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In This Issue:
When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It
Wordsmith Ben Yagoda Takes a Lively Look at Language
by Allan Loudell
 Adjectives,
adverbs, articles. Conjunctions, interjections, prepositions. Nouns,
pronouns, verbs. When Ben Yagoda, professor of English and journalism at the
University of Delaware, explores the parts of speech, you will discover they
can be far more interesting than you may have imagined. “What is
interesting,” he says, “are words, phrases, and sentences that transcend
their meaning — because they're smart, funny, well-crafted, pungent,
unexpected, or sometimes wrong in just the right way." If you love language,
and if you render it on paper, over the airwaves or in cyberspace, be sure
to join us at the Hockessin Public Library on Monday, October 6, at 7 p.m.
Conveying a sense of the beauty and, especially, the fun of language, Yagoda
will dole out some good advice from the likes of Mark Twain ("When you catch
an adjective, kill it"), Stephen King ("I
 believe
the road to hell is paved with adverbs"), and Gertrude Stein ("Nouns . . .
are completely not interesting"). He’ll examine how a single word can shift
from adverb ("I did okay"), to adjective ("It was an okay movie"), to
interjection ("Okay!"), to noun ("I gave my okay"), to verb ("Who okayed
this?"), depending on its use. And, best of all, you’ll find out how to
avoid being a grammar dork (hint: do NOT say "This is she," when you're
answering the phone).
Yagoda also promises to critique the news media's use of language,
especially during this political year.
During a 14-year career as a freelance writer, Yagoda’s byline appeared in
the pages of publications such as the American Scholar, Boulevard,
the Columbia Journalism Review, Dissent and
Esquire. Along the way, he worked as an editor/writer at New
Jersey Monthly and Philadelphia Magazine and did a
stint as a movie critic at the Philadelphia Daily News.
He now spends most of his writing time on books, which you can read about on
his Web site. Author of
nine books — ranging from the eponymous biography of Will Rogers to About
Town (the history of The New Yorker), and from The Sound on the
Page: Style and Voice in Writing to When You Catch an Adjective, Kill
It: The Parts of Speech, for Better and/or Worse — Yagoda has received
generous critical acclaim. He currently is working on a book on the history
of memoir and autobiography.
Ben Yagoda has been teaching journalism in the English Department at UD
since 1992 and helped inaugurate a journalism minor there in 2007.
We will meet at the newly renovated Hockessin Public Library, 1023 Valley
Road, Hockessin, where there is a large, lighted parking lot. Plan to arrive
by 7 p.m. The talk will get underway by 7:15 p.m. Light refreshments will
be served. The meeting is free and open to the public.
Directions to the Hockessin Public Library:
From Route 141, turn onto the Lancaster Pike (Route 48 N.). Turn left
if you’re coming from I-95, Newport; right if coming from Wilmington,
Concord Pike. Go 6 miles to Valley Road (just past the traffic light at
Yorklyn Road) and turn left. The library, at 1023 Valley Road, will be on
your left in a tenth of a mile.
From Newark, go west on E. Main to N. College Ave. Turn right, and in
0.2 mi., turn right onto Cleveland. In 0.4 mi., turn left onto Paper Mill
Road and travel 5.6 mi. to Limestone Road (Route 7 N.). Turn left and take
Limestone Road 1.8 mi. to Valley Road. Turn right and watch for the library
on your right, at 1023 Valley Road, in just over a mile.
Please Register
To ensure enough seating, please let us know by October 1 if you’ll be
coming. Guests are welcome.
Please send: 1) your name, 2) guests’ names and 3) a phone number to
DelawarePress@aol.com.
Allan Loudell is the DPA Programs Vice President. For more information,
contact Allan at 302-478-2700 or
aloudell@wdel.com.
^Top
President’s Corner: How I Got Here
by Mark Fowser
It began
way, way back when music was played on AM radio. I’d listen to the “boss
jocks” in Philadelphia and late at night tune in to broadcasts from
then-exotic locations like Boston, Buffalo and Windsor, Ontario. Over the
years, I was able to pull in sports events and newscasts from all over the
country, learned more about local stations and networks, and got myself
ready for a career in broadcast journalism.
Years later, here I am — working as program manager for 1450 WILM Newsradio,
one of the stations I used to listen to, as a kid, for school closings.
It is my honor and privilege to be President of Delaware Press Association.
As it turns out, it will be a history-making tenure. I am the first man
since our founding — as Delaware Press Women in 1977 (name changed in 1997)
— to hold the position of DPA President. Finally, the “glass ceiling” has
been broken.
