Sound the trumpets! Here’s something I never dreamed would happen to me: I’ve been awarded a writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts! Mike, Whitney and I take off today for a couple days vacation in Canada, and on Sunday morning Mike will rent a car and drive Whitney and me from Montreal to Johnson, Vermont. Thanks to fellow writer Jeff Flodin, who encouraged me to apply for this fellowship, I’ll be spending the entire month of April with 50 other poets, visual artists and writers at the Vermont Studio Center, where I hope to make some progress on a manuscript I’ve been working on.
That manuscript is about all I’ve learned leading memoir-writing classes for senior citizens here in Chicago, and I got the perfect sendoff yesterday afternoon: Chicago Public Radio aired a piece on All Things Considered featuring the writers in my Wednesday class. WBEZ has been doing a special series on what was going on in people’s lives the year they turned 25: scientific studies have shown that the frontal cortex area—which governs judgment, decision-making and impulse control—doesn’t fully mature until around age 25, which can make that year a transitional one for many people. After hearing a few Chicago celebrities interviewed on WBEZ about their 25th year, I assigned “Being 25” as a topic for my own celebrities, the writers in my classes. From the WBEZ web site:
In this installment of the Year25 series, WBEZ Producer/Reporter Lauren Chooljian visits a memoir writing class for senior citizens at the Chicago Cultural Center.
Their assignment? To write 500 words about where they were at 25.
Lauren stopped by to hear their essays and talk to the students about their stories. She came to find out their teacher, writer Beth Finke, also had quite a story to tell about her 25th year. It was not only the year she was married, but it was the last year she could see. Finke has been completely blind since she was 26 years old.
Wedding day, July 28, 1984, photo by Rick Amodt
If you missed hearing the piece on the radio yesterday, never fear: you can still hear it online. Mike will fly home from Burlington this Sunday after dropping Whitney and me off in Vermont, and he has generously offered to keep up the Safe & Sound blog while I’m away. You’re in good hands.
All for now, folks: we gotta plane to catch!
Beth, that is so exciting!!!! I am so proudly you! You deserve that and so much more. I hope that you enjoy your time in Canada. I can’t wait to hear all about it. We will need a class to hear all about your experience there. Safe travels!!
I meant I am so proud of you. My auto correct got me!
I read the story and it is wonderful!! I can hear Wanda reading that… She is so amazing!!
Dear Beth
I wish you a very happy retreat with all those talented people in Vermont.
You deserve the best. And fond good wishes to Whitney.
Marion Karczmar
Dear Beth,
I wish you a very happy retreat with all those talented people in Vermont. You deserve the best.
Fond good wishes to you and Whitney,
Marion Karczmar
Have fun in Montreal you guys. we will be like ships passing as we go through o’hare today to Singapore. we mailed a tape yesterday. Good luck with your next book. Much love to you both. pick and Hank
Wow! Congratulations, Beth! Have a wonderful time in Montreal.
Congratulations!
Congrats Beth! That is quite an accomplishment and you deserve it! Enjoy your month in Vermont!
My son, Jude Tucker, is in a Science Research program at his high school, and he just did a review of three different case studies on the development of the Frontal Cortex in teenagers. His review showed that our most vivid memories are from things that happened to us between 15 and 25. He focused specifically on music and how the music we love during this time period often ends up being the music we love and call “our own” for the rest of our lives. It’s certainly true for me. Beth, have a great time in Vermont!
Let’s see. Todd Rundgren, Jackson Browne, Stevie Wonder, English Beat, Warren Zevon…it all makes sense now. I totally agree, Francine, and what a cool research project for J.T. to do. Thanks to all the rest of you for your flattering comments and good wishes, too. I really am turning off my computer now to head to the Blue Line el stop with Whitney and Mike — we’re off to O’Hare!
Congratulations Beth. An NEA grant is such a huge honor. If you even needed validation – this would be it!
A little validation never hurts, does it? THANKS, Charlie!
Beth–Huge congratulations on everything you do. I hopped in my car yesterday and guess whose familiar voice I heard on NPR? What a happy surprise and such a day brightener. The stories of your students always put my own life in perspective. I want to be like the women in your class when I grow up! What an amazing group. Your fellowship is so deserved and I look forward to reading more of your work. I am not sure many people can move from writing memoirs, to children’s books, to non-fiction, but you do it all with great humor.
What a coincidence — I want to be like those senior writers when I grow up, too.
Beth, it was great to hear all the ladies voices – including yours! I’m so lucky to have participated in that class. The pictures posted from your wedding are great. You guys look just the same. Luck and love!
Beth, that’s fantastic! Gazillion congratulations! I am so happy for you and can’t wait to read about what you did, learned, experienced, etc. I’ll try not to turn too green with envy (thought I’d throw that color thing in there as a coda to the DTC project).
Have a wonderful, productive time. Deb
Have a great trip! Love ya. NB, SB and HK
Congratulations!! We can’t wait to hear about your adventures. Chris and Larry and Harper
Hey Beth, Congratulations on coming to Vermont. Bet you can smell the sugarhouses boiling maple sap.
The VSW program is terrific. Hope you get a lot done and have a wonderful time. Betsy Folwell
Beth,I was in my car
listening to NPR and I just happened to hear the promo for the Memoir Writing class piece on age 25. I got home just in time to listen to it. It wonderful to hear Wanda, Nancy W. and Hanna speaking about age 25. We are a great group and now we are famous. Have a wonderful time on your current adventure.
So sorry I missed the NPR broadcast of our group. Beth, I’m already missing you! Enjoy your journey!
We are a great group, and just one correction to that WBEZ story: the Nancy on air is not “Nacy W.,” it’s Nancy Kohler. She is such a sweetie that I bet she’d never bother making the correction.
I heard the piece on BEZ! As soon as I heard “memoir writing” and Cultural Center, I knew it was your class. And congrats on your fellowship! Sounds like a wonderful opportunity to interact in a creative environment and delve into your manuscript work. Enjoy!
Perfect sendoff for your month in Vermont. I can’t wait to hear about it. Enjoy!
Am posting this comment from my private writing studio at Vermont Studio Center, where I am, quite literally, still “feeling” my way around. You can look forward to guest posts from Mike for updates, and in the meantime THANK YOU ALL for your positive comments, they buoy me in my moments of doubt!
Beth- Congratulations. Enjoy Vermont! Johnson is such a great place. I attended a conference at Johnson State more than a few years ago and fell in love with the area. Write lots.
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