... the ‘Girl on the Brink’? Whatever Happened To ...
BY YLAN Q. MUI A year ago, Jayne Lytel was unemployed and living in the dark basement of the crumbling house in Northwest Washington that she was forced to share with her ex-husband. She dreamed of escape and love in faraway lands, chronicling her fantasy (and sometimes real-life) adventures under the pseudonym Ann Powers in a blog called Girl on the Brink. A Magazine profi le last year
followed Lytel’s attempts to shed her humdrum existence for a more glamorous life, practicality be damned. She entered a contest to live at the beach for a summer. She dabbled in stand- up comedy. She fl ew to Antigua for a yacht race even as she collected unemployment checks and tuition for her sons’ summer camp went unpaid. Now, Lytel’s fantasies have become
reality. She parlayed a temp job at a local educational publisher into a full-time consulting post in Saudi Arabia. She moved to Riyadh in May and donned a sleek black abaya over her size-2 frame. “I felt I couldn’t turn it down,” Lytel
said of the job, speaking by phone from her rooftop apartment in the city’s diplomatic quarter. “It was an opportunity to rebuild my life torn
For the original story, go to
washingtonpost.com/magazine.
her life during that time that she has felt compelled to reclaim her freedom ever since. “I know they miss me, and I miss
them a lot,” Lytel said. “Some times are harder than others, because it’s an unstated societal norm that I wouldn’t move so far away from them.” But she added that putting distance
between herself and her ex also benefi ts the kids. “I think there’s peace in the house.” For Lytel, Saudi Arabia has required
Jayne Lytel, a.k.a. Ann Powers, now works and lives in Saudi Arabia.
apart by all the crisis.” The job has helped Lytel pay off the
mountain of bills that piled up after she and her ex-husband lost their jobs. But it has also come at a cost: Her two sons, ages 13 and 11, remain in Washington with their father. Lytel plans to visit them during Thanksgiving. Lytel, 54, has a complicated
relationship with her children. Her younger son, Leo, received a diagnosis of autism at an early age, and Lytel spent years helping him battle the disorder. The experience drained the family fi nancially and emotionally. Lytel says she surrendered so much of
cultural recalibration. She is not allowed to drive, alcohol is off-limits and walking around alone is frowned upon. Still, Lytel has not lost her edge. She notes with dry humor that all of the sales clerks are men, “so it feels a little awkward when you go to buy lingerie.” But Ann Powers and her blog have
been retired for now. “The last thing I need is some Wahhabi Cleric after my golden locks, which I’ve cut off (desert prep), or the religious police detecting a slip in modesty when the sun shines through my abaya and shows my skin,” she wrote in her fi nal posting. However, Lytel is keeping a journal
of her Middle Eastern escapades. A memoir in the making?
Curious?
Tell us what past Washington Post story or person in the news you want us to update. E-mail trents@
washpost.com or call 202-334-4208.
(Continued from Page 5)
answer that question before, and I thought it might be a waste of time to ask it here. But I asked anyway. And he kind of brushed it off. I followed up, and then I just remember being quiet. One of the things I’ve tried to learn from Tom Brokaw is you don’t have to always talk on the air. Letting a moment hang in broadcasting is a really important tool. And as I let it sit,
ANSWER George Pelecanos
he ultimately answered the question and gave this very interesting analysis of where he thought Bush was different from Obama, and Obama was more analytical than Bush and would single people out at a meeting to make sure everybody contributed. I know that Secretary Gates later regretted that he had offered that analysis, but that was a moment that I thought, Wow, I’m getting something real here. I love some of the bigger questions
associated with the role of government, of history, about what presidents
6 THE WASHINGTON POST MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 14, 2010
learn over time, the arc of history, in my life and well before that. I was with the president [Bush] that day, on September 14 for his fi rst visit to Ground Zero. I was there at that bullhorn moment, about 15 feet away from him. I thought, This is what I want to be doing. This is what I do, this is who I am, and this is a moment that will live forever. I have a front seat for it, as an observer, as an analyst, as a chronicler of really important events. I feel very lucky that I don’t ever have to do anything else.
2009 PHOTOGRAPH BY SUSANA RAAB; 2010 PHOTOGRAPH BY NATHAN SHANMYGANATHAN
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168