The true
trailblazers, however, have come before me: those who had the vision to
recognize the need in Delaware for a networking association, an advocacy
group, an outlet for creativity, a conduit for an awards competition. Where
else can a broadcast journalist meet a poet, a marketing professional have a
discussion with a photographer, and an author interact with a journalism
teacher?
Over the
years the organization has grown from 35 members to nearly 200 and has
become one of the most active affiliates of the National Federation of Press
Women.
I took the
plunge into DPA at the invitation of Past President Theresa Medoff to join a
marketing committee to assess the changing needs of the organization and to
develop a plan to help promote the association. We also revised the mission
statement, which you can read on our Web site. From there came two years as
Treasurer and now, President.
But enough
about me. What about you?
-
Have
you entered the annual Communications Contest, a valuable opportunity to
compete in various print or electronic broadcasting categories, get feedback
from out-of-state communications professionals and receive recognition
by your professional peers?
-
Do you
attend our fine events throughout the year? These include four or five
meetings where outstanding speakers address communications issues that
are of interest to our diverse membership, and there’s always good
networking. Our activities include an annual picnic, outings, the
Holiday Luncheon in December and the annual Communications Contest
Awards Banquet in the spring.
-
Do you
write articles for our national award-winning e-newsletter, NewsBreak?
-
Have
you considered joining the DPA board? It’s a rewarding opportunity to
help shape the organization and to give back to your profession and your
community.
I welcome
your ideas, your questions, your concerns and your help. Please feel free to
e-mail me or call me. Really. I mean it.
And if
you’re a professional communicator but not yet a member, I invite you to
visit our
Web site and join today.
Mark Fowser is the program manager and morning news anchor at 1450 WILM
Newsradio. Contact Mark at 302-395-9857 or
markfowser@clearchannel.com.
^Top
NFPW Contest Results Great for
2008
DPA Winners Take 31 National Awards
by Annie Nefosky, DPA Communications Contest Director
 Delaware
Press Association shines once again in this year’s national communications
contest, sponsored by the National Federation of Press Women.
Of the 74 first-place entries in DPA’s 2008 Communications
Contest, 35 competed in the NFPW Communications Contest.
DPA members took first place in 13 categories, second place
in 13 categories, third place in three categories, and two DPA entries
received honorable mentions. The national awards will be presented during
NFPW’s annual communications conference, “Kickin’ Back in Idaho,” September
11–13, in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Congratulations to all who participated in the
DPA and NFPW contests. The results of both competitions are available
through the
Award Winners link in the contest section of the DPA Web site.
A lot of behind-the-scenes effort went into putting together
DPA’s 2008 Communications Contest: designing the call for entries, assigning
judges, recording the 292 entries, labeling them, mailing them to judges,
sorting through the results and then preparing the program booklet and
organizing the contest presentation for DPA’s annual meeting. It’s a lot of
work! And it would not have been possible without the help of several
dedicated members of Delaware Press Association.
I extend sincere gratitude to Contest Manager Claudia Young,
Contest Data Manager Dick Young and DPA Executive Director Katherine Ward.
The hours they put into this year’s contest are far too many to count, and
their organization, motivation and devotion are what helped make the contest
a success.
Contact DPA Contest Director Annie Nefosky at
annienefosky@yahoo.com.
^Top
First Amendment Matters
Senate Blocks Federal Shield Law Bill That Would Protect
Journalists, Sources
by Mary Lou Ponsell
 The
U.S. Senate struck a blow against Freedom of the Press on July 30 by failing
to move forward Senate Bill S. 2035 — the Free Flow of Information Act or
“the Shield Law” — which would establish protection for journalists and
their sources from prosecutors’ demands to reveal contacts’ identities.
Protection of sources — most often high-level government sources speaking on
background — became a nationally prominent issue in several high-profile
investigations and trials of the past few years.
In a 51–43 vote, the Senate refused to invoke cloture to end debate and move
the bill to a vote on the Senate floor. All but one of those who voted no
were Republicans. The one exception was Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
(D-Nev.). Among those voting yes, however, were Delaware Senators Joe Biden
and Tom Carper. Senators representing states contiguous to Delaware —
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland — also voted yes. Senator Arlen Specter
(R-Pa.), sponsor of S. 2035, stated: “If we are to have a free press, it is
necessary to protect the relationship between journalists and trusted
sources to whom journalists have promised confidentiality.”
The Senate vote came two days before Congress recessed for summer vacation
on August 1. The Senate reconvenes on September 15. Senators running for
reelection will be involved in campaigns through Election Day, November 4.
It is considered unlikely that the bill will be presented again until the
new Congress convenes in January 2009.
