AT 86, PAULA KEMPE HAS FOUND HER NICHE AS WRITER

Paula Kempe says she's a late bloomer. At 86, she finally found her niche: she's writing her memoirs, and with it a chronicle of Cape Girardeau.

"They say everyone has a talent, a gift that comes out sooner or later," Kempe said. "I'm just a late bloomer."

"Not very many people are living who remember the things I remember," she said.

Kempe recalls fires, floods, blizzards and wars.

"I was born and raised and lived in the same house for 85 years," Kempe said.

Her house was sold last summer. Kempe moved to the Lutheran Home, where she sits in an antique rocking chair and writes on a notebook propped on the side of her bed.

Every day she writes at least one article about an event from her past.

"I had such a wonderful life," Kempe said. "My life was so eventful I decided I better write it down. I'm the last one in our family."

Kempe's nephew, who lives in Tulsa, Okla., is compiling the articles into book form. A copy of the book will be donated to the River Heritage Museum.

Kempe's identical twin sister, Mary, died Jan. 19, 1992. "I can't let go of her," Kempe said. So she writes about her memories of life in Cape Girardeau; it's a kind of therapy for Kempe.

"An idea strikes me and I write it down. I do my best writing early in the morning. I get up every morning before 5 a.m. and often I have an article written before breakfast," she said. "I write every day."

Kempe was a teacher. She and her twin sister played in an all-girls orchestra. Kempe worked downtown at stores including Wards and Newberry's, and she worked at the Powder Puff beauty salon.

Her father ran the Idan-Ha Hotel for a time. Her brother, Walter Kempe, was co-owner of the city's first music store. Her sister was reference librarian for 55 years at Cape Girardeau Public Library.

"There wasn't a dull day," Kempe said. "There is just no end to the things I remember. I have one thought after another.

"I have a very vivid memory," Kempe said. "For instance, I remember the burning of the Methodist Church very clearly."

She wrote an article about the flames lighting the huge stained-glass windows of the church. "I can remember everything," she said.

Kempe said that as a young woman she never knew she had a penchant for writing. "I was a big, letter writer. People always commented that I could write letters so fast. I never thought much about it. I just write what I think. I write the way I talk."

Friends have pressured her to let them read the articles, but she's reluctant to pass them out to just anyone. "I'm waiting until they get in book form."

Since she started writing following her sister's death, Kempe has completed about 50 articles. Some are very personal; others recount events from the city's history, with a personal bent.

All the articles are short; the longest is four hand-written pages.

"If I keep them short, I can write a lot." Keeping the articles short also keeps them focused.

"I got tired of writing in black ink and I don't type."

Her nephew sent her a package of pens in a rainbow of colors.

"It's all sentimental, and that seems to appeal to people. My friends say what I write is like what lots of people feel. They just didn't know how to express it."