APW Book Club February 27 – Skirting Traditions
Karen Lateiner is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Contact Karen if you have not received the Zoom link and would like to attend. Open to members and nonmembers who have read the book.
TOPIC: APW Book Club Guest: Brenda Warneka, SkirtingTtraditions
DATE: Saturday, Feb 27, 2021
TIME: 10 a.m.
Meet Brenda Warneka as she leads us in a discussion about the APW publication Skirting Traditions.
Brenda Warneka was the project leader, an editor, and one of eighteen writers for the APW book, “Skirting Traditions: Arizona Women Writers and Journalists 1912-2012,” which is an anthology about women writers and journalists active in Arizona’s first one-hundred years. It was an official Arizona Centennial Legacy Project in 2012. Brenda will talk about how this award-winning book came to be and lead the discussion. A past president and long time member of APW, she has a degree in history and is a lawyer and writer.
Copies may be obtained for reading on Kindle or the Kindle app or through Marie Fasano for our Scholarship Fund for $5.00 and $3.00 shipping. Email Marie at RNPilot 2@aol.com
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- Brenda Warneka with her award-winning book, Around Laughlin
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- Skirting Traditions: Arizona Women Writers and Journalists 1912-2012 https://www.amazon.com/Skirting-Traditions-Arizona-Journalists-1912-2012/dp/1604945974
President’s page – January 2021
Marie Fasano
As we start the year, 2021 we can be hopeful that the rhetoric will be more civil and that we will stay focused on the truth. COVID vaccines are getting into the arms of healthcare workers, teachers and us elders and by summer we will see a good number in the population with some immunity. We are also hopeful that the economic strain on individuals and businesses will ease. Safety remains an issue with masks and social distancing still a necessary component of our lives.
As for APW, we already have several excellent speakers scheduled for Central and Rim Country chapters for the next few months and the APW annual meeting planned for April. The APW Book Club, under the leadership of Karen Lateiner, is thriving with wonderful discussions and sharing of each individual’s process in developing their book. For February, Brenda Warneka, one of the editors of our publication, Skirting Traditions, will meet with us and share the fascinating histories of the Arizona Press Women.
APW Rim Country plans to have the Payson Book Festival open July 17 this year with many authors, a wonderful children’s show and workshops with inspiring speakers and songwriters.
More members have entered the NFPW communications contest this year than last and we look forward to excellent award winners from our group. Our application for a $1000 scholarship has been sent out to Arizona colleges and universities. If you know an undergraduate student, studying in the fields of writing or journalism, encourage them to apply through the arizonaprofessionalwriters.org website. We would not want that gift to languish.
We are looking for members to step up to take some leadership positions, particularly for President and Treasurer, for the upcoming elections. If you have an idea you want to serve, and have questions, please drop me an email. We need you!
Right now I am snowbound, but cozy at home, here in Payson with much needed moisture for our dry Arizona. Stay safe.
Keep writing,
Marie A Fasano
Arizona Professional Writers, President
President’s message – January, 2020
APW Anthology
As we welcome 2020, we are excited about our many new members coming to our programs in Phoenix Central and Payson Rim Country each month and hearing exceptional speakers.
One item in our history that we almost forgot about is our book, Skirting Traditions. Members of the Arizona Press Women put together this wonderful volume of Arizona Women Writers and Journalists with Brenda Warneka editing. Many of our members, who started the organization in 1953, are included as part of this history.
The book was a project of the Arizona Press Women, Inc. in affiliation with the National Federation of Press Women Education Fund. In 2012, it was approved as an Arizona Centennial Legacy Project by the Arizona Historical Advisory Commission. Profits from the sale of the book will fund scholarships for Arizona students at Arizona colleges and universities.
Recently, I reread several sections. In the first chapter of the book, member Jan Cleere writes of Sharlot Mabridth Hall who fell in love with the Arizona Territory and helped push it to statehood. Sharlot was one of the first inductee’s in the Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame.