DPA members should take this opportunity to continue contact with Senators
Biden and Carper and to consider writing to other Senators, including
Majority Leader Senator Reid, to persuade them to support the bill. A list
of those voting for and against the bill is available on the Web site of the
Society for Professional
Journalists. The Web site also has a full report on the Senate action,
including a statement from Senator Specter on why he believes the
legislation should be enacted. Contact information for U.S. Senators, as
well as the status of bills, is available on the
Senate Web site. The
National Federation of Press Women, of which DPA is an affiliate, has been
and continues to be a strong advocate of passage of S. 2035. NFPW has issued
statements to all affiliates through its First Amendment Network Alert
system and maintains a strong lobbying presence on Capitol Hill to promote
legislation favoring our profession.
 DPA
members are strongly encouraged to take action in support of the Free Flow
of Information Act and to make their voices for Freedom of the Press heard
in Washington and around the world.
Mary Lou Ponsell is DPA’s First Amendment Network (FAN) Liaison. For
further information or to submit ideas for exploring issues related to
freedoms of the press and speech, contact Mary Lou at 302-478-5897 or
mlponsell@aol.com.
^Top
WordPlay . . . for Wordsmiths
by Bob Yearick
 Media
Matters
The recent on-stage tumble by Miss USA in the Miss Universe contest caused
one Philadelphia television anchor to observe: “If that happened to me, I
would have ran off the stage.” So we have yet another talking head who uses
“ran” where “run” is correct. Not even “The Gray Lady” — The New York
Times — is immune to the occasional grammar glitch. A recent story
contained this line: “He says he will try and meet the deadline.” We
don’t try and, we try to.
Doubling Up
Repeating forms of “to be” has become common in spoken English, and it
must stop, do you hear? It occurs in phrases like, “The reason is, is
because Congress . . .” or “What it was, was . . .” Unless you have a
sentence such as Bill Clinton's “It depends upon what the meaning of the
word ‘is’ is,” there is no need to repeat the verb. The cure: Simply
emphasize the word before “is” and pause after the verb where, if writing,
you would use a colon (“The reason is: Congress passed a tax cut.”).
Of course, understanding the rules of grammar also would help.
That Pesky Apostrophe
Apostrophe abuse is everywhere. Take, for instance, those wooden signs that
hang from porches and mailboxes announcing the name of the family living
there. If the family name is Smith, the sign should read simply “The
Smiths.” But most insist on inserting an apostrophe before the final s
(“The Smith’s”). That would work if, say, a single blacksmith lived there.
Others read “The Smiths’,” which is okay if — and this is a stretch — the
sign means the house is the possession of the Smith family.
Formality Follies
The stilted, repetitious language of some business letters is mind-boggling.
Take this example: “Please find enclosed a purchase order for seven (7)
computers at a cost of $750.00 each.”
Can we all agree to never, ever use the phrase “Please find enclosed” and
make it simply “enclosed”? And where and why did the practice start of
inserting a parenthetical numeral after a spelled-out number? (Seriously, if
anybody knows, get back to me.) And finally, there is zero need for the two
zeros after $750. They do nothing but create an opportunity for error. What
if the decimal point appears after the second zero? Does that mean the cost
of each computer is $7500? What if it’s missing altogether? Does the price
become $75,000? While common sense probably would lead the reader to the
correct figure, why take a chance on creating confusion? So, omit the zeros
after decimal points in dollar figures.
Send your pet peeves, suggestions and questions for WordPlay to:
allwriter@comcast.net.
And remember: Always write right — and tight.
Contact WordPlay columnist Bob Yearick at
allwriter@comcast.net.
^Top
Spotlight: Maria Stearns
The AB&Cs of Turning an “Extreme” Media Makeover into a
Smashing Success
by Lisa Wolfe
 You
know what it's like to have tough deadlines. Whether you're wrapping up your
annual report project to meet the SEC filing deadline or struggling to make
those last-minute edits before the final edition goes to press, you know
that adrenaline rush kicking in.
But what if you were faced with a deadline of the "extreme" kind? Just ask
Steve Anderson, who was approached by ABC-TV's “Extreme Makeover: Home
Edition” to construct not one, but two houses in 106 hours flat. It was an
opportunity of a lifetime, but Steve knew it would take a lot more than his
team at Middletown-based Anderson Homes to get the job done.
It wasn't just the insurmountable homebuilding obstacles stressing Steve.
How would he raise awareness of Anderson Homes' commitment to the project,
publicize the need for volunteers and donations, and create excitement about
the Emmy-winning show's first project in the First State? How would he
develop a media relations strategy and a Web site in less than two weeks?
