As part of Governor Manchin's "Come Home to West Virginia" effort, our state's Wonderful West Virginia Magazine will be publishing a special "West Virginia Reunion" issue. As a West Virginia author, I was asked to share my thoughts on West Virginia and "coming home" to our beautiful state. This is what I wrote:
1. During the years we lived in Michigan, coming home to West Virginia meant singing “Oh, those hills, beautiful hills, how I love those West Virginia hills . . ." with my husband and our two children when we caught our first sight of the West Virginia hills as we were driving back home to visit my family in Weirton.
2. My favorite West Virginia reunion memory has to be plural. It is all of my high school reunions (Madonna High School, Class of 1966). As I look around at all of those faces, now beginning to grow old, I am always reminded of Willa Cather’s words of how “We possess together the precious, the incommunicable past.”
3. West Virginia’s best-kept secret is its fifty shades of springtime-green.
4. Even when I am away from West Virginia I feel its influence: The hills, the mountains -- it’s the land that always pulls me home. Of my books, my newest one, GOLDEN DELICIOUS: A CINDERELLA APPLE STORY, is an ideal “Homesick Remedy.” Why? Because it’s a fun, true story about the discovery of the Golden Delicious apple on Anderson Mullins’s Clay County farm. Kathleen Kemly’s beautiful illustrations will make you want to sink your teeth into one of those “gorgeous, glowing, golden apples.” No wonder Golden Delicious is our state fruit!
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Recently I did a program for parents on the importance of reading aloud. In that presentation, I stressed that reading-aloud ranks right up there with loving, feeding, and clothing their children. When my children were little, the best time of the day for me was at night when I sat in bed with them reading wonderful books. Now I look forward to doing that with my grandsons. Yesterday I found out that an Australian newspaper wrote an article "Young Reader Inspired by Famous Namesake" about my Australian cousin Anna Egan (who I wrote about in this post) and me. Here's a little bit of the article: I am often asked what compelled me to write a book about the Irish Saint Brigid. I am very interested in Celtic spirituality, in particular the early Irish saints. None is more appealing than St. Brigid, a woman of truly unique vision, personality, and spirit. It is quite possible that she founded the first monastery in Ireland, one that served as a model for those founded later for men. If not consecrated a bishop, Brigid certainly acted like one! Her life was a whirlwind of activity: acting as a champion of the poor, a healer, and a peacemaker in a violent time, all the while never once taking her mind from God, the source of all that she was and all that she accomplished. A wonderful pairing of my Golden Delicious book with a children's Golden Delicious tree care kit is now available from Stark Brothers nursery. How exciting! Here's an excerpt from an article published in the Charleston Gazette on Jan. 24, 2009: Apple books are popular for teachers to use in teaching students about science - especially during apple picking season. There is a wealth of across-the-curriculum teaching ideas & resources for teachers with activities for all grade levels at the www.usapple.org educators’ site and at www.nyapplecountry.com/edplansa.htm There is a direct connection between writing poetry and writing the text of a picture book. In both, every word has to be perfect. In many respects, I think writing a novel is easier. There is so much more room in which to work! GOLDEN DELICIOUS: A CINDERELLA APPLE STORY made its official Grand Debut at the West Virginia Book Festival in our state capital of Charleston. I was delighted with the response. After my slide presentation, both the WV Book Company and Borders sold out of their copies! Recently I had the pleasure of doing a presentation on my new book, GOLDEN DELICIOUS: A CINDERELLA APPLE STORY at the Mary H. Weir Public Library in Weirton, WV. It was great to be back in my hometown where I also spent a day at St. Joseph the Worker Elementary School sharing my books with the students and doing a poetry workshop with the 8th Graders. The teachers went all out, wearing apple motif pins and vests, and the walls of the hallway were filled with delightful artwork done by students in response to my various books. There was even a delicious apple cake in the teacher's lounge. What a memorable school visit. Thank you St. Joe's! A month ago I received her delightful e-mail that said: |
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April 2017
Anna Smucker
My blog used to live at blogspot, but I've integrated it into my new site. I am an author and presenter. Thanks for visiting! Categories
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