Driven to tell the story

GREEN BAY – A local book about the misfortune of two women at the hands of a local surgeon from a well-known Green Bay family may soon be put to film.

But, "The Maid and the Socialite" Author Lynda Drews said that the well-received book was something she stumbled upon and was driven to tell the story.

“It was primarily because I lived in the Astor neighborhood. We just bought this big old house there, and that was back in the early 80s. And then what happened is, we understood that it was going to become a historical district. If you wanted to be part of the historical district, then they wanted you to do the research on your home. So I did research on my house and found out that attorney, Victor I. Minahan, who had been a Press-Gazette president and editor, lived in my house. So, the Manahan name stuck with me all these years,” said Drews.

When Drews retired from IBM, she began writing books, and when she started her fourth book she looked to Green Bay for her story subject.

“So, I thought maybe the Minahan family — there’s no full-length book on them. So, I started to research and found these two women’s stories with the six different trials from that research and then the archival records and that’s where it just drove me. But, I was initially just going to tell the Minahan story and it ended up being a story about the maid and the socialite, to give those two women a voice,” she recalled.

What resulted was a non-fiction book based in the 20th century that tells the story of two Green Bay women and whose lives were affected by local surgeon Dr. John R. Minahan.

Drews said that she was really surprised at how well the book was received by the public.

“It resonated with the community because it was an unknown story and it really focused on women’s issues at the time that really nobody knew about,” Drews explained.

The book also caught the attention of local filmmaker, Freddy Moyano, who connected with Drews after loaning a prop to the Brown County Historical Society, where the author is a board member.

Moyano said the “rich descriptions and beautiful twists and turns” made it a dramatic story — even for non-fiction.

“I started picturing, okay, what can we do with this product, and it became more and more beautifully complex. I guess, in my mind, there were two clear parts, the one of the maid and the one of the socialite,” he said.
Moyano initially considered a “full-blown movie,” but then considered the amount of work involved to play out each of the storylines and realized that a docufilm might be a better option.

“I think a docufilm, like a reenactment documentary where there are several testimonial people talking about it, you know people in the community here. Then, we go with our cameras and reenact the courthouse scene and there are facial expressions — like you’re crying,” explained Moyano.

“This is a historical true crime book, so what we are doing is a historical true crime docufilm, and I think that is really the right film. So then it is real, instead of being fake. You are going to have to have dialogue and all of this if you did a real movie and there is no dialogue really in my book,” added Drews.
“So, I think this is the right format for it.”

Drews and Moyano are planning to use a lot of community involvement for the film, which they said will include the use of two local high school orchestras.
The project is entering its fundraising stage through October.
For more information, visit Minahanfilm.com.