Steve overcame his “extreme” stress with the help of Aloysius Butler &
Clark, a 37-year-old Wilmington agency team that takes pride in bringing a
“fresh perspective” to marketing communications. This project provided them
the perfect opportunity to showcase their capabilities at a national level.
“When Steve Anderson called, we were immediately on board,” said John
Hawkins, president and CEO of AB&C. “We were so proud to be a part of such a
great cause.”
AB&C's public relations team, led by newcomer (and new DPA member) Maria
Stearns, pulled together in three days what normally takes three weeks: they
compiled a regional database of media contacts; drafted press releases,
media advisories and fact sheets; were in constant communication with media;
held media training; and readied the team to coordinate interviews
throughout the seven-day project.
The PR team also worked with AB&C's digital team to create an
Anderson Homes
“Extreme Makeover” Web site with daily photo galleries from the build
site and a press center, where media could log in for daily press releases.
They collapsed an eight-week Web site building project into two — talk about
“extreme” stress!
“A better way to describe it was 'extreme’ excitement,” said Maria, then a
four-month AB&C veteran, who was tapped to lead the time-crunched initiative
because of her extensive national media relations and event-planning
experience.
 The
behind-the-scenes work in readying construction and communications ramp-up
meant keeping even the AB&C team in the dark on some of the details. “We
thought the homeowners on Clayton Street in Wilmington were competing for
the project with three other families in Delaware,” Maria said. “We didn't
know until Ty Pennington's ‘knock on the door’ that there were no others in
the running and that the Latif and Morgan families were the lucky families
all along!”
With that knock, the AB&C team launched into “extreme” action, generating
100 media placements in print, television and radio across three states.
Their efforts, which drove nearly 16,000 visitors from all 50 states to the
Web site, generated almost a quarter million page views. Most visitors
logged on to the Web site more than once and spent more than five-and-a-half
minutes on the site, to check out photo galleries and the daily blog. More
than 1,500 signed up to volunteer and to make donations. Thanks to the
outpouring of community support, the seven-day build went smoothly and was a
huge success.
When the dust of the blitz had settled, a new kind of community had been
built.
“The media did a fabulous job of expanding the story beyond the impact on
these two families,” said Maria. “They looked deeper at how this effort was
building a true feeling of community.”
Contact Lisa Wolfe, Director of Communications for the Delaware
Community Foundation, at lwolfe@delcf.org.
Contact Maria Stearns, Account Executive for Aloysius Butler & Clark, at
mstearns@a-b-c.com.
^Top
Spanish-language Media in
Delaware
Nancy Lopez Offers Strategic Media Services to Delaware’s
Hispanic Community
by Kay Wood Bailey
Editor’s note: This is the second article in a series on
the Spanish-language media in Delaware.
The presence and importance of the Hispanic population in Delaware is
growing rapidly. An article in the July 28 edition of The News Journal
states that according to the Inter-American Development Bank, “an estimated
44,000 Latin American immigrants live in the First State, up 45.5 percent
from 30,240 in 2006. The U.S. Census estimated the overall Hispanic
population in Delaware in 2007 at 56,152.”
 Nancy
Bastidas-Lopez, president and CEO of DelawareHispanic.com, has a mission: to
improve the quality of life for Hispanics in Delaware. She has done so by
founding a variety of strategic media services under the umbrella of
DelawareHispanic.com, including the bilingual Delaware Hispanic Yellow
Pages (the first Hispanic business directory in Delaware), the “Delaware
Hispanic Guide to Government,” and delawarehispanic.com, the first Hispanic
Internet magazine in Delaware.
Born in south Philadelphia to a mother and father who had come to the
United States from Puerto Rico as teenagers, Bastidas-Lopez says, “Although
my parents were hard working, service-oriented immigrants, they, like most
of their peers, did not consider education a priority. It was rough growing
up in that environment, and I had to find my own way through education and
self improvement.” She went to modeling school, became a cheerleader for the
Philadelphia Eagles, read a lot in English, attended college, and began to
serve the American-Latino community with her strong communications skills.
After years of experience in the radio and television markets of Wilmington
and Philadelphia and 10 years in public and constituent relations for Sen.
Margaret Rose Henry, of Wilmington, Bastidas-Lopez became well-known for her
creative organizational skills. She is still an anchor for 1450 WILM
Newsradio. Mark Fowser, WILM’s program manager, says she has “a passion for
the business and a passion for her business. She remains fair and
balanced as she brings attention to issues affecting Hispanics and the
immigrant community in Delaware: local politics, health care access, public
safety and crime, and international human rights concerns."
