Mary Saracino's essay "Non Parlo Italiano" has earned third place in the first annual Italian/American Citizen Journalist Digital Witness contest sponsored by i-Italy,org.
Read her essay here.
Saracino's most recent novel, The Singing of Swans (Pearlsong Press, 2006), is partially set in Italy.
For taking up a new hobby in his 70s, a new career in his 80s, and refusing to "act his age," Kyle Vowers Osborne of Newport News, VA is being honored by Pearlsong Press as the "Splendid Senior Among Us" for January 2008.
Osborne, who will be 85 in March, began teaching art at age 80. A few years after taking his first painting class via the Newport News Department of Parks and Recreation at 71, he began exhibiting his oil paintings at The Art Place in his hometown of Chilhowie, VA. The exhibit inspired him to further study drawing, oil painting, and watercolor at the Midtown Community Center in Newport News.
Osborne now teaches painting classes to other seniors two days a week at the Center.
According to his daughter Lynne Denney of Chilhowie, who nominated him as a "Splendid Senior," Osborne served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, flying as a crew member on 71 combat missions over China and Burma. The young man who had been drafted into the military at 18 learned to drive a car on the Burma Road, ferrying soldiers in a troop carrier.
After WWII Osborne returned to Baltimore, MD, where he had been working in an airplane factory before the war, and enrolled in beauty school. He headed back to his hometown with his hairdresser's license, but with no jobs available decided to enlist in the U.S. Air Force in 1947. He married his wife, Jane, in 1950, and served in Okinawa, Morocco, and Germany, as well as less exotic locales, before retiring from the Air Force in 1964.
After completing 22 years of active duty in the Air Force, Osborne and his wife opened Kyle's Salon of Beauty in Hampton, VA. The beauty shop was moved to Newport News in 1979. Osborne continues to work as a hairdresser as well as teaching art and continuing to paint.
As the "Splendid Senior Among Us" honoree for January 2008, Osborne receives a certificate and an autographed copy of Splendid Seniors: Great Lives, Great Deeds by Jack Adler, an original trade paperback published by Pearlsong Press in March 2007. Splendid Seniors celebrates 52 men and women throughout history who accomplished great things after age 65.
Pearlsong Press has sponsored the year-long "Splendid Seniors Among Us" program in conjunction with publication of Adler's book in order to honor seniors who are living inspiration. The program runs through February 2008. To honor nominate someone for the program, see the Pearlsong Press website at www.pearlsong.com.
Pearlsong Press, founded in 2003 by psychologist and journalist Peggy Elam, Ph.D., specializes in books and resources that entertain while expanding perspectives on the self and the world.
Pat Ballard's letter to the editor of the Nashville Tennessean was published today and deemed a "three-star" letter. Ballard wrote the letter in response to a Jan. 21 article about an Annandale, VA minister who put his congregation on a diet last year and is now a weight-loss guru.
Ballard wrote:
We're bombarded daily with the "obesity epidemic" rhetoric from every direction, but nothing infuriates me more than when a so-called "man (or woman) of God" take it upon himself to become a "diet guru," as in the article "Bod4God minister and author helps the faithful shed pounds," Jan. 21.
These people take scriptures out of context and try to indicate that they mean our bodies need to be a certain size before we can be acceptable to God, when the scripture plainly says that God looks on the inward man, not the outward man.
The word fat occurs 130 times in 105 verses in the King James Version, and not once does it say that being fat is a sin. In fact, you'll find quite the opposite, but I won't get into that.
So to tell me that my body can't "Glorify God" because it's a certain size offends me and the scripture says in Mat 18:6: "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and (that) he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
The authors of three-star letters receive a small payment and are invited to an annual banquet hosted by the newspaper in their honor.
Ballard, the Queen of Rubenesque Romances, is author of several books featuring "big beautiful heroines:" Dangerous Curves Ahead: Short Stories, Wanted: One Groom, Nobody's Perfect, His Brother's Child, A Worthy Heir, Abigail's Revenge and The Best Man. Her first nonfiction book, 10 Steps to Loving Your Body (No Matter What Size You Are) will be published by Pearlsong Press later this year.
"Vicky's Secret," a short story by Mary Saracino, is the winner of the Second Glass Woman Prize.
Saracino's short story, in which a middle-aged divorcee finds empowerment through an unlikely mass media image, was chosen from among 364 entries in the writing contest facilitated by Beate Sigriddaughter of Denver, CO. The short story is available online at Sigriddaughter's website and will also be published in the March 2008 edition of Moondance.
Sigriddaughter funds the Glass Woman Prize with 10 percent of her personal income. "My criterion is passion, excellence, and authenticity in the woman's writing voice."
The "Glass Woman" title comes from her desire for women "to be able to acknowledge, transparently, who we are, and that who we are is not trivial and unimportant, despite the fact that is it not typically rewarded in a man-made and money-motivated world." Sigridaughter's Glass Woman would be made of "unbreakable glass, transparent, but shatter-proof."