Member Marion Gold showcased member Pam Stevenson’s story of being one of the first women newscasters on KOOL-TV. Pam did ten interviews a week and has won numerous awards for her documentaries including News Women: 50 years of Change, which is a celebration of Arizona Press Women’s 50th Anniversary.
One of our goals this year is to reintroduce you to this fabulous historical book and encourage you to purchase it through your usual outlets, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. and support our scholarship fund.
Keep Writing,
Marie A Fasano
President, Arizona Professional Writers
June 2016 TypeRider
Take a look at another information-packed issue of the TypeRider. The June 2016 issue is available. Our districts have been active – read their reports. Betty Webb offers us a column titled “Method acting works great for writers.” Skirting Traditions is now available in ebook format. And find out more about the NFPW convention coming up in Kansas City, the Payson Book Festival plus loads of writing events.
Rim Country Writer’s Retreat a success!
Sixteen overnight APW members, spouses, and and including four non-member writers, plus three others who came during the day, attended the writer’s retreat at the Merritt Center just north of Payson, under the Mogollon Rim.
Tucked away in tall ponderosa pines, the secluded mountain lodge provided time to relax, a choice of activities and good food. A number of activities such as creating a vision board, journaling, taking creative photos, and writing exercises were offered. Many did their own thing. Hammocks invited relaxation, nearby woods begged to be explored. Several walked the native stone labyrinth. One spouse painted, another explored nearby attractions.
Betty Merritt, owner and founder, gave us a history of the lodge and shared her mission of helping veterans. We also gathered at mealtimes and got to know each other better. The food was delicious with plenty of snacks in between.
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Saturday night we were fortunate to have entertainment. Gail Hearne gave a presentation on Leo the MGM Lion when he spent unexpected time in the wilderness in Rim Country. After that Kathleen Kelly & Jim West entertained us in the patio with a variety of music.
Sunday morning Betty Merritt led those who wanted to go on a short hike up to a sacred Native American site and invited us to participate in a ceremony.
After the hike and breakfast, some participated in writing exercises.
We wrapped up with a delicious lunch and group photo. Pam Stevenson presented Betty with a copy of Skirting Traditions, signed by the authors who were there. It was a relaxing but refreshing experience. Everyone came away with something valuable.
Photos by Carol Osman Brown, Bill Stevenson, Jaimie Bruzenak, Barbara Lacy and Gail Hearne.
2013 At-large Communications Contest Winners
APW winners in the 2013 NFPW at-large communications contest were recognized at the May 4 conference. Photos are of those in attendance being presented their certificates by Brenda Warneka, President. The at-large contest takes the place of our state contest. The winners are as follows:
Elizabeth Bruening-Lewis
- 1st Place, 57B Nonfiction Book, history, for Visitors to the Past: A Cultural Historian Unlocks the Mysteries Behind Five Sacred Shrines
Jaimie Bruzenak
- 1st Place, 11C Columns, informational, for Workamper Viewpoint column for Workamper News
- 1st Place, 57E Nonfiction Book, General, for Retire to an RV: The Roadmap to Affordable Retirement by Jaimie Hall Bruzenak and Alice Zyetz (deceased)
Jaimie Bruzenak receiving two awards.
