July 20, 2019  

Save the date

Save the date: Carol Brown and family are planning a Celebration of Life for Bing Brown on Saturday, August 24, 2019. There will be a traditional service at 10 a.m. in the Community Presbyterian Church at 800 W. Main Street, Payson, AZ.

Bing was an award-winning journalist and photographer. He was Business Editor at the Phoenix Gazette, a PR executive at Salt River Project and the City of Phoenix Water Services Dept and a freelance photojournalist. He was an adjunct faculty member of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunication and taught writing courses at Rio Salado College. Bing helped with many APW conferences and special events for more than 30 years. He also was active in ANA and SPJ. APW members are welcome to share memories.

APW members can honor Bing’s memory by making a donation to the APW Scholarship fund.

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June 25, 2019  

President’s message – June, 2019

President’s Page June 2019

Things are happening!

Bing Brown: As some of you may know, our friend Bing Brown, husband of long-time member Carol Osman Brown, made his transition on May 31, 2019. Bing was a wonderful support to Carol and to APW. He was always there to help and to take photos for us and did it with a smile. We will miss you Bing.

APW Fall Conference: We are well into preparation for the Fall Conference Sept 28, 2019. Be looking to your email and on the arizonaprofessionalwriters.org website for registration information in the next few weeks. We are holding a joint conference with the Arizona Newspapers Association. I met with Tim Thomas, President of ANA, and his staff to plan the conference. We are excited to work together. The day, running from 8:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., will include a General Membership meeting, our own meetings and a joint luncheon. The Wild Horse Casino Hotel in Chandler, where we are holding the conference, is giving us a special rate for those who would like to spend the night. We will need volunteers to help get the word out and be there to help on Sept 28. Let me know how you want to participate.

Payson Book Festival: Right now, I am deep in planning for the Payson Book Festival Saturday, July 20, 2019. The APW Rim Country members have been hard at work for months. All the Media work is done (my job).  The volunteers are all lined up and ready (also my job). The 90 authors and vendors are set to go and the Mazatzal Casino is in good form (Connie Cockrell’s job). We have auction items (due to the gathering skills of Bobbie Bennett) the written program is set (Marsha Ward’s job). We have many sponsors and the children’s programs are ready (thanks to other members of our committee from the community).

Literacy: The Payson Chapter does meet once a month to bring in outside speakers for information and enlightenment to our members, but we are also doing things that I think the chapters might try. We are working with other organizations in the community to promote literacy for children. The children have produced a book and are working on a puppet show for the Payson Book Festival. How many other ideas can members come up with in your own community?

Central Chapter meeting: I attended the Central chapter meeting on Saturday July 20th at the home of Barbara Lacy. In attendance were Lois McFarland, Emily Cary, Brenda Warneka, Bobbie Bennett, Pam Stevenson, Barbara and me. The group was pleased we are having a fall conference and several folks agreed to help with getting the word out.  The group wanted to continue the APW group and is planning their next meeting, a luncheon, in Westminster Village in Scottsdale on September 14. Barbara Lacy will let you know more, later. Those in Central can put it on your calendar.

Virginia Piper: That same after noon I attended the Virginia Piper Inaugural meeting of the #PhxLit serve : A collective space for creative writing community organizers to stay connected and communicate as they work towards common goals .

My goals were to network with the literary community; make them aware of APW and the Payson Book Festival. Those goals were met. I have several more contacts who are interested in APW, our fall conference and the Payson Book Festival.

Bylaws: Now back to work on the draft of the Bylaws revision. When I accepted the job of President, my promise was to work to revitalize APW and that’s what I am spending my time doing. It’s exciting to meet active, former and new members.

See you at the Payson Book Festival July 20!

Keep Writing,

Marie A. Fasano

President, APW

 

June 24, 2019  

APW Central Chapter meeting June 22, 2019

Image may contain: 7 people, people smiling, people standing and indoor

The APW Central chapter membership task force is shown at a chapter meeting, at Barbara Lacy’s home in Paradise Valley on Saturday, June 22, 2019, with APW president Marie Fasano.  Barbara Lacy’s great artwork is on display. Left to right, Brenda Kimsey Warneka, Barbara Lacy, Marie Fasano, Pam Stevenson, Bobbie Bennett, Emily Cary, and Lois McFarland.

June 9, 2019  

Phoenix chapter meeting June 22

Hi  Phoenix Professional Writers,
Our new Arizona Professional Writers President, Marie Fasano, Payson, wants to get to know all current and former Phoenix area members.  She and her committee are planning a Fall conference in Phoenix and finding other ways to revitalize the Phoenix chapter of APW.
So, join me for an iced tea break with Marie and other members of APW at my home. We are meeting at 10 a.m., Saturday, June 22, 2019, at my house in Paradise Valley, Az. 85253. Email me for the address.
I look forward to reconnecting with you!
Barbara Lacy
May 28, 2019  

President’s Message May 2019

This has been a month of travel for me for happy and sad reasons. My family held a memorial for my sister, Fran in Long Island, New York near where we grew up. Her children and grandchildren put together a video about her life. They truly honored their “Grammie.” It brought back many memories of growing up in the city. The good part, as with any reunion, was connecting with my diverse family. We then drove to Colorado for a grandson’s high school graduation. As we traveled, I noticed all the variety of colorful blooms from the dessert to the snow peaked mountains.

