had to take the four-letter word out of their name in order to be published. "We were very disappointed when we lost our hell," quips Sybil Rampen, leader of the pack and author of The Grannies. The Oakville artist says it all began with pictures of motorcycles that she had stitched, then embossed with wild cucumber pods, followed by a suggestion that she write stories to go with them. As the 72-year-old ruminated on her future, she realized that she didn't want to be whiling away her hours knitting in an old-aged home. So, she made sure that the characters in her story laid down their needles and wool and took up more exciting pursuits. "I know a lot of people in homes and they just sit there in apathy just waiting to ...It's horrible," she explains. "So I got my old ladies (in the book) going back to school, and the only course that was available was motor mechanics. So, they all took motor mechanics. Then the ideas came." As she wrote, Rampen also recalled her time in Europe cycling across the countryside on a motorized bicycle at the tender age of 22 - wind in her hair, space all around her. So, the eight fictitious Grannies all bought motorcycles. Then, of course, they needed a clubhouse, which they fash Photo by ioned from an old bam. Riziero Vertolli And what do grannies do in Sybil Rampen is a clubhouse. Knit? Absolutely delighted with her first not - they form a "rocking book, which features chair band" that plays home composite characters made instruments. And, of from her life. The sep course, since this is a story, the tuagenarian gathered band attains more than its 15 seven of her friends to minutes of fame, playing on pose with her as `The radio and television and even Grannies' for the pho cutting a CD. "It's sort of silly. The whole tographs to accompany the story of eight active thing is ridiculous. But then I grannies. She is seen began to get really into it. So, I here with her book and killed off the leader the motorized bicycle Methuselah," Rampen contin that she rode through ues, explaining that, since the story is loosely based on her Europe 50 years ago. friends, a death and subsequent wake seemed appropriate, especially after a lifelong friend of hers had died. "What a beautiful thing - a pot-luck supper and a wake. A celebration (of someone's life) is something that should be real and simple. There's too much of this funeral-parlour business." So, the wake she organized for that particular friend became Methuselah's wake in her book. Her character's names are as telltale as the story itself, ranging from Stay-at-home Mabel, who transforms into Able Mabel, to Double Trouble (the twins) and the Witch (Sybil, herself). The Grannies, she says, were bom B.E. (Before Elec tricity), but they roll with the punches and never allow the fact that they live in a seniors' home stop them from taking computer courses or relaxing in a hot tub. They reminisced about the good-old B.E. days when young girls played endlessly with mud pies and homemade dolls and when teenagers gathered at church socials and square dances. They recall reading ghost stories by the "flickering light of the coal-oil lamp," but they also revel in their new-found independence that came about with the advent of television, talking tapes and computers. "In winter they gather in the party room and read their stories, including Methuselah's," Rampen says, explaining that the characters and their stories are "sort of true, but not true" - based on real people, and not all women. And those individual tales range from raising 13 children on a chick en farm to modeling for Eaton's Catalogue, and from drink ing, dieting and divorcing to dodging land mines, fleeing the Nazis and single parenting. However, the women in the wonderful black-and-white photographs that accompany these all-but-true stories are Rampen and seven of her friends who posed as the charac ters. When writing about the making of The Grannies, Ram pen says, "Ron Doyle of Easyriders of Ontario trans "We domed formed us into bikers - and we leathers, became `The Mob.' We trailed after Cathy (Chatterton, pho mounted motor tographer) to many locations. bikes, drank tea, We donned leathers, mounted and floated in a motorbikes, drank tea, and floated in a hot tub in bulgy hot tub in bulgy bathing suits. It was hard work, bathing su its..." but the more we did our `mean,' `perky,' `perky,' `wise' expressions, the more we became our characters.. .Whenever we see each other now, we giggle and laugh, not at each other, but at life." Rampen says she videotaped those wild, day-long photo sessions that had eight women in their 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s "cavorting around." In fact, the kickstand on Rampen's motorcycle somehow dislodged during one of those photo sessions, and it began rolling down hill. "I didn't know where the brakes w ere...It was going down towards the river," she explains. "I thought, `If I can just turn it and go back up the hill it will sto p ...' But it flipped. I got a terrible bruise on my leg. But I'm glad it was me and not one of my friends." The septuagenarian refers to the writing of her first book and the subsequent photo shoots as "organic experiences," especially the latter, which included picnic lunches and hours that sometimes left her exhausted and concerned about "my old ones." But they all survived to see their faces in the pages of The Grannies, which sells for $29.95 at Bookers Bookstore and Chapters. Rampen will read from The Grannies during its Oakville launch at Central Library, 120 Navy St. on Wednesday, Oct. 17 from 7 to 9 p.m. She and her photo genic proteges, who will be autographing copies of the book, invite guests to join them for tea and cookies. Tick ets are $10 or $7 for library cardholders. The Toronto launch of The Grannies will take place on Thursday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. in the Chapters Bookstore at 142 John St. (at Richmond Street). RSVP by calling 905849-8777 or e-mail contact@mbiconpublishing.com. 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