A very
special night for us as regular member Irv Newman and his lovely
wife, Beatrice, stopped by with their son, Len, and his lovely
wife Marie. The unsinkable Irv and his marvelous family were special
guests of the evening, we hope to see them more often.
New
FWA member Meredith Rutter joined us for the first time as well as
guests Judy Rousseau and Nancy Cannell. We welcomed back Nancy Lucas
and Becky Freed, along with several regular members who have been
traveling around the world, from middle Europe to Mexico, for a
turnout of 28 attendees. Once again our hosts, the Nokomis Volunteer
Fire Department came through and found extra needed chairs. It was a
busy night as almost everyone had something to read! Under the gavel
of maestro Rod DiGruttolo, everyone got to read and we even finished
with time to spare.
George Mindling opened the meeting by asking about interest in presentations on self publishing and collecting state sales tax on book sales. He will develop a presentation for the first Wednesday meeting on May 1st .
George Mindling opened the meeting by asking about interest in presentations on self publishing and collecting state sales tax on book sales. He will develop a presentation for the first Wednesday meeting on May 1st .
Irv's
son, Len, then read his dad's piece about devotion to classmates and
friendship from high-school days in New Jersey. Irv then briefly
spoke to the group. His book, “Living on House Money,” is
in its third printing. Even though he's sold quite a few books, he
claims he has donated more to doctors and nurses!
Susan Haley, one of the original founders of our writers group, read her excellent poem “Sleep,” followed by Pat Patterson, who makes the trip all the way from Punta Gorda. Pat read part of chapter one of “The Takers,” his period piece set in Scandinavia at the end of the 10th Century. Bill Elam, who is in the art publishing world, briefly discussed art and literature similarities, then read more from his upcoming work where the protagonist is a subject from one of his pieces or art. His current selection from his “old man anthology” had the phrase “the spirit has no infirmities,” which, of course, has everyone waiting for more.
Kathleen Schwartz read from her “Jazz at at 69,” a stark, almost brutal phase that is a nice expansion of her work. Great writing. Jim Kelly followed with the reading of two more of his outstanding poems, “Diner,” and “Priceless Penny.” If Jim agrees, I'll print “The Diner” in this blog so everyone will know what I mean when I say Jim introduced me to poetry. His economy of words to evoke images is phenomenal. Jim proves prose is literature written to the rules of grammar while poetry is literature written to the rules of rhythm.
Susan Haley, one of the original founders of our writers group, read her excellent poem “Sleep,” followed by Pat Patterson, who makes the trip all the way from Punta Gorda. Pat read part of chapter one of “The Takers,” his period piece set in Scandinavia at the end of the 10th Century. Bill Elam, who is in the art publishing world, briefly discussed art and literature similarities, then read more from his upcoming work where the protagonist is a subject from one of his pieces or art. His current selection from his “old man anthology” had the phrase “the spirit has no infirmities,” which, of course, has everyone waiting for more.
Kathleen Schwartz read from her “Jazz at at 69,” a stark, almost brutal phase that is a nice expansion of her work. Great writing. Jim Kelly followed with the reading of two more of his outstanding poems, “Diner,” and “Priceless Penny.” If Jim agrees, I'll print “The Diner” in this blog so everyone will know what I mean when I say Jim introduced me to poetry. His economy of words to evoke images is phenomenal. Jim proves prose is literature written to the rules of grammar while poetry is literature written to the rules of rhythm.
Joanne Phillips read again from her now-published “Adventures of a Sea Hag,” which is already in its second printing. Ed Ellis followed with a really nice Thanksgiving poem written for his three grandchildren. Kerri – Wow! Nice twist on “Home Made Rodeos,” the story hooked nicely and everyone was misty eyed at the unexpected twist.
Chris Burton – Mesmerized the audience, as always, with her spot-on delivery of her crisp, seemingly effortless writing, and Patricia La Barbera read from her published thriller, “The Wolf's Daughter,” the first book in the Tala Chronicles. Susan Davis read the prologue to her new book aimed specifically at Baby Boomers looking for answers, followed by Kat who read from her upcoming book, which we'll be thrilled to announce when it hits the bookstores (or the Internet). George Collias finished the meeting with his perfectly timed humorous “Attack of the Colons: Wild and Dangerous Punctuation Marks!”
Once again the meeting was showcased by the diverse and eclectic talents who make up this marvelous group of talented writers. We'll see everyone at the next meeting, Wednesday, April 3rd!
George Mindling
