Carol Gail Osman Brown 1941-2020
Carol Gail Osman Brown 78, of Payson, AZ, passed away peacefully on Friday, March 6, 2020, in Los Angeles, CA with her sons by her side. Carol was preceded in death by her husband James Carrington Brown III (Bing) on Friday, May 31, 2019, in Phoenix, AZ. Carol and Bing are survived by their two sons, James Carrington Brown IV (Jim) and Bryan Lee Brown, wife Ronda Doyle and grandson, Asa of Los Angeles, CA and extended family. Carol was preceded in death by her parents Sidney A. and Natalie Constance (Charipper) Osman.
Carol was born in Schenectady, New York on September 28, 1941, to Sid and Natalie Osman. Carol and her parents lived in New York City as a child but due to her severe asthma, moved to AZ and settled in Phoenix, Arizona around 1949.
Carol attended Kenilworth Elementary School and West High School in Phoenix and graduated from Arizona State University.
Carol and Bing met while they were summer camp counselors in Prescott, AZ and were later married on November 3, 1961, in Phoenix, AZ. Both Carol and Bing were longtime residents of Phoenix and then Payson AZ where they both were intricately involved in the journalism community.
An award-winning journalist, Carol was a strong advocate of children’s literacy programs. Her long-term leadership involvement with Arizona Press Women (now Arizona Professional Writers) allowed her to spearhead the very successful annual Payson Book Festival featuring Arizona authors from throughout the state and is held in July in Payson, AZ. Proceeds support a variety of children’s literacy programs.
During her career, Carol drew public attention to other causes including historic preservation, education, health, Native American and women’s issues. She wrote for The Phoenix Gazette and Arizona Republic newspapers and taught journalism classes at her alma mater Arizona State University and Rio Salado College.
Her articles and photographs have appeared in numerous publications including Arizona Highways, Native Peoples, and Sunset magazines as well as publications of the United States Information Agency. She also worked for Associated Press and United Press International wire services.
She received a variety of awards throughout her 50-year career from organizations including the National Federation of Press Women, The Arizona Newspapers Association, the Public Relations Society of America, and Women in Communications.
Carol and her husband, Bing were a powerhouse couple in their community. They formed Carrington Communications LLC and worked as a team on writing projects that took them long distances throughout the United States, China, Mexico, Costa Rica, Africa, Australia, Europe and Canada. They were active on the Beaver Valley Water District board and the Arizona Association of Professional Writers.
Carol was born with severe Asthma and fought her lung disease her entire life. A lifelong commitment to researching her own medical condition, including using holistic medicine as a key component, enabled her to live a full, vibrant, and very productive life.
Due to the current Coronavirus (COVID-19), a Celebrations of Life will be held in Beaver Valley, AZ (Payson) and in Phoenix, AZ at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Payson Book Festival, Inc. or the charity of your choice.
See the home page of the Payson Book Festival website for details if you would like to donate to their children’s programs and literacy projects.
Welcome, Dianna DiMaggio!
Welcome to Dianna DiMaggio, new member, to the APW Rim Country Chapter!
Dianna DiMaggio
Dianna DiMaggio tells us that as a child her favorite pastime was to create and draw clothing for her paper dolls. At age 20 she had her own custom design dress shop. Later, at age 40 Dianna began painting in her spare time. She sold her early works and drew note cards to sell. She felt she had been accepted in the marketplace.
She enrolled in the Scottsdale School of Art and studied under Judi Betts and others. A patron of one of the paintings she sold asked Dianna to write the story of what she painted. She now has a notebook of her paintings and writings. She has incorporated two of her gifts. Currently, she pulls her autobiography out of her soul. She says, “We must not die with our music still in us.”
Join APW or renew now for 2020!
Hi APW members! APW, Arizona Professional Writers, is affiliated with the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW).
This is a friendly reminder that your NFPW/APW dues will come due on January 1, 2020. If you are an NFPW member, you will receive a reminder directly from them. If you are a state-only member, you can pay anytime by sending a check to our APW treasurer, Cheryl Kohout:
Cheryl Kohout
751 S. Brown St.
Tucson, AZ 85710
Please mark on your check, or include a note, that it is for your 2020 dues. Also, if your contact information has changed, please make a note of that. You can also send any contact changes to Jaimie Bruzenak who keeps the directory up-to-date.
If you did not pay your dues last year, please reconsider joining! Being an NFPW member has many benefits. There are 4 types of membership—professional, retired, student and premium professional. See https://nfpw.org/join/
Our hope for 2020 is to continue the efforts APW President, Marie Fasano, has started, revitalizing APW and our chapter. The Fall Conference was a success. We will hold the Spring Conference on May 9, with a recognition ceremony, speaker and luncheon plus a fun activity. Both Rim Country and Central Chapters have been holding monthly meetings with excellent speakers. Jane Eppinga, who was chair of our chapter, recently passed away so for the time being, Southern Chapter will organize carpools to Central’s meetings.
Please join us and reap the benefits of our APW/NFPW membership!
Welcome, Elsa Bobier!
Elsa Bobier
We welcome new member Elsa Bobier to the APW Rim Country Chapter. Elsa has lived in the Rim Country area for the last 20 years. She enjoys the beautiful weather, nature and panoramic scenery. She has published poetry and writes many reports in her work as a senior Social Services Case Manager.
APW member Jane Eppinga passed away
Sad news to report:
Tucson has always been blessed with an abundance of creative people–particularly writers. One unique and talented voice was silenced today with the death of Jane Eppinga. Jane, a prolific writer, told us mostly true stories, mostly of Arizona’s past. She did it with enthusiasm and precision and dedication to accuracy. I first met Jane at a meeting of the Society of Southwest Authors. I saw her standing in a line and somewhat timidly approached her, because I knew she had a reputation for being a grande dame of Arizona writing. She quickly made me feel relaxed with her friendliness and genuine desire to be helpful. If she was a grande dame of anything, she didn’t know it! Jane took delight in many things–particularly her trips to Holland where she visited family. She lived alone, but connected to an enormous community of writers and readers. Readers are poorer for the lack of her voice in new works, but we will always have the multitude of books and articles she left behind. — written by former APW member Bunny Badertscher
Jane joined APW in 1979 and was Chairman of the Southern Chapter. You can also read a little about her background and how she came to Arizona at Desert Silhouettes.
New member Jody Sharpe
Jody Sharpe
Jody Sharpe’s interests are in writing novels about angels living as humans in a town where no one knows the secret. “Writing gives me peace and joy!”
New member – Susan Anderson
Susan Claire Anderson
Susan Clare Anderson, a new member in the APW Central Chapter, has an Associate Teacher Certificate and additional studies in Child Development She has experience working with children and strives to create books that are age appropriate and fun to read. In her books, she offers opportunities for children to sharpen their developmental skills along with colorful pictures and interesting characters in order to capture their imagination.
Her biggest interest is in anything artistic. Susan’s loves art of all kinds, and enjoys the different ways people find to express themselves. She sees art as unique and original, with the flaws providing character. She mostly enjoys spending time with her grandchildren writing, drawing and painting pictures. Her specialty is illustrating and writing Children’s Picture Books and hopes to release her first Children’s Chapter Book in early 2020! Please visit her anytime at susanclareanderson.com
Arizona Professional Writers 