Alabama Poetry Events

Hello world! Ramey and all the painted possums have been out of touch for a while! There has been a flurry of activity here in Possum World, now it's time to blog.

I sent ten poems to the Alabama State Poetry Society's spring contests. And this weekend I plan to attend the ASPS conference in beautiful Fairhope, Alabama, one of my favorite spots to visit.

Also, I have sent entries to the Alabama Writers' Conclave contests. The AWC conference is scheduled for the week-end of July 21st in Huntsville this summer, and I look forward to a trip up north for that event.

   ** One of the oldest writers' organizations in continuous existence in the United States. **

This is a busy time of year for Alabama writers.

Also, I'll soon have a big announcement concerning my book Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge. A new edition is soon to be available in ebook and paperback, and I'm working on the second in the Moonlight Ridge Series.

Picture Book Journey - The Long and the Short of It

I just entered one of my children's picture book manuscripts in the National Children's Book Award of the Year Contest, sponsored by the NAESP Foundation. My picture book manuscript, of course, features a possum!

I'm so excited about this manuscript and this contest! I wrote this story many years ago for my daughter, India Camille, when she was about three years old. She's all grown up now, and this is still one of my favorite stories. I've been working on illustrations and, I must say, the possum and his co-stars are enchanting!

The National Children's Book of the Year Award Contest is open to anyone who is interested in being a published children's book author. Two winners are picked: one picture book and one chapter book.

Outside the Magic Circle

For anyone interested in history, the history of the civil rights movement, especially in Alabama, and a look at the life of a Southern belle, this is a must read.

Virginia Foster Durr, born August 6, 1903, was a delightful, intelligent individual, a civil rights activist and lobbyist, and a talented writer. She was married to lawyer Clifford Durr, who shared her ideals, and she was sister-in-law of Supreme Court Chief Justice Hugo Black. Virginia Durr was a champion of civil rights, and close friends with Rosa Parks and Eleanor Roosevelt, with whom Mrs Durr worked closely in lobbying for legislation to abolish the poll tax, a device that kept black and white southerners from voting.

Outside the Magic Circle truly opens up a world we might otherwise never be privileged to witness, and does it so well that the reader will feel a part of Virginia Foster Durr's life and the historic events recounted in this book.

She was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 2006, seven years after her death.

Peter Matthiessen

Here's a marvelous picture of Peter Matthiessen, a fabulous writer, author of many, many books worth reading. Born in New York City in 1927, he was a founder of The Paris Review in 1950.

I first became acquainted with this author when I read his stellar book, In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, a look at the events surrounding the arrest and incarceration of American Indian activist Leonard Peltier, and chronicling the tumultuous history between the Sioux and the United States Government.

A lawsuit against the author and Viking Press by Bill Janklow, the former governor of South Dakota, kept the book from being sold to the public for eight years after its publication. The court ruled in favor of the author and the publisher.

Other notable books written by Mr. Matthiessen include At Play in the Fields of the Lord, The Tree Where Man Was Born, The Snow Leopard, Killing Mr. Watson, Indian Country, African Silences, Shadow Country, and many more.

An interview with Peter Matthiessen discussing his book, Shadow Country, can be found at www.charlierose.com/view/interview/9104

Steve McQueen

By the '70s, he was the highest paid actor in the world.

Here, he was just somebody's best friend.

Over the River and Through the Woods, to Aunt Suzie's House

Thanksgiving 2011 in Alabama was lots of fun! My sister, Susan, invited us to her house for a feast, and it was a great one. Yummy food, family, games and relaxation made the day a memorable delight.

Pictured above are the young set, who gave thanks and reveled enthusiastically, and who especially enjoyed the chocolate brownies. From left to right: Kendall, Kiley and Reed, pictured with Bentley the Bear.

I Made This

A while back I decided to make some changes in my kitchen/dining room decorating scheme. I had the world's heaviest kitchen table, which has been in my house for maybe 26 or 27 years, but no dining room table. So, I decided to paint my big country kitchen table, collect some assorted chairs to paint white, and use those in my dining room. The results are just what I was hoping for!

So, then I had no kitchen table! I did, however, have some white spindle-type table-leg-looking things that I had salvaged from my cousin's refuse pile by the side of the road. He had recently replaced his porch railing, and these were the throw aways.

So! It seemed plausible to me that having things that looked like kitchen table legs could easily be translated into having a table.

After much puzzling over planks and boards, after much measuring and marking and sawing and drilling, hammering, screwing and glueing, then painting... voila!

It's a table!

I would like to add that my daughter was especially pleased with my choice of placemats! But that was just for the picture.