Hello, world

Dancing Grandma when she was young, age fifty maybe.

I was never much of a dancer. More a dance educator but I did put together a one woman show entitled, Mide-Life and Beyond: a woman's view. Performed a few times in the mid-west but when we retired to Southern Utah, I was looking for another creative activity. Writing fit the bill. You sit when you write, unless you have a back problem and need to stand.

Me doing the Charleston wearing a replica of a dress my mother wore when she was sixteen. There was fringe and a hot pink lining tot the color.

#1 LUW presenter

 I was pleased and flattered to be asked to be a presenter at the annual League of Utah Writers conference this September. My assigned topic – the memoir. Whoops. I hadn’t written a memoir – or only sort of. 

 But I said yes, because I’d recently attended a workshop in Cedar city by Michelle Weldon who teaches journalism at the University of Chicago. Her material was excellent. I’d share some of that. 

And Jack Remick of Seattle had come to St. George in the spring and offered some great info including tips on writing memoir. 

Then comes serendipity. I’m sure you’ve noticed that when a subject comes to your attention, say butterflies or apple strudel, info about that subject pops up in the oddest places. This was true regarding memoirs. One quote I latched on to came from Mary Pols in the Feb 28th, 2011 Times magazine (don’t ask me why I still had this issue—I don’t even subscribe): “The best memoirs of loss and tragedy teach us universal truths. The worst just teach us suffering.”