SPEECHES, DREAMS, AND SUSTENANCE (LOTS OF IT!)— MY AMAZING EXPERIENCE AT A HIGHLIGHTS FOUNDATION WORKSHOP

"Grasp the subject, the words will follow." - Cato the Elder

Well, Cato, that has not always been the case with me.  But, I know I will be a better, less fearful public speaker after my life-changing experience last week.  I participated in a Highlights Foundation workshop, "Life in the Spotlight:  Author Opportunities After Publication," taught by eminent teacher, journalist, broadcaster, music critic, and public speaking guru, Peter Jacobi.

Peter looks harmless here, but wait until he tapes you making an impromptu speech

These workshops take place at the home of the Founders of Highlights in Boyds Mills, near Honesdale, PA.  They have created a literary mecca that offers an idyllic opportunity for its participants to learn, grow, commune, and dream, while they hone their artistic skills.

We gathered for class, meals, and comradery in the gorgeous year-old 5,000 square foot conference center, The Barn.

Workshop participants usually reside in a charming cabin on the grounds.  I loved mine—Cabin 17!

 The inside was as delightful as the outside.  Love and care were evident in the furnishings, charming decor, comfortable beds, and homey rocking chair. Bug spray, flashlights with extra batteries, and a mini-fridge supplied with coffee creamer and assorted sodas were all thoughtfully provided.

A guest book on this desk contained messages from the ones "who had come before me."  I discovered that National Book Award winner and fellow Children's Book Guild member, Kathy Erskine, had also recently resided in Cabin 17!

The rural setting in the Pocono Mountains was exquisite. 

Here are a few pictures I took on my daily walk . . . 

The Homestead is being renovated

Sprouting vegetables to be skillfully used in our meals

The workshop participants traveled from near and far—Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, Canada, and Mexico.  I was honored to learn and "suffer" (the speeches) with these talented women—in alphabetical order—Judy Goldman, Gail Jarrow, Cathy Ostlere, Mara Rockliff,  and Susan Simon.  I miss them already!

Peter Jacobi with his admiring "progeny."

Peter expertly, coached us on polishing our presentation skills, gave us tips on presenting a successful talk, and reading from a script—which is much harder than I thought. A veteran journalist, he also gave us valuable information on how to deal with different aspects of radio, television, newspapers, and magazines.  We learned by continually questioning this modest man that during his illustrious career Peter had interviewed such luminaries as actress, Lillian Gish and Carol Channing—and that an aggressive Mike Wallace had once interviewed him.  He told us of moping floors (very expertly) with fellow soldier, Shel Silverstein, during his stint in the army.  Needless to say, we were mesmerized.

We all agreed that our learning experience was intense, but so rewarding.  We honed our speaking skills, culminating in a taped school visit, with in-depth critiques afterward.  We were able to present, then watch and learn from each other.  When do authors ever have an opportunity like that?

Our workshop also included a Skype visit from the very knowledgeable and generous Kate Messner, who gave us tips on everything an author needs to know about Skype school visits. We also received a copy of her delightful book Over and Under the Snow.

Highlights Foundation's very savvy Alison Myers (check out this great interview) presented an overview of the different types social media and how to make eConnections with our fans.  After studying a questionnaire that she had us all fill out, she even worked up an individualized Social Media plan for each of us!

Two great authors paid us a visit during the workshop—and gave us copies of one of their books!  Thank you, Jan Cheripko and Rebecca Kai Dotlich.   Now I had three new books to share with my grandchildren!


Last, but not least, I HAVE to mention what they fed us while we were there.  It was five star!  Only the freshest produce and herbs, grass-fed beef—everything of the highest quality.  All orchestrated by the chef-goddess Marcia!  I will remember those meals forever—and my tight waistband is reminding me of them now!

Kitchen angel Martha and the one and only Chef Marcia

I took lots of pictures of the meals, three exquisite feasts a day—no slacking there.  But, many of my pictures were blurry.  Must have been drooling all over the camera lens.  Here are a couple to show you what I "devoured!"

The best zucchini pancakes and Beef Burgundy stew I've ever tasted—no kidding!

Simply heavenly carrot cake!

It was an honor to share several of our meals with  Kent Brown, who is, among so many other impressive things, Executive Director of the Highlights Foundation. 

This man shared with us his aspirations for the Foundation. We also found out that Kent is quite the raconteur!  His account of how he got a cooler of live crabs (purchased at the Main Avenue Fish Market in Washington, D.C.) past the security people at National Airport was hilarious!

I will always cherish the memory of my time at the workshop.  I learned so much and made wonderful new friends.

Oh, did I mention that I really liked my teacher, Peter Jacobi?

TWO MOTHERS, TWO DAUGHTERS, AND SEAMUS THE FAMOUS IN IRELAND

I've never made a trip that required a passport—until a few eventful days ago, when I embarked on a mother/daughter trip to Ireland.  Needless to say, I was excited!

