It was at the village of Aydie, in the north of Béarn France, that our flight south came to an end as we found ourselves mesmerized by a view indicated on Michelin maps by little darts signifying “scenic.” It was in these fields and hills that we would gain deep tans, that our palms would turn to leather, and our hearts would come awake and be crushed in the four years to come.

Treska Gevaert Lindsey
The Brutish and Magical Years, 1940 – 1944
A Flemish Girl’s Journal of Her Family’s Life
as Political Refugees During WWII

In early 1940, a young Belgian girl named Thérèse “Treska” Gevaert was just 15 years old and enjoying the largely carefree existence of a teenager. But the storm clouds of war were on the horizon and the next four years would upend everything that young girl knew - and set her life on a course of hardships, adventures, and challenges difficult to imagine today.

Her incredible journey – which ultimately took her from her birthplace in Belgium to Flat Rock – would be the defining experience of her life and help shape Treska’s worldview. Presented with challenges and obstacles few people ever encounter, Treska blossomed into a woman of courage, self-reliance, creativity, and most importantly, principle, and would become the matriarch of one of Flat Rock’s most iconic families.

War Refugees

Treska Lindsey was born into a world of art, and it would become one of the defining elements of her own life. She was the child of a noted Belgian artist Edgar Gevaert and the granddaughter of a well-known sculptor, George Minne. She was the 7th child in a sprawling family of 11 children with seven sisters and four brothers.

Edgar Gevaert was a man of strong opinions and an outspoken critic of the rise of Nazism in Germany. Not afraid to match his deeds to his words, Edgar provided financial assistance in the form of gold coins to the French Resistance and spoke out against the Nazi threat. The money was sent to aid in constructing the Maginot Line – a series of concrete barriers, obstacles and armaments built along France's border with Germany meant to slow an invasion by German troops.

As a consequence, when Germany invaded Belgium in May 1940, the Gevaert family were in serious peril of suffering Nazi retribution. "My father had written anti-Nazi literature and would have been denounced at once," Treska recalled years later.

The entire family - two parents and eleven children - piled into a Ford and fled for the French border. Ironically, Treska’s father’s decision to contribute to the French Resistance might have saved the Gevaert family. When French authorities at the border tried to turn away the family, Edgar produced a letter of thanks from the French government acknowledging his contribution to the resistance. The family was granted entrance to France.

Treska always appreciated her father’s cunning. "He had ways of getting us out of tough spots." She wrote later that his vest, upon leaving Belgium, was "thick with mysterious documents, but not money." The Gevaerts eventually found refuge in the Basses-Pyrénées region in southern France where they survived as lumberjacks and farmhands during the four years of German occupation.

The years in occupied France were consistently marked by danger, uncertainty, and a constant struggle to find both food and shelter for the family. Despite the hardships, Treska managed to record her family’s experiences in a collection of diaries and sketches she kept during the long ordeal. By the time the family returned to their home in Belgium in 1944, Treska had amassed an impressive collection of beautifully detailed sketches of her family at work in the countryside and of the people of France they met.

Life in France

The Gevaerts traveled from farm to farm in France over the course of their four years in exile. Because so many young men were being conscripted into the war effort, Treska and her six sisters were pressed into demanding physical tasks traditionally reserved for men. The work was hard and the living conditions were often primitive at best. Still, Treska had her family - and her art – to rely on during these difficult years

As the daughter and granddaughter of prominent artists, it was only natural that Treska would turn to art to record and make sense of her new and strange life as a refugee. Her art, she would write later, helped fill the void in a young life disrupted.

The Pyrenees were their awesome best – their snowy peaks were etched in the bluest shadowy crevices as I sat recuperating by a sunny wall.

My sisters and I had sketched the majestic mountain chain until we had combed through from one end to the other, but this morning I felt satisfied just to be delighted.

The splendors of the seasons I thought had been fully celebrated, yet why .. why not the splendors of awakening in young hearts? And all the sketching of mountain ranges and little wild orchids and leathery mushroom frills … and all the frantic charting of constellations, could there be but a yearning for love?

Treska Lindsey
The Brutish and Magical Years

Her simple yet evocative drawings and the honesty of the words of a young girl facing unimaginable circumstances became a powerful record of the most formative time of her life. Treska’s journal also detailed the constant state of peril her family faced during the German occupation of France. In the summer of 1944, as German forces began to retreat in the face of Allied advances, the SS began scouring the area where the Gevaerts lived looking for young males to send to Germany. Treska’s brother Omer, then in his mid-20s lived in the woods and the family would bring him food.

We live again as in Aydie, helping with all kinds of harvest as manpower has vanished. Young men are in hiding to escape the SS who comb the countryside. From work, we saw the bombing of the airport. We saw the Flying Fortresses pursuing the German flying carts. Thousands of hawks and buzzards rose from the forest.

