Mid-October marked the culmination of a year and a half of planning for Women Writing the West’s 20th Anniversary Annual Conference in Golden, Colorado. The result of work by Colorado’s WWW Conference Planning Committee to plan the event spread among several venues was a huge success. The City of Golden was a perfect fit for our group. A synopsis of highlights will give those with a passion for the craft of writing an idea of…
When the year 2013 began, I was worried. People often ask about my next project, and I said I did not have one in the works at the moment. Stagnation might be setting in … or was it? A reflection of highlights from the past year tells me that I have little or no reason for concern. It was a very good year. Event Highlights in 2013 Two “salons”, interactive literary programs – at Denver…
Midway through February, I will revisit the Denver Woman’s Press Club for some more historic journalism magic. My second visit within a month is part of their salon series. The program is entitled, Almost Famous: Crafting Characters from Colorado’s Past, which will feature myself and fellow DWPC journalist, Kimberly Field. In this program we will discuss several aspects of crafting characters from historical data into biographies. One of the inspirations for the program is my…
For the life of me, I can’t figure out how a building can lend so much inspiration and ambiance to a program. This was the case this past weekend when Filter Press publisher Doris Baker and I presented our program at the Denver Woman’s Press Club in Denver. The topic, Kid Lit: Tools, Trends, and Markets, was challenging and could have taken off down any number of paths. As it was, it became a magical…
Before we move on from the Titanic disaster and Margaret “Molly” Brown’s heroic actions as a survivor of that tragedy, it is important to note that her life following that event was full of activism. She must have known as she fought for survival that she still had much to do during the rest of her life. Her immediate concern was for other survivors who lost their belongings and loved ones, and suffered terrible losses…
In Denver, Colorado, we are fortunate to have access to many fantastic resources of Western history in general, and specialized repositories and museums such as the Molly Brown House Museum. The staff at the Molly Brown House has done their usual magical planning by hosting Muffet Brown for the 100th Anniversary of the RMS Titanic Steamship’s Maiden Voyage and ultimate demise in 1912. Last evening, Margaret Brown’s great granddaughter spoke and answered questions to a…
As the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster approaches next week, the prevailing question is “Why?” Why does this story touch us so deeply a century later? Why did the Titanic sink? The story is best told by one who survived the tragedy. If you asked Colorado’s Margaret Brown, known in modern culture as “Molly Brown”, she would describe the Titanic as a great equalizer. In the Denver Post on April 27, 1912, Mrs. Brown…
With less than a month left before the 100th anniversary of the steamship Titanic’s maiden voyage, I was invited to participate in an event at the Molly Brown House Museum in Denver. “Women of the Titanic” told their stories to those who toured the house museum, while I conversed with interested visitors in the gift shop, formerly the carriage house, behind the Browns’ House of Lions. It was a delightful evening. As usual, the folks…
One of the most remarkable facts about Molly Brown is that her name was not Molly Brown. How did it come about that such an iconic western heroine became known by a name that was not her own? On July 16, 1867, Margaret Tobin was born into a large Irish immigrant family in Hannibal, Missouri, near the banks of the Mississippi River. The 1870 U.S. Census lists her as Maggy Tobin, age 3, with her…
January has always been a time for me to clean out my desk and my brain as I turn the calendar and make plans for a new year. How timely that the Denver Woman’s Press Club invited Cynthia Morris to coach a group of us through the process of focusing on plans and writing notes to hold ourselves accountable for ideas which will make 2012 Our Best Writing Year Ever. The regrouping, re-evaluating, and re-purposing…