There are no strangers, only friends you have not met yet. -William Butler Yeats

It all began as my daughter, Meg, so aptly described . . . "Flew into Ireland this morning with a live Irish band playing traditional music on and off throughout our flight and spent the day looking at the Book of Kells and sipping Guinness with me mudder. Slainte!"

We marveled at the gorgeous, ancient Trinity College Library.  The thought of all the eloquence contained in those aged tomes brought tears to my eyes!

I am not young enough to know everything. -Oscar Wilde

Later that day we met up with Meg's dear friend, Dawn, her delightful mom, Julie—and their traveling companion, Seamus the Famous!

I'm not sure of the origin of Seamus's fame, but during our travels he exhibited extreme confidence.  For example the conceited gnome insisted that I photograph him on this pedestal (actually an Irish stone toadstool).

The five of us traveled from Dublin across "the green country," stopping at Kilkenny and  Galway. Massive kudos to Dawn who exhibited fabulous driving skills.  She negotiated the infamous Irish roundabouts with aplomb!

During our journey we reveled in Ireland's beauty and history . . . 

There were beautiful antiquities,

ancient rivers,

and gorgeous landscapes,

graced by old churches, 

medieval castles,

and, a few very charming Irish dancers.

Of course, we encountered some Irish whimsey along the way.

And some Seamus whimsey too.

Enough already!

Old friendships were celebrated.

Meg and Dawn have been best friends since high school.

New friendships formed.

I loved traveling with and getting to know Dawn's mother, Julie!

On our last day together we marveled at the gorgeous Cliffs of Moher.  So what if "bad hair" resulted from those gusty Irish winds.

It was fun to for two mothers and two daughters to experience the wonders of Ireland together.

Thanks to my wonderful daughter Meg, for taking this trip with me.  It has already become a treasured memory.

We both have been accused of being fiery women—must say we looked the part with our "flame-like" tendrils!

Famous Seamus, on the other hand, unfazed by the breezy blasts, remained smooth and in the groove.

O Ireland, isn't it grand you look—

Like a bride in her rich adornin'?

And with all the pent-up love of my heart

I bid you the top o' the mornin'! -John Locke

And a fond farewell!

GREAT BOOK SIGNING SURROUNDED BY WINE AND CHOCOLATE

Nothing like a bookstore that also stocks wine and chocolate.  Tempting isn't it?  Everything that's delightful in life!  Today, I signed books with Jackie Jules, Pamela Duncan Edwards, and Ann Bonwill at the fabulous bookstore, One More Page.

One More Page has an extensive wine selection.

And yummy chocolates.

For some reason I didn't take a picture of their great books!

Owner Eileen, with her wonderful staff.

We all pitched in and brought some treats.

I made Newfoundland dog cookies in honor of Emily and Carlo.

Tonight the authors will nestle all snug in their beds.

With visions of Cabernet and chocolate dancing in their heads!

LAW STUDENTS WHO CAN COOK 2012

My husband teaches at American University Washington College of Law.  Last night, as a reward for a project they completed, twenty-six law students came for steak dinner.  They brought their own specialties—butternut squash risotto, eggplant parmesan, macaroni salad, twice baked potatoes, potato casserole, tiramisu, and butterscotch chocolate brownies.  I was so busy eating I forgot to take pictures of the food.


Anyway, here they are.  Great cooks and fabulous people!

EMILY DICKINSON DOES GLUTEN-FREE

A gluten-free diet is one that, surprise, excludes the protein gluten. That means you won't be eating grains like wheat, barley, rye, etc. It's  recommended for people who suffer from celiac disease, wheat allergies, or certain skin ailments. But, lots of people, right or wrong, are embracing this diet and swearing it makes them feel better. Gluten-free is becoming stylish.

One of our best American poets, Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), was the chief bread and dessert-maker at her family home in Amherst, Massachusetts. She was quite accomplished. In fact, at age twenty, Emily won a prize for her Rye and Indian Bread at the town fair.

The Dickinson Homestead

When her literary mentor and friend, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, finally met the elusive poet face-to-face in April, 1870, among other things he remembered, "She told me of her household occupations, that she made all their bread, because her father liked only hers; then saying shyly, 'And people must have puddings,' this very timidly and suggestively, as if they were meteors or comets."
A wonderful, highly recommended little cookbook Emily Dickinson Profile of the Poet as Cook is offered for sale through the Emily Dickinson Museum. It contains many recipes that the poet used.

Here is Emily's recipe for Rice Cake. It uses rice flour, which is gluten-free. According to the cookbook, "Rice cakes were usually saved to serve a guest who dropped in for tea."
Give this old-fashioned recipe a try, whether you are doing gluten-free or not. They are quite tasty. Thank you, Emily!