Saracino's novel The Singing of Swans (published by Pearlsong Press in October 2006) was a finalist in the Spirituality category for the 2007 Lambda Literary Awards. The Singing of Swans is a novel about the divine feminine in the form of the Black Madonna. The story of Madalene Ross, a thirty-year-old American woman cut off her body, her heart, and her sense of purpose in the world, is interwoven with the lives of three women: Rosalina, a priestess of Persephone in 70 B.C.E. Sicily; Ziza, a strega (Italian witch) in 16th century northeastern southern Italy; and Ibla, an herbalist and painter in 18th century southern Italy. An environmentally compromised lake in Sicily also acts as a portal to the rich tradition of pre-Christian spirituality that lies beneath Church dogma.
In announcing Saracino's win, Sigriddaughter reports that reading the work of the women who entered the contest was "a phenomenal experience...
I am moved by all your writing, your passion, your thoughts. Our voices are important. Above all, keep writing! Ursula Le Guin writes, "We are volcanoes. When we women offer our experience as our truth, as human truth, all the maps change. There are new mountains."
Sigriddaughter is now receiving entries through March 21, 2008 for the Third Glass Woman Prize, for a piece of short fiction or creative nonfiction written by a woman. For details, see http://www.sigriddaughter.com/GlassWomanPrize.htm.
Murfreesboro, TN resident recognized in national "Splendid Seniors Among Us" program celebrating people whose post-65 activities can inspire all ages.
Robert Michael doesn’t see retirement as a time for rest and relaxation. Instead, it’s an opportunity to continue his life pursuits. For continuing to work in his academic field and publishing both professional and personal literature after retirement, Pearlsong Press is honoring the Murfreesboro, TN resident as its “Splendid Senior Among Us” for November 2007.
Before retiring as a college professor at age 65 in 2001, Michael taught European history, worked as an editor, and was a visiting lecturer at many universities in America and around the world. He has published more than 50 articles and 11 books on the Holocaust (including some published after he retired from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and was the first professor to offer a distance learning(online) course on the Holocaust.
Since retirement, Michael has published works ranging from academic books, papers, and articles to historically and personally inspired poetry. The majority of his post-retirement academic publications revolve around the topic of anti-Semitism, as well as European and Jewish history.
These interests and passions are also found in Michael’s poetry. For Michael, poetry is an opportunity to further consider the history he spent his career teaching, and to articulate what it means to him on a personal level. “A lot of my exploring is within,” he says. “Poetry is wonderful for that.”
Although he wrote
poetry before retirement, the majority of Michael’s poetic work was published after
age 65, in the Menorah Review and in
anthologies such as Exploding Ink and
Whispers of Inspiration.
Michael has some advice for those contemplating retirement: “Don’t retire from something, retire to something. It’s a great time to explore parts of yourself, like abilities and interests that you neglected before.”
Taking his own advice, Michael continues to teach in addition to writing. Currently he is teaching World Civilization at Middle Tennessee State University, while also conducting an online course on the History of American Anti-Semitism at Florida Gulf Coast University. Even though he is now settled in Murfreesboro after moving from Massachusetts to Florida, Michael is still sharing his passion for history and life with students and readers across the country and around the world.
As the “Splendid
Senior Among Us” honoree for November 2007, Michael receives a certificate and
an autographed copy of Splendid Seniors:
Great Lives, Great Deeds by Jack Adler, an original trade paperback
published by Pearlsong Press in March 2007. Splendid Seniors celebrates 52
men and women through history who accomplished great things after age 65.
Pearlsong Press is sponsoring the year-long “Splendid Seniors Among Us” program in conjunction with publication of Adler’s book in order to honor seniors who are living inspiration. To nominate someone for the “Splendid Seniors Among Us” program, which runs through February 2008, see the Pearlsong Press website at www.pearlsong.com.
Pearlsong Press, founded in 2003 by psychologist and journalist Peggy Elam, Ph.D, specializes in books and resources that entertain while expanding perspectives on the self and the world.
Press release written by Pearlsong Press intern Rachel Pitt.
Linda C. Wisniewski, author of the forthcoming memoir Off Kilter: A Woman's Journey to Peace with Scoliosis, Her Mother, & Her Polish Heritage, has won First Place in the Mom-Writers Literary Magazine Summer 2007 Short Fiction Contest with her short story, "We Believe You to Be Our Mother."
Off Kilter will be published by Pearlsong Press in April 2008.
Pat Ballard: 10 Steps to Loving Your Body (No Matter What Size You Are)
The Queen of Rubenesque Romances shares the steps she created -- and used -- to heal the damage of years of dieting. Join her in celebrating size diversity, self esteem, positive body image, and health at every size.
Charlie Lovett: The Program
A new weight loss clinic in New York City has an offer for you -- given them $5,000 and they'll make you as thin as a supermodel. You can eat whatever you want and never gain an ounce. Tempted? Fledgling journalist Karen Sumner would be -- if only she had $5,000. When Karen finally walks through the blue and gold doors of The Program, however, she's on the trail of the hottest story of her career. If she and her friends are right, The Program is doing something even worse than creating an army of unnaturally thin women. Library Journal calls The Program "a lively first novel. Highly recommended."