Treska Lindsey
The Brutish and Magical Years

Despite the difficult circumstances, art was a powerful force that kept the family together and comforted. And by 1944, the tide of the war began to turn.

6 June 1944
The neighbor comes running arms, up in the air. “They have landed in Normandy! I swear it! I swear it! I swear it! We gather around the radio to hear the communique from General Eisenhower. We go to work all excited and tell it to the first farmer on site. He says, “Good. So, will you set a trap for the doves? They gobble up all the corn.”

Treska Lindsey
The Brutish and Magical Years

As the German army relinquished their occupation of France, the family slowly made their way back to their home in Belgium. They returned to find their house still intact and Treska’s beloved mule, Betsy, waiting for her return. Among the items they brought home were Treska’s richly illustrated journals that would many years later become the material for a book describing and illustrating what the Gavaert family experienced during their four years of exile.

Today, Treska’s daughter, Toone Lapham, reflects on what those years in exile meant to her mother – with what might be considered a surprising answer given the deprivations and threats that plagued the family. “I think it was the best part of her life. She just was such a lover of animals and nature,” explains Toone. “And she was just completely wrapped up in the beauty of the countryside and the animals and was perfectly fine doing that hard work.” Toone also shared that Treska’s brother, Pierre, eventually moved back to the region of France where they spent much of their war years.

Moving To America

After the war, Treska’s father hosted an American freelance journalist who came to Belgium to write a story about expatriate American Garry Davis. Davis was a peace activist whose experience of war led him to create a “world citizen” movement that advocated for no nations or boundaries. It was during his visit to the Gevaert home, that journalist Bob Lindsey and Treska first met. By her account, there was an immediate connection. She took one look at him, and said to herself, "I'll probably marry this man."

Indeed, she did marry Bob and embarked on the second great adventure of her life – this time to a small hamlet in the mountains of western North Carolina called Zirconia. It was there that Treska and Bob would build a home and raise four children close the land – Kerry, Abe, Lark, and a daughter, Toone.

Kerry Lindsey recalls those early years in Zirconia. “We grew up on a homestead kind of farm. Seven acres in Zirconia with chickens, goats, donkeys, a fruit orchard, and gardens forever. Mom and Dad built that whole house out of hand-picked rock and locally harvested wood.” Kerry also remembers his mother’s pride in being self-sufficient for food. “Her favorite saying at supper time was, ‘Everything on this table was picked today.’"

Bob and Treska were married in 1950 and when they settled in North Carolina she found herself living in the heavily segregated South. It was an experience that took some adjustment. Kerry laughs about one incident in particular. “The first time she took clothes to the laundromat there was a sign across the door that said, ‘White's Only.’ So, she sat down and sorted her laundry accordingly.”

Treska soon became a friend to some of Flat Rock’s most famous citizens. She did all her goat trading with Lilian and Carl Sandburg. As Kerry recalls, it was Treska who introduced Robroy Farquhar’s wife, Leona, to her well-known passion for health food. The Farquhar’s daughter, Keets Farquhar Taylor, credits Treska with being one of the most important influences in her later career as an artist. “I always credit Treska with her example as a woman artist. When I was a girl (and grown) I only knew of three woman artists: Mary Cassatt, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Terese Lindsay - an inspiration my whole life.”

Always a passionate advocate for home gardens, Treska started the first community gardens in Asheville in 1972 at the YWCA and Aston Park Towers. Her intention was to have these gardens be independently sustained by the residents themselves, which they did for many years.

Treska was also an author, artist, and musician. The Hendersonville Community Orchestra once performed music she wrote. She published her first children's book with Macmillan in 1985. How Batistine Made Bread received critical acclaim and was chosen by The New Yorker for their annual list of best children's books.

Later in life, Treska set up residence on the Lindsey family's property at Highland Lake. She maintained a large organic garden which supplied vegetables for the Highland Lake Inn's restaurant. She also wrote and illustrated Highland Lake Inn's marketing materials, designed the first logo for Flat Rock Playhouse, and designed the logo for the first health food store in Hendersonville. Even today, her grandson Cole uses Treska’s artwork as the logo for his popular Barnhouse Kitchen business.

The Brutish and Magical Years

Preface
Recently, on a visit to my brother, Pierre Gevaert in Sauterne. I surprised him with a series of profusely illustrated diaries which I kept during the years 1940 to 1944 when our family lived as World War II political refugees in Basse Pyrenees. The discovery of the journals after this many decades overwhelmed Pierre with a flood of feeling, such that he promptly got them in the hands of a publisher in France.

Up to then I had been satisfied to keep them from the appetite of mice. As I penned down the story and peeled the illustrations from the brittle notebooks I relived those brutish and magical years.

Treska Lindsey
The Brutish and Magical Years

At age 87, Treska made one final trip to visit her brother Pierre in southern France where they had lived as refugees during the war. She took with her a box filled with her sketches and diaries of the war years. It was during that trip that Treska’s daughter, Toone, first learned of the diaries and sketches. “I was almost 60 years old and had never seen them; didn't know they existed.”