Emily as a teenager

Rice Cakes (adapted from Emily Dickinson Profile of the Poet as Cook)
1 cup rice flour (I used Bob's Red Mill Stone Ground Rice Flour)
1 cup powdered sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon milk blended with 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter
freshly ground nutmeg

Cream butter. Beat eggs in separate bowl. Add sugar to eggs. Gently blend in butter. Add remaining ingredients. Bake in 9x9 pan until golden on top (around 15-20 minutes).

GOING BACK TO SCHOOL WITH THE HARVARD CLASSICS

I used to marvel over them as a child.  The richly colored tomes filled a five-foot bookcase in our living room.  Each volume featured mysterious titles etched in gold.  On the second shelf (at my eye-level) was a book titled Two Years Before the Mast Dana.  I remember wondering what the heck did that mean?  I'd run my fingers over my dad's bumpy treasures, thinking that someday I would read them all.  I never did.

In 1909, P. F. Collier & Son first published the Harvard Classics, a 51-volume anthology of works by some of Western civilization’s greatest dead white guys.  Editor Charles W. Eliot (president of Harvard for forty years) was convinced that fifteen minutes of daily reading from this rich source could afford a good substitute for a liberal education.  He believed that “directed reading leading progressively through a subject from its simpler to its more complicated aspects was the best possible training.”  Included was a year’s worth of daily reading suggestions that “will carry you on wings of romance and adventure to other lands, to the scenes of other days and will break the monotony of your days, will change the course of your thinking, will give you the privilege of contact with the great minds whose writings have stimulated and inspired mankind over the centuries.”

Two years ago, several months after my mom’s death, my dad heroically boxed up the whole set and mailed them to me as a birthday present. Now they stand proudly in a LL Bean bookcase in my writing room—still unread. 

Marty’s New Year’s Resolutions:

1. To go on a diet.

2. To embark on Charles Eliot’s reading journey.   I think Resolution 2 will be more successful (and fun) than Resolution 1.  (I may periodically update you on my reading—not diet—progress.)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

My treasured Harvard Classics.

FIRST WEEK—Why, President Eliot was rather whimsical.  This  looks like fun!

1 Franklin's Advice for the New Year

"Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve"-was one of the rules for success framed by America's first "self-made" man.

Read from Franklin's Autobiography Vol. 1, pp. 79-85. 

2 School-Day Poems of John Milton

At the age of sixteen, Milton first appeared before the public eye as a promising young poet. These early verses, written while he was a boy in school, indicate his brilliant future.

(First edition of Milton's collected poems published Jan. 2, 1645.)

Read: Milton's Poems Vol. 4, pp. 7-18

3 Cicero on Friendship

"Fire and water are not of more universal use than friendship" - such is the high value put upon this great human relationship by the most famous orator of Rome.

(Cicero born Jan. 3, 106 B. C.)

Read from Cicero on Friendship Vol. 9, pp. 16-26

4 A Flounder Fish Story

A fisherman, so the story goes, once caught a flounder that spoke, begging to be released. This was granted, whereupon the fisher­man's wife demanded that it grant her one miracle after another, until even the flounder was disgusted.

(Jacob Grimm, elder of the famous Grimm brothers, born Jan. 4, 1785.)

Read from Grimm's Fairy Tales Vol. 17, pp. 83-90

5 The Soaring Eagle and Contented Stork

Mazzini labored for the freedom of Italy, but was exiled. Byron and Goethe also battled for liberty. Mazzini wrote an essay in which he compared Byron to a soaring eagle and Goethe to a contented stork.

(Byron arrived in Greece to fight for Greek freedom, Jan. 5, 1824.)

Read: Mazzini's Byron and Goethe Vol 32 pp. 377-396.

6 Warned by Hector's Ghost

In the dead of night Hector's ghost appeared to warn Æneas of the impending doom to come upon the walled city of Troy. Æneas lifted his aged father on his back and, taking his son by the hand, sought safety in flight. Off to Latium!

(H. Schliemann, discoverer of ancient Troy, born Jan. 6, 1822.)

Read from Virgil's Aeneid Vol. 13, pp. 109-127

7 If He Yawned, She Lost Her Head!

The Sultan had a habit of beheading each dawn his beautiful bride of the night before, until he encountered Scheherazade. Cleverly she saved her life a thousand and one mornings.

Read from The Thousand and One Nights Vol. 16, pp. 5-13.

DECKED

I love living in Annandale, Virginia.  My community has a history that dates back to pre-Revolutionary times.  But my neck of the woods has lost much of its architectural past. For example, Ossian Hall, which once rivaled Mount Vernon in beauty, was burned down by the Annandale Fire Department as a training exercise in 1959.

Ossian Hall

Sometimes it’s nice to drive twenty minutes down Little River Turnpike (originally an 18th century toll road) to Old Town Alexandria.  Today that’s just what my husband and I did.  We explored the city's historic streets for a few hours and enjoyed the 50 degree day.  It might sound odd, but we admired quite a number of doors and windows.  Here are a few that are decked for the holidays.  Enjoy! 

And, last, but not least . . . 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!