Linda C Wisniewski: Off Kilter: A Woman's Journey to Peace with Scoliosis, Her Mother, and Her Polish Heritage
Even before she was diagnosed with scoliosis at 13, Linda Wisniewski felt off kilter. Born to a cruel father in the insulated Polish Catholic community of Amsterdam, New York, she learned martyrdom as a way of life. Off Kilter shows her learning to stretch her Self as well as her spine as she comes to terms with her mentally deteriorating, widowed mother and her culture. Only by accepting her physical deformity, her emotionally unavailable mother, and her Polish American heritage does she finally find balance and a life that fits. Maureen Murdock, author of Unreliable Truth: On Memoir & Memory, calls Off Kilter "a courageous, insightful book, particularly relevant for anyone who grew up feeling physically 'different.'"
Pat, Ballard: The Best Man
Sparks fly the night Lana Clarke meets to plan her sister's wedding -- and not just because curvaceous Lana announces she's stopped dieting and doesn't care if she's fat as maid of honor. The strong-willed sister of the bride attracts the attention of the groom's devastatingly handsome best man, Anthony Angelino. But when the sparks become flames, Lana's in trouble. Tony's first wife died mysteriously. Will Lana be next?
Judy Bagshaw: At Long Last, Love
Big beautiful --and in some cases slightly more mature -- heroines grace the pages of this collection of romantic short stories by Judy Bagshaw.
Jack Adler: Splendid Seniors
An inspiring ensemble of 52 people whose accomplishments after age 65 remind us that creativity, passion & influence can not only flower in later years, but bear delicious fruit.
Mary Saracino: The Singing of Swans
"The Singing of Swans is a remarkable narrative calling--even compelling--us to connect with our own ancestral roots, to seek our own inner wisdom, and to reclaim our own inner voices!" --Margaret Starbird, author of The Woman With the Alabaster Jar & Mary Magdalene: Bride in Exile
Ellen Frankel: Beyond Measure: A Memoir About Short Stature and Inner Growth
"If you have ever measured your height or your weight and felt good or bad about yourself as a result, you need this book. In its pages, Ellen Frankel makes an important contribution to human liberation by telling the most fabulous story that can be told, the story of a person coming fully into her own. This book is thought-provoking, heart-rending, and a genuine solace for people of all sizes." --Marilyn Wann, author of FAT!SO?
Pat Ballard: Abigail's Revenge
Injustice, romance and suspense smolder in a small Southern town. Romantic suspense from the Queen of Rubenesque Romances, Pat Ballard.
Pattie Thomas, Ph.D.: Taking Up Space
"Thomas's incisive blend of sociological inquiry and personal narrative amounts to a provocative treatise on fat oppression in our culture. Taking Up Space is a kind of roadmap through the minefield of the 'war on obesity,' and it offers protection to the reader ready to fight for cultural change surrounding the meaning of fatness." --Kathleen LeBesco, Ph.D., author of Revotling Bodies: The Struggle to Redefine Fat Identity.
Anne Richardson Williams: Unconventional Means: The Dream Down Under
Shattered by family tragedy in the early 1960s, an upper-middle-class Southern teenager finds solace in art and literature. Decades later she is called to the continent whose literature once comforted her, and to a magical connection with an Aboriginal woman transcending race and half a world.
Pat Ballard: A Worthy Heir
When Pam Spencer sees the newspaper ad seeking "a worthy heir" to Fiona Bainbridge's millions, she jumps at the chance to get her brother the medical care he needs after a job-related accident. But Reese Bainbridge, Fiona's handsome grandson--and jilted heir--rushes home in anger when he hears his grandmother has moved Pam and her brother into the family mansion. Sparks fly--and Pam is up to the challenge.
Pat Ballard: His Brother's Child
One party, one silver-tongued, double-talking stranger intent on winning a bet, and Faith Carr ends up betrayed, alone, and pregnant. When Edward Brenner shows up on her doorstep intending to right his brother's wrongs, she's scared and vulnerable. But she agrees to marry this stranger to give the baby a father, although keeping him at a distance. She doesn't realize that Edward fell in love with her the moment he saw her. Will her battered self-esteem allow her to see the truth--and her own beauty?
Pat Ballard: Wanted: One Groom
Wealthy Hanna Rockwell will lose her home and her inheritance unless she marries by her 30th birthday. She's stunned when Matt Corbett, the faded rock start she worshipped in her teens, accepts her brother's offer to bail him out of financial trouble if he'll marry her. Her teenaged fantasies come to life--bringing a few surprises with them.
Pat Ballard: Nobody's Perfect
Nella Covington can't believe she's agreed to marry arrogant Samuel du Cannon, even if it IS only a marriage of convenience. He needs a mother for his young son, and she needs to keep her childhood home. If Sam's work keeps him on the road enough, she won't have to deal with him much. Sam's never been attracted to plus-size women, so they won't be tempted to have a real relationship. At least, that's what they keep telling themselves--
Pat Ballard: Dangerous Curves Ahead: Short Stories
Ten romantic tales pack suspense and sizzle into this collection of short stories featuring amply curved women.
