Second Acts
The year Mariko Tatsumoto Layton (Psych’74; Law’77) graduated from Colorado Law, she made history in the state’s legal community as the first Asian woman admitted to the Colorado Bar.But sheprefers to be known as a storyteller.
“Writing was like a pebble in my shoeand I just couldn’t ignore it,” said Layton,who last year published the prize-winningchildren’s book Ayumi’s Violin, herdebut work of fiction.
The book — honored by judges ofthe 2016 Paterson Prize for Books forYoung People and winner of the RockyMountain Fiction Writers Gold Award— tells the story of a young, biracialgirl from Japan, a violin prodigy strivingfor acceptance by her white Americanfather’s new family.
Layton, who lives with husband Allenin Pagosa Springs and writes under hermaiden name, Tatsumoto, has since publisheda second children’s book, AccidentalSamurai Spy. A third, Kenji’sPower, is in progress.
All three center on theadventures of young Japanesecharacters and explorethemes of family, culture,loyalty and betrayal.
“All my books involvesome cross-cultural aspects,”said Layton, who at age8 moved from Japan tothe U.S., where her fatherworked as a geochemist. “Ilike to show the differencesin culture through the characters,but ultimately liketo show that kids shouldnot prejudge people, and
show the good in everyculture and every ethnicitywhenever I write.”
In her first career,Layton worked as a deputydistrict attorney in AdamsCounty, then practicedbusiness law. She’d alwayswanted to be a writer,though, and in the mid-1980s started takingwriting classes at ColoradoMountain College,attending writing conferences andparticipating in critique groups.
She published a travel guide to Coloradobed-and-breakfasts in 1990 andkept plugging away at fiction. One day aprofessor suggested she spin a story she’daimed at adults into a children’s book.
At first Layton resisted: She thoughtshe’d feel like a lesser writer by writing forchildren. But she gave it a try and foundwriting for children, typically for ages 8-12,a satisfying challenge.
“A good children’s novel entertains,”she said, “but it also teaches childrento live ethically.”
There may be lessons in Layton’s personalstory as well as in her books — aboutpersistence, perhaps, or patience, or both.
“I wanted writing to be my first career,but it turned out to be my second,” shesaid. “I published my first book at theage of 63 and I don’t think I’m too oldfor a second career. The way I look atit is I now have a richer understandingof life and more materials to work withwhen I write.”
Photos courtesy Mariko TatsumotoLayton