 

It reminds me that May also brings the flowering of new ideas. Our plans to revitalize the organization are coming to fruition. This month we finalized our fall conference. On September 28, 2019 we will join the Arizona Newspapers Association for a joint conference at the Wild Horse Pass Hotel and Casino in Chandler, Arizona.

The morning sessions will be the APW gathering and general meeting. The luncheon with a guest speaker and afternoon sessions will be of interest to both APW/ANA members. APW has not had an annual conference for a few years and this was one of my goals on becoming President. So be ready to hear more about the conference on our website and Facebook page.

 

The Rim Country Chapter has completed its school literacy project together with Gila County Library District and the Payson Book Festival, Inc. Through its after-school program, Payson Community Kids now has a book written and illustrated by the children that will be sold at the Payson Book Festival. Their MicrozineWorkshop with Phoenix Poet Laureate Rosemarie Dombrowski and sixth-grade students at Rim Country Middle School produced many Micropoetry books.

 

Barbara Lacy, director of the Phoenix Chapter and I are planning a gathering of the Phoenix area members at her home on Saturday, June 22 , 10-11 a.m. Take an hour out of your day to join us. We would like to connect with all the Phoenix members. Plan to be there to get an update on APW happenings and future plans. Contact Barbara at blacy1@cox.net.

 

To promote APW, I am planning to attend an inaugural meeting in June of The Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing #PhxLitServ, a network for creative writing community organizers to come together and work towards common goals. I hope to make some important contacts and reach new members. 

 

The Bylaws Committee continues to look at what needs changing in our evolving organization. As a member you can view the Bylaws on the member page of our website. We would be pleased to have member input for needed changes. If you don’t have the code for the member page contact our webmaster Jaimie Bruzenak calamityjaimie@gmail.com

 

Keep Writing,

 

Marie Fasano
President

Arizona Professional Writers

April 13, 2019  

President’s Message – April 2019

April, 2019

“Those April Showers bring May flowers.” What beautiful carpets of flowers we have throughout Arizona because of all the rain this year. On a personal note, the song was one my sister and I sang about three years in a row as children in Mt. Manor, Pennsylvania at talent shows each year. She recently passed away and that song and picture came to mind.

Bobbie Bennett, first VP and Event Planner, and I continue to work on the fall conference. The date is still fluid at this time and as soon as we select a venue and set a date we’ll let you know. It’s good to have members who know the history of the organization and Carol Osman Brown has been a wonderful help to these new officers in sharing the history and helping with the planning.

Since I reside in the Rim Country District I want to tell you what we are doing to promote literacy. Perhaps this will encourage other chapters to do more outreach. Many of you know about the successful Payson Book Festival, now in its 5th year. This year we have several pre-festival workshop projects. Elaine Votruba with the Gila County Library, Public Services is joining the Payson Book Festival on three projects. One project, with the non-profit Payson Community Kids, is working with youngsters to write their own books that will be sold at the Payson Book Festival for all to see. Proceeds will benefit the Community Kids. The older children are preparing a puppet show for the Festival in our “Kids Zone.” The children are excited to be part of the Festival.

Most of my activities these days are devoted to putting together media, planning radio interviews and writing articles to promote the Payson Book Festival.

We want to hear about your writing and new books. Let Jaimie Bruzenak, website and Facebook administrator, know about your projects. Let’s continue to share what we are doing.

There is much in the news now about journalists’ rights. How timely this is since the theme for our upcoming state conference is the First Amendment. We have not had a gathering of Arizona Professional Writers for several years and we are looking forward to meeting members this fall.

Keep Writing,

Marie Fasano

March 30, 2019  

Rim Country Chapter meeting- April 10, 2019

Welcome to spring!

Arizona Professional Writers – Rim Country Chapter meeting will be held on 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 10, 2019, the second Wednesday of the month at the Majestic Rim Retirement Community on Tyler Parkway in Payson, AZ.

This month we will be sharing our current writing projects with the group. How far have you come? What help do you need? Members and the writing public are invited.

See you on April 10!

Please remember to bring any old magazines for our RMS 6th grade Micropoetry/Microzine workshop in May. We will have Rosemarie Dombrowski PhD from ASU working with the children.

Also check out our website and Facebook. Lots happening on our website and FB page. If you have a new book 2018-19 or a speaking engagement put the info on the website. If you need help contact calamityjaimie@gmail.com

Marie

Marie A. Fasano
APW Rim Country Secretary

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