Pierre was so moved by the drawings and journal entries that he insisted she publish them. Pierre was able to have them published in France and in 2014, the book, The Brutish and Magical Years, was translated and published in English. After nearly 70 years of languishing in a box, Thérèse “Treska” Gevaert Lindsey’s diaries and sketches of the war years became the genesis for a powerful and poignant book recalling the most formative years of a young girl’s life.

Later Life

Treska’s life was as impassioned as it was eclectic. In public, Treska was recognized as an accomplished artist, gardener, writer, and musician; but perhaps her greatest legacy is the impact she had on her family.

Treska’s grandson and son of Lark Lindsey, Cole, was especially close with his grandmother. Even at a young age, Cole was drawn to Treska – whom he only knew as “Mammy” – by her wisdom and reassurance. “I went to her for nourishment if I needed to have my soul worked on. She understood where life came from better than anyone else I knew.”

Treska also imparted to Cole an understanding that self-discipline is critical to the healthy development of your soul. “She believed our souls are developing over our life based on our ability to practice discipline. And she was really a believer in that. “

Treska wrote a book for Cole and his brother Kip called In the Land of Warminess as a message of comfort for her young grandsons. “‘Warminess’ was a word I used to describe the times and places I was most comfortable and happy,” Cole explains. “That word stuck with her and she created a book about where we find comfort and love in our family and community. She really believed in harmony.”

Her friends and family are quick to point out, however, that Treska also had an “edge” about her. “She did not suffer fools lightly,” Toone recalls with a laugh. Her friend later in life, Diane Rhodes, found Treska to be both refreshing and something of a challenge at times. “What I loved about Treska was her candor,” Diane remembers. “She grew up with courage and risk. So, to keep conversations safe wasn't her idea of a meaningful exchange.“

Kerry echoes Diane’s sentiment about Treska’s passion for substantive conversations and has taken those lessons to heart. “We’ve organized dinner salons at Highland Lake like our “Generations Over Dinner” that provide a place for people to have conversations about serious topics. The most amazing thing about them is how quickly people make friends when you’re not conversing at a shallow level.”

Kerry learned two important lessons from his mother. “First, she always said, ‘I spell God with two o's.’”

The second lesson was, “Be original.” “I remember the first time I decided I'd write something on science fiction like all the other kids,” Kerry recalls. “That was a mistake”. In Treska’s mind, following the crowd wasn't original and it wasn't authentic. “She gave me a tray full of different kinds of organic food like brown sugar and whole wheat flour and sent me to school to do a talk on natural foods.”

Treska was also a well-known writer of Letters to the Editor. Diane found one in particular to be memorable and a window into Treska’s soul. “She wrote, ‘Don’t tell me about your religious beliefs. Return your shopping cart to the corral.’”

When asked if she thought Treska had a happy life, Diane has a ready answer. “Happy would never be a word that I would associate with Treska. Not that she was unhappy, but she didn't look for happiness. She looked for fulfillment, and real connections.

--

Thérèse (Treska) Gevaert Lindsey died at age 94 on May 26, 2019 – and even her death was an exceptional experience.

As fate would have it, Treska died on the day of her “100th” birthday celebration that had been organized by family and friends. “Treska had hoped to live to be 100,” explains Diane. “But she was declining so we organized a 100th birthday party a few years early, and she took her last breath just before the party was supposed to start.”

At the moment of Treska’s death, three members of the Threshold Choir arrived at her door and sang hymns as her soul departed her body. Just outside her window, her pet peacock started a loud wailing call that seemed to be the natural world’s way of signaling an extraordinary woman’s passage from her mortal existence.

Just as in life, Treska’s death was on her terms. “It was almost like she said, ‘That's it. I have reached a moment and that's it,’” says Cole. That afternoon, what had been planned as a birthday party morphed into a celebration of life. Cole recalls, “We sat on my patio, and we drank to her and we cried and laughed. Her passing was an incredible experience.”

Epilogue

Toone remembers her mom as a unique and exceptional person. “They only made one of her. She was an incredible person that doesn’t come along very often.” Diane agrees, “I was in awe of Treska, but I still felt a genuine connection and a comfort being with her.”

As I finish my interview with Toone, I ask her what she would want people to remember about her mother. In response, she walks to her refrigerator and takes down a note that Treska wrote for Cole many years ago during a difficult time in his life.

As I listen to Toone read the note, the words written long ago seem to be an apt summation of a truly exceptional life.

Perhaps know, the word philosophy translates as “love of wisdom” and thus applies to all areas of life. Life well lived brings peace. Nothing else does and when family or a community believes this, comfort flows from one member to another.

That is the wonder of wise choices – the priceless reward!

With love, always,

Mammy

Images by Treska Lindsey