Volume V, Issue 38 September 19, 2016 Word of the Week: advisor Dear ,
So, last week's word was advice, and . . . advice has to come from somewhere, right? And
from whom better than a trusted advisor?
Here's a photo of me with one of my favorite advisors, my husband, Richard, this past weekend in charming Beaufort, North Carolina. I am not very good at selfies, but I couldn't resist posing with my bearded guy in front of Hammock House, "the oldest and most intriguing house in Beaufort," whose "most famous (or infamous) guest is Blackbeard the Pirate, who stayed here when he was in port." (I'm sure even Blackbeard had advisors.) I chose advisor as this week's word to honor a new book by South Carolinian writer Kathryn Smith: The Gatekeeper: Missy LeHand, FDR and the Untold Story of the Partnership that Defined a
Presidency.
Kathryn's book is the first biography of FDR’s right-hand woman Marguerite Alice LeHand, who worked tirelessly for FDR as his private secretary for more than 20 years, including eight years at the White House, where she came to function as chief of staff. “Missy,” as she was known, was also FDR's advisor, confidante and friend, and was known as one of the
most powerful people in the Roosevelt administration.
Kathryn's book is also very timely, given a certain event that's happening on Tuesday, November 8th.
You can come meet Kathryn and hear her talk about her book at my favorite bookstore, Park Road Books, on Thursday, September 22nd at 7:00 p.m. Park Road Books is located
in the Park Road Shopping Center, 4139 Park Road, Charlotte, NC 28209.
Love and light, Maureen
P.S. Great news if you've been wanting to write at the beach! We just had a cancellation for the Coastal Writing Retreat November 11th through 13th. There is currently one spot left. Details below and here. Call the Sunset Inn now to reserve if you'd like to come.
Upcoming WordPlay
COASTAL WRITING RETREAT (Writing—and more—as Renewal and
Inspiration)
1 spot left!
Renew yourself and reconnect with your own creativity, whether you are a practicing writer, closet writer, or as-yet-to-pick-up-the-pen writer! The techniques and prompts we’ll
use will spur your imagination, and can be used to create nonfiction, fiction, and/or poetry—the choice is yours. $418 for the weekend. The Coastal Writing Retreat includes writing sessions, two nights’ lodging, two breakfasts and Saturday lunch (hotel tax and Saturday dinner at a local restaurant not included). Additionally, for those who might like to stay another day to work on their writing, or to just enjoy the beach, the Inn is offering to Coastal Writing Retreat participants only, the
opportunity to stay Sunday night, November 13th, at half price.
WHERE: The Sunset Inn, 9 North Shore Dr., Sunset Beach, NC 28468
WHEN: Friday, November 11 – Sunday, November 13, 2016* TO REGISTER: Contact the Sunset Inn at
888-575-1001 (if you would like to handpick your room, view your choices here first, then call). Because the Inn is holding rooms for you, our participants, they are blocked off as unavailable online. Register soon by phone — this is a popular event and there is only
1 space available.
*Also, please let the Inn know when you call if you are interested in the bonus opportunity to stay Sunday night, November 13th, at half price.
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WINTER WRITING RETREAT
(Writing as Renewal/Creating New Writing/
Tools for a Writing
Life)
Renew and delight yourself. The Winter Writing Retreat is an opportunity to create new pieces of writing and/or possibilities for our lives. Enjoy various seasonal prompts; they elicit beautiful material that can be shaped into essays, poems, stories, or articles. After a communal lunch, you'll have private time which can be used to collage,
work with a piece of writing from the morning, or play with a number of other writing prompts and methods. You'll take home new ideas, new drafts, and new possibilities.
$97 includes lunch and supplies
WHERE: South Charlotte area.
Details will be provided upon registration. WHEN: Saturday, December 17th, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. TO REGISTER: To pay with a check via mail, email info@wordplaynow.com for instructions. Click here to pay online, using PayPal.
More WordPlay opportunities here. Featured Writer
Kathryn Smith Kathryn Smith is a journalist and writer with a life-long interest in FDR and his circle. Her curiosity about Marguerite LeHand arose when she read fleeting mentions of the enigmatic secretary in books about FDR and
wondered, “Who was she? What was she like?” Three years and hundreds of hours of research later, she had her answer. Smith has lived all her life in Georgia and South Carolina, and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of Georgia. She worked as a daily newspaper reporter and editor, and has been the book columnist for the Anderson Independent Mail for twenty years. Smith retired from a second career in nonprofit management in 2012 and became a full-time
writer. She is the author of an oral history of World War II told by living veterans and civilians called A Necessary War.
Featured Writing
An excerpt
from The Gatekeeper
by Kathryn Smith
On the morning of July 2, 1932, a slender, neatly dressed young woman with dark hair already threaded in silver stepped out of a car at the grass-and-gravel airport in Albany, New York. Her name was Marguerite Alice LeHand, but everyone knew her as Missy. Air travel was a new experience for the thirty-five-year-old woman, and
though she had taken many other journeys with her boss, New York governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the stakes had never been higher than for this trip. They were flying to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where Roosevelt had been nominated for president of the United States the night before.
He needed Missy to help him put the finishing touches on his acceptance speech, and it had
probably never occurred to her to decline making the trip with the boss she adored and called “F.D.” Boarding the tiny, corrugated metal plane, she settled into a seat in the first row, where a typing table had been set up, a shiny black typewriter ready to go to work under her capable hands.
From the day in January 1921 that she first came to work for FDR as his private secretary, Missy LeHand had
found herself in some very unusual places. They included a creaky houseboat meandering down the Florida coast; a tumbledown cottage in Warm Springs, Georgia; and the front seat of a Ford convertible that FDR drove at reckless speeds down country roads in Dutchess County, New York. He managed the gas and brake with hand controls, as he was paralyzed below the waist. Stricken with poliomyelitis eight months after Missy entered his employ, FDR had found his secretary integral to his rehabilitation
and eventual return to public life. Now, after almost four years as governor of New York, he was ready to claim the job he had dreamed of holding since he was a young Manhattan lawyer: the presidency.
You can meet author Kathryn Smith, hear her read, and buy a personalized copy of her book!
She will be at Park Road Books, a wonderful independent bookstore, on Thursday, September 22nd at 7:00 p.m.
Park Road Books is located in the Park Road Shopping Center, 4139 Park Road, Charlotte, NC 28209.
To request a signed copy
or personalized copy; call 704.525.9239 or contact by email orders@parkroadbooks.com (at least 48 hours in advance to check availability).
WordPlay Now! Writing
Prompt This is WordPlay—so why not revel in the power and
potential of one good word after another? This week, it's "advisor."
PROMPT: Make a list of everyone you can think of who has served as an advisor to you, or to one of your characters. Choose one, and write about the ways their advice shaped choices
and outcomes. MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide to the Craft of Writing, a grief workbook entitled I Will Never Forget You, and three collections of poetry, Ten Thousand Cicadas Can't Be Wrong, This Scatter of Blossoms and When the Leaves Are in the Water. One of her long-held dreams came true in July of 2015 when Garrison Keillor read one of her poems on The Writer's Almanac. She believes, as author Julia Cameron says, "We are meant to midwife dreams for one another."
Maureen also believes that serious "word work" requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best learn—and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with
intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to yours! |
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