Tim Connor

I wish so much that this had been a fiction novel, not because it was a bad non-fiction book, but because all the beats were there for a piece of fiction, but it was Major Margaret Witt's real life (and her family's real life). It tells the story of her as well as the story of her fight to stay in the Air Force after she is revealed to be a lesbian.

It was an up and down book. And I cannot imagine even coming close to living through it. Just as when I read Serving in Silence, for a lot of the show more book I was amazingly angry (especially with everything that was going on in the great world while I was reading this in 2018).

The author wrote about not just the trail too, which was nice, but we also got to know so much about not just Witt, but those around her too. And that gave such depth to the journey.

The one thing that tripped me up a little was some of the law stuff. A lot of it was very specific and my eyes glazed over from some of it.

Still before I'd read this I didn't know I needed to read it, but, with how everything seems to be going backwards these days. This was just a little bit real life (not fictional) hope in my day. show less

While Major Margie Witt (the "g" is hard) is the first author, the book is written in third person. Her collaborator, Tim Connor, is a law journalist, which is clearly apparent in the book's style. The first half reads like a high-quality magazine piece: engaging, personal, and precise. When the topic turns to courtroom action, the explanations of the legal principles involved are equally precise. It takes more concentration and reading some sentences two or three times, but the reader comes show more away with a clear understanding. It's a satisfying read both from getting to know Margie and from gaining insight into the legal issues involved. Connor's one stylistic stumbling block is his (I presume his) insistence on precision with verb tenses. Descriptions of people, places, or institutions, the descriptions still being applicable in 2017, sentences switch to present tense even when elsewhere in the same sentence past tense is used to tell the story. The juxtaposition is awkward. The book could have benefited from relaxing the grammatical precision in favor of a natural style, which it generally achieves in other respects.

To summarize: an in-depth look at one servicemember's military career under Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the course of her case through the legal system, the legal standard that bears her name, and the impact of her story on the larger advancement of civil rights. show less

Tell is the story of Margaret (Margie) Witt’s life with an emphasis on how much her Air Force career meant to her and the disastrous effects of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) on the military. Although it appears on the surface to be an autobiography with Major Witt’s name first on the title page and the word “with” appearing in front of Tim Connor’s name, the whole story is written in the third person which was disconcerting at first.

Margie, who struggled with her sexuality from show more an early age (teenager), had an exemplary career as an Air Force nurse. She got along well with her co-workers and played a leadership role. However, she had to be careful of her sexuality because of DADT, which could lead to a military discharge of one was expected of being gay. She was finally investigated because she was reported by the husband of her lover, whom she later married, and a former female lover; not because of anything she said or did as a member of the Air Force. After this occurred, she finally told her parents she was a lesbian -- something they had suspected for many years but had not said anything. In her fight against the treatment of gays in the military, she had the support of her family and many friends and colleagues.

The story of Margie’s legal problems is compelling; they were strung out of approximately seven years. In the end, she won her case, Witt v. Air Force (2010) which had a strong impact on the repeal of the DADT later that year.

Throughout the book, a history of what other gays in the military had experienced and its effect on Margie’s case was discussed. The foreword by Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer, a military nurse who was discharged (and later reinstated) for being gay, gives a history of gays in the military from the Revolutionary War onwards.

Unfortunately, the titles of the chapters are catchy, and some seem rather far-fetched and/or not very appropriate. The most inappropriate title chapter is “When Lawyers Are a Girl’s Best Friends” for chapter 10. At this point of the story, Margie is a 40-year-old woman, and calling her a girl is very demeaning, both to Margie herself and to women in general. The fight to gain equal rights for gays and lesbians in the military is a serious business and featured adults, not children. show less

This is a story worth reading, but there is something about the tone/feel of the actual text that seemed off to me. Given Witt's credit as author, I did not expect the book to be written in the third person. It seemed to be neither memoir nor academic history, but a hybrid of the two, like a longform profile piece or a lightweight biography (+ legalese) for beach or airplane reading. I was actually hoping for something a little more analytical.