Secrets, Memories, and History - A Selection of Books

There were award-winning, established authors as well as first time authors at our sorority conference; they were there at booths in our vendor area, along with our beautiful pink & green paraphernalia, and as presenters for some of our workshops and forums. In between going to our business sessions and eating my way across San Francisco, I had a chance to talk with a few of them.

ReShonda Tate Billingsley, a bestselling and award winning author, was a attending as a presenter in the forum on the entertainment business and promoting her new book, The Secret She Kept. We spoke about her first book and the efforts of getting it published. As any aspiring writer knows, once you've written your next best novel and contribution to literature, you've got to get it published. She explained the challenge of getting through the slush pile, when an editor may have months- worth of reading piled up in manuscripts. There are some advantages of self-publishing, as she had done with her first novel, which really requires you to put in the work to market it and get the book in the hands of your audience. Once she established commercial success with that, she was noticed and picked up by a publisher. Look for her on tour with her latest.

On the other end of their writing career was Antoinette Lawrence and Terry Lewis. They have just published their first children's book, I Remember, a sweet book about a girl remembering the things she's done with her grandmother.  The pictures are bright and well-drawn and the type is a fun, bouncy lettering that is easy to read and kids will enjoy; it's about a K or 1st grade reading level. The appeal for African-American parents is having a fun, early level reading book with characters that look like your child. The authors are also working on another book about a boy and girl who travel around the world - and no, the authors are not siblings, but yes, they have themselves traveled globally and their experiences will be the basis for some of the adventures. They are from Maryland and will be presenting again at the Baltimore Book Festival in September. (I'm putting it on my calendar to make this annual literary event.)

Stretching into a different direction, non-fiction, there was Anne Pruitt-Logan  who was presenting, Faithful to the Task at Hand, an autobiography of Lucy Diggs Slowe, one of our sorority founders. She was there with her son and they explained the interesting way she came upon this project. The original author,  Carroll Miller, was a student of Slowe and inspired by her achievements in educations and sports, wanted to memorialize her in an autobiography.  During the writing of the manuscript, he became ill, and asked Ms. Pruitt-Nelson to assist him in editing the book. She edited his portions and then did more research in Slowe's life and history, and added more to the story.  During this writing process, the first author passed away and Ms. Pruitt-Nelson was left with completing the book. And now, after years of research and writing, we have our first biography of one of our organization founders, an African-American pioneer in many arenas - an educator, college administrator, and a title-winning tennis player (one of my favorite sports). This book is available thru SUNY Press and Amazon.  

Thanks to the authors for taking a few moments from their busy booths to talk to me about their books.  Enjoy! 

Flyover coast to coast

I'm on the other coast!  In San Francisco for my sorority's national conference.  Aside from all the pink & green, I'm excited to be here because this is my first trip to my namesake city.  I'm looking forward to the fresh seafood, hilly streets, and cable cars.

I had the window seat - like a little kid, I like the window seat.  I'm always amazed by the changing landscape as you fly around the country, even around the world.  I've not really traveled too much in the mid-west states, but I'm awed to look at them from 32,000 feet overhead.  It would be neat to have a way to identify the states as you did the flyover, like  if the lines on the map really existed, then all those elementary school lessons learning the 50 Nifty states would really come in handy.

On the flight I realized something, an obvious fact but one that really just hit me as my family dropped me off at the airport - I'm traveling all by myself! I can't think the last time I was totally by myself. I mean, I've gone places with just my Mr., without the kids, and I've gone places without the family, but with friends. It's been a while since I've been out on my very own. I know, this isn't a big deal for some folks, but for me -I barely go the bathroom without someone waiting for me on the other side of the door! I'm kinda looking forward to the by myself-ness of the trip. I'll be meeting another Soror when she arrives tomorrow, and of course everyone else I'll run into,but I'll be living by myself for a few days. How does the saying go, "absence makes the heart grow fonder"?

I took a few photos from way up in the clouds.  Let me know if you know what state they are.

(My formatting may be a bit crazy for the week, working from the iPad, some editing is limited, but enjoy anyway!)

