President’s message – July, 2019

Most of July was spent getting ready for the APW Rim Country Payson Book Festival July 20.

It was a wonderful success. The new Kids Zone had dozens of little ones giggling with the puppet show and lots of smiles from the parents. The workshops, especially the favorites, Marshal Trimble, Arizona’s Historian, and Buckshot Dot, with her songs and poetry, played to a packed room. The 90-plus authors sold many books and enjoyed talking with their readers.

I ran around handling AV snafus and any other problem that came along. It was a fun and exhausting day that we plan to repeat next year.

Now on to the fall conference – FREEDOM TO WRITE – at the Wild Horse Pass Casino in Chandler…. SAVE THE DATE Saturday, 28, 2019. Registration will be through Eventbrite.com.

The Presenters are all set. We are so pleased that Gwen Larson, our NFPW President, will be there to speak to our members in the morning and in the afternoon to share a panel on First Amendment Advocacy. She will be joined on the panel by Gregg Leslie, the executive director of the First Amendment Clinic at ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, on the topic Who Will Defend the First Amendment?

At the request of members, Mark Athitakis will present Writing for Free? How to Make Money in Today’s Media Market. For a little levity in the program, we have invited APW member Jodi Weisberg to present a stand-up comic routine – Freedom to be Funny: Stand Up or Sit Down & Write.

For our luncheon speaker The Arizona Newspaper Association brings Matt Adelman, incoming President of the National Newspapers Association, to discuss current issues facing journalists. To round out the day, Kristen Gilger, senior associate dean in charge of professional programs for the ASU Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, will speak on the topic of Women in Journalism.

We haven’t had a conference in a few years, so I am excited to meet one of my goals as President and, together with the Board of Directors, bring you this fabulous line-up of speakers in our joint conference with ANA.

As a final note, I will be attending the memorial service for Bing Brown on Saturday 10:00 am August 24 at the Community Presbyterian Church in Payson. It would be wonderful for Carol if she could see some of her APW friends in attendance as well.

Enjoy the rest of the summer.

Keep writing.

Marie A. Fasano
APW President