Lynda Exley
- 1st Place, 16B Page Design, magazine, newsletter, etc., for Arizona Press Women Typerider
- 2nd Place, 15B Pubs Regularly Edited by Entrant, magazine, etc., for Arizona Press Women Typerider
Lynda Exley receiving two awards
Marion Gold
- HM, 63 Essay, Chapter, or Section In a Book, for Skirting Traditions, Chapter 28: Pam Knight Stevenson
Carol Hughes
- 3rd Place, 63 Essay, Chapter or Section in a Book, for Skirting Traditions, Chapter 17: Esther Clark
Cheryl Kohout
- 1st Place, 19 Photographer/Writer for Riding High on a Bubble Bath
- 1st Place, 41 PR Reports for the Tucson Medical Center 2011 Report to Our Community
Patricia Myers
- 1st Place, 10C Specialty Articles, arts & entertainment, online or print for two articles: Paris Jazz Diary 2011; All That Jazz Month @ MIM
- 1st Place, 51 Speeches for Jazz Goes to the Movies (Paris Soirees, July 2012); Myers’ second consecutive year to win first-place in at-large speech category
- 2nd Place, 11D Columns, personal opinion, for Riffs
- 3rd Place, 8C Feature Story, online for Paris Jazz Diary 2012
- 3rd Place, 10O Specialty Articles, online or print for two reviews: Newport Beach Jazz Party; Lewis Nash-Wynton Marsalis Concert @ MIM
Patricia Myers receiving 5 awards
Sheila Roe
- 1st Place, 63 Essay, Chapter, or Section in a Book, for Skirting Traditions, Chapter 4: Mary Kidder Rak
Sheila Roe receiving two awards
Brenda Warneka
- 2nd Place, 63 Essay, Chapter, or Section in a Book, for Skirting Traditions, Chapter 15: Meredith Howard Harless
Brenda Warneka receiving 2 awards, presented by Vice President Pam Stevenson.
Carol Hughes, Lois McFarland, June P. Payne (deceased), Sheila Roe, Pam Knight Stevenson, and Brenda Kimsey Warneka (JOINT ENTRY)
- 1st Place, 64 Book Edited by Entrants for Skirting Traditions: Arizona Women Writers and Journalists: 1912-2012
Editors of Skirting Traditions: Sheila Roe, Lois McFarland, Brenda Warneka, Pam Stevenson. Carol Hughes absent, June P. Payne deceased.
The first-place winners will compete with first-place winners from other states in their category in the national NFPW contest. National winners will be honored at the 2013 NFPW annual communications contest in Salt Lake City in August.
‘Skirting Traditions,’ Arizona Press Women anthology, now available
Skirting Traditions: Arizona Women Writers and Journalists 1912-2012 releases today, Feb. 1. The Arizona Press Women anthology was the culmination of almost three years of effort.
Written by 18 award-winning members of APW, the anthology is designated as an Arizona Centennial Legacy Project by the Arizona Historical Advisory Commission, and will be promoted at state events throughout the centennial period, beginning with an expo on the state capitol grounds in conjunction with Arizona’s 100th birthday on Feb. 14.
To order the 308-page paperback, which retails for $22.95, visit the Tucson-based publisher Wheatmark, Amazon or Barnes & Noble. An e-version of the book is planned for a later release. It can also be ordered through brick-and-mortar book stores, ISBN is 9781604945973.
For more information on the project, go online to Skirting Traditions; like the Facebook page, follow on Twitter or email the editors.
Skirting Traditions is a history book, presented as a collection of short stories, moving forward from the beginning of statehood in 1912 to the modern day. Each story chronicles the life of a woman writer or journalist in Arizona who made a significant contribution to the history of the state, beginning with Sharlot Hall, who campaigned to have Arizona admitted to the Union as a separate state, and ending with Jana Bommersbach and Pam Knight Stevenson. The women who appear in the book were chosen through a nomination process and are representative of many others throughout the state during the centennial period.
“We anticipate that the public, historians, journalists and devotees of the Old West will be interested in reading about the remarkable women profiled in this anthology,” says Brenda Warneka, a co-editor who conceived of the project.
Other co-editors are Carol Hughes, Lois McFarland, June P. Payne, Sheila Roe and Pam Knight Stevenson.
The stories in Skirting Traditions were researched and written by members of APW, who, in addition to the coeditors, include Gail Bornfield, Vera Marie Badertscher, Carol Osman Brown, Jan Cleere, Jane Eppinga, Marion E. Gold, Carol Jean La Valley, Barbara Bayless Lacy, Elizabeth Bruening Lewis, Patricia Myers, Marion Peddle and Arlene Uslander.
The Skirting Traditions book project is sponsored by the National Federation of Press Women Education Fund, a 501 (c)(3) organization. Proceeds from sales will fund scholarships for Arizona journalism students at Arizona institutions of higher learning.
Arizona Professional Writers 