Granddaughter of Mrs. Arizona has Genetic Health Conditions, Needs Community Votes
One of our local authors is competing in FabOver40, a nationwide charitable contest to win $40,000 and a two-page spread in New Beauty magazine. Jessica Lynn MacLean would like to raise awareness about the physical health conditions she was born with, spina bifida occulta and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.
“My gramma was Mrs. Arizona in 1954 after she entered through Better Living magazine, so this feels right,” Jessica said. “Gramma ended up in the top 10 at Mrs. America. But back then, and because it was Mrs., they had to be married and have kids to compete. They ironed shirts and cooked and cleaned as part of the competition! Papa won Second Most Handsome Husband. This is all in my book, Arizona Rain.”
Jessica is currently in 6th place in her group. The first round of voting ends October 19th. Those who’d like to support Jessica can vote for free at https://votefab40.com/2023/
Recently, Jessica went through her second breast cancer scare. Despite never being able to hold a pencil the right way, she was first published during high school, and she became a writer.
“In kindergarten or first grade, my teacher tried to show me how to get the grip right, but thanks to Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, I never could,” Jessica said.
That didn’t stop her from becoming a writer and eventually, writing a book about ancestors. Nine of Jessica’s relatives worked at the Grand Canyon from 1902 to 1949. Railway employees, mule train guides, Harvey bus drivers, and Harvey Girls.
“Great Grandma MacLean donated 100-year-old photographs of relatives working at the Grand Canyon to state library archives,” Jessica said. “Those photos are now in my book with 95 other historical photographs.”
A creative nonfiction, novel-in-stories about a family of adventurous Arizona writers who helped build the state, Arizona Rain is also available at the Prescott Western Heritage Center on Whiskey Row, Sharlot Hall Museum, Phippen Museum, Peregrine Book Co., and online through Barnes & Noble.
Published in several magazines, Jessica has written for the city of Sedona, town of Camp Verde, Disability EmpowHer Network, and Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. A recipient of the English Award and Cothran-Mulvey Award for Excellence, she holds a Summa Cum Laude BA in Human Communication and Mass Communications. In 1991, Jessica appeared as Weather Kid with Dave Munsey on FOX 10 Phoenix.
Growing up, she fought health problems like migraines and knee syndromes. In her 20’s, Jessica learned she’d been living with spina bifida occulta since birth. Her spine never finished forming; she had a gap in vertebra where there should have been bone.
“Looking back, the diagnosis explained a lot throughout life,” Jessica said. “But it didn’t explain everything. That same year, when a physical therapist assistant said I was hypermobile, I thought she meant flexible.”
For some, flexibility and other signs can indicate a genetic, degenerative tissue connectivity disorder involving faulty cartilage production: hypermobility spectrum disorders or Ehlers Danlos Syndromes, which can impact every bodily system and lead to more health conditions, which Jessica now has dozens.
She hopes, “a two-page magazine spread will help raise awareness for EDS and spina bifida occulta. Red flags should be more widely recognized as potential signs to help prevent injuries. Occulta means hidden, but like photographs buried in archives, sometimes you only need to look.”