We're Every Woman

Our Sorority Regional Director was introduced at our conference by another Soror (a former Regional Director) who has known her since she was first initiated into the sorority, 33 years ago. In her comments, she expressed her pride in watching her grow into a mature, strong leader. The sorority is, of course, full of such connections - sorors who have known each other for years, watching and supporting each other to grow as a sorority member and as a woman.

Last night, a sorority member said to me, "I'm proud of you." She didn't say specifically what I had done.  And other than running around from event to meeting to dinner, I'm not really sure. But it still felt good and I accepted her compliment. I mean, how often, as a grown woman do you get a compliment like that?

This afternoon, we will celebrate sorority sisters who are marking 25, 50, and 75! years of membership. It's a regular part of the agenda, but I'm more excited than usual because one of my own very good friends will be donning her Silver crown. She was one of my "big sisters" when I was initiated into the sorority. Over the years we've lived in different cities, been active in different chapters, but now we live near each other and are in the same chapter. She serves as a committee chair in our chapter and is an active member.  She's also a dedicated wife, a loving and busy mother, and a wonderful friend. I'm amazed by her culinary talents and her tireless efforts to make her children happy, whether cooking meals for the school fundraiser, helping to build topographical maps of Australia, or driving cross-county to cheer them on in their games, whether lacrosse or soccer or basketball or football, or coaching the cheerleading squad. And she does it while looking beautiful all the time. So to my friend, my sister, my Soror J.S. I'm proud of you! And Congratulations!

(and I encourage everyone to tell someone today, "I'm proud of you" - I promise, you'll make their day.)

On our way to the land of AKA

The train ride is just under 7 hours.  "Are you sure you don't want to fly?" other sorority sisters asked, with recommendations for their flights and airlines.  Nope, I'm not in any rush.  When you've got busy enough days, 7 hours of sitting back, sleeping, eating, reading, crocheting, talking with a good friend, and looking out the window are a great way to start off a conference weekend.

Somewhere along the Northeast train tracks

We, along with a couple thousand other women, are headed to our sorority's annual regional conference.  There's of course, the business of the organization - the reports, which chapters have done what this past year, workshops, a service project of collecting items for domestic violence shelters.  There's the rites of sisterhood - celebrating those who are marking milestones in years of membership - Silver, Golden, Platinum, applauding achievements at the Gala, and remembering those who have passed on.  And there's the fellowship of friends - dinners, cocktails, a favorite group on tour in the same city (more on that later), and hugs for those you haven't seen since last year this time.  All the while dressed up in our lovely, ladylike pink & green.

 So 7 hours up is enough time to relax into the weekend.  And 7 hours return is just enough to recover. Enjoy the conference sorors!

Hooking for Charity

A few years ago, I had an idea.  I have a stash of yarn, i.e. an inventory that has accumulated without a definite purpose.  I thought, perhaps I could make somethings and donate them to charity.  But what and to whom?  I started thinking.

My sorority visits a local women's shelter each month and in December hosts a Christmas party, complete with food, gifts, and a rousing, fun BINGO game (during which one of our members acts as the caller and is so good at it, I am convinced she moonlights in a BINGO hall after she leaves her professional day job).  Up to 20 women reside at the shelter, there for as many varied reasons, all trying to get themselves on their feet to live an independent life.  I thought it would be nice to share hand-made scarves with these women, something made with care that would not only provide them physical warmth, but a reminder that people do care for them and hope the best for them.  But that's a lot of scarves.

So I put out a call to some of my yarn-loving friends.  Its great when your friends are used to you coming up with grand ideas and then so willingly follow through with you.  They dug into their stash or bought new yarn and spent hours of their busy days making scarves.  Without any doubt, we ended up with 20 beautiful scarves for the women.  

And each year since then, sometime around Thanksgiving, we start again.  Last night, we got together to finish off the count, stitching fueled by caffeine and chocolate.  And, as we do every year, we vowed that we would start earlier next year.  By the end, we had 21 - enough for the women and an extra for the woman who manages the residence.  

We acknowledge that the scarves aren't a big thing, it won't change a life.  But sometimes, you just need to know that someone thought about you, someone wanted you to have something beautiful.  And that might be just enough to make someone smile.