Jaye McNeil

• Interview by Merrill Mushroom via Zoom, February 24, 2024

Jaye McNeil was born in West Philadelphia. Her family moved to South Philadelphia when she was six years old. Jaye grew up there, graduating from South Philadelphia High School. She is the second youngest of nine children, seven boys and two girls. She has 40 nephews and 30 nieces.

After her first year at the University of Pittsburgh, Jaye McNeil enlisted in the U.S. Army, successfully completing her basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey. She has been stationed at Fort Dix, New Jersey; Fort Gordon, Georgia; Fort Hood, Texas; and Wurzburg, Germany. Jaye experienced and observed racial prejudice and sexual discrimination throughout her military and civilian life. Besides learning to speak up for others and herself, her compassion and human spirit have encouraged her to write and relate to others in a way that represents her observations and experiences.

Jaye McNeil says of herself, “I feel tough… Sometimes I think it’s just a mindset, because I think that in most situations if I’m willing to persevere I will. I have injuries from the Army and from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. Right now, I have temporary injuries from the car accident that happened a year and a half ago. The pain is persistent. Regardless of it, I feel fully capable and competent if I got into a situation where I had to act. I would just put off the pain and hurt until later, and do what is necessary.”

Jaye McNeil currently lives in Pennsylvania, where she is a student at West Chester University, majoring in English, and minoring in Creative Writing. She retired from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections at Graterford, a maximum security prison, after almost 25 years of service.