 Six
years ago, Bastidas-Lopez created the bilingual Internet magazine,
delawarehispanic.com, as a resource and inspiration for Latinos to pursue
their dreams. It has links to news for and about Hispanic businesses;
voting, legislation, and immigration issues; calendar listings; and more.
Bastidas-Lopez now puts a lot of her day-to-day focus on Delaware Hispanic
Yellow Pages. “This directory,” she says, “has helped Hispanics find and
patronize each other for our economic growth. It’s also a great way to unite
American and Hispanic cultures, because it helps government and the
nonprofit sector to have easy access to Latino businesses.”
A former delegate to the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute and a
member of the National Association of Women Business Owners, Bastidas-Lopez,
believes that it is important for the Spanish-speaking population to be
involved in the political scene, so she published the “Delaware Hispanic
Guide to Government” and, in 2006, co-founded the Delaware Latino Political
Action Committee.
Through her bilingual work and her efforts to be the eyes, ears — and
sometimes the voice — of Hispanics in Delaware, Nancy Bastidas-Lopez has
received many honors, including the 2004 Girls Incorporated “Smart, Strong
and Bold” Award, the 2005 Philadelphia Minority Women in Business Community
Service Award and an appointment by former Governor Tom Carper to the
Governor’s Advisory Council on Hispanic Affairs (GACHA). In 2007, she was
named the Delaware Minority Small Business Champion of the Year by the U.S.
Small Business Administration. Recently, she was named a 2007–2009 Honorary
Commander of the Dover Air Force Base.
A Directory of Spanish-language Services (List provided by
delawarehispanic.com)
Note: See the April 2008 DPA NewsBreak for a
directory of Spanish-language publications.
Watch for a directory of Spanish-language radio and television stations and
programs in November.
Hispanic Internet magazine
Nancy Bastidas-Lopez, President and CEO
Phone: 302-229-9681
E-mail:
delaware@delawarehispanic.com
On the Web:
delawarehispanic.com
Latin Night Life and Latin Dancing Web site
Phone: 302-373-9073
E-mail: ur@ritmosunidos.com
On the Web:
RitmosUnidos.com
HOLA
University of Delaware Hispanic Events Web site
Trabant University Center, Room 232
Newark, DE 19716
Phone: 302-831-0710
E-mail: holaboard0708@yahoo.com
On the Web: udel.edu/stu-org/hola
Delaware Hispanic.com Yellow Pages
Hispanic Business Directory
P.O. Box 423
New Castle, DE 19720
Phone: 302-229-9681
On the Web:
delawarehispanic.com (click on DH Yellow Pages)
Los Angeles, Inc.
Marketing Agency
P.O. Box 26212
Wilmington, DE 19899
Phone: 302-762-6465
Fax: 302-762-4686
E-mail: lainc@comcast.net
Kay Wood Bailey, President of A.B.C. Consulting
Services, Inc., is a former president of Delaware Press Association and was
the DPA and NFPW 2002 Communicator of Achievement. Contact Kay at
KWBailey@harringtonera.com.
^Top
DPA Welcomes New Members
 DPA
extends a warm welcome to each of our new members. Any new members whose
contact information has not been included in the online DPA Membership
Directory, please click here and ask for directions:
DelawarePress@aol.com.
Chelsea Caltuna –
ccaltuna13@yahoo.com
Journalism student, University of Delaware
Bob DiIorio –
diiorio@udel.edu
Video producer, University of Delaware Information Technologies – University
Media Services
Rose DiLeva, DVM –
rosiembud@aol.com
Editor, The Meridian, official publication of the American Academy of
Veterinary Acupuncture
Kathi Lehmer –
trinkafivefilms@comcast.net
Filmmaker and owner of film production company Trinka Five Films
Maureen Lyons –
mlyons@aidsdelaware.org
Associate Director, AIDS Delaware
Walt Mateja –
wam@dca.net
Marketing and communications, strategic planning, still and video
photography
Patricia McDowell –
patsym54@yahoo.com
Part-time producer for ImmagineHDV.com / Program Director, National Alliance
on Mental Illness in Delaware
Jeanne Mell –
jmell@dscc.com
Senior VP of Communications, Delaware State Chamber of Commerce
Moira Sheridan –
masher9@juno.com
“Backyard Gardener” columnist, The News Journal
Beth Shockley –
elizabeth.shockley@state.de.us
Editor, Outdoor Delaware, Department of Natural Resources and
Environmental Control (DNREC)
Maria Stearns –
mstearns@a-b-c.com
Account executive, Aloysius Butler & Clark
Christine F. A. Weiss, CLVS, AOPA, NJSAR –
CFAproductions1@aol.com
Certified videographer, CFA Productions
^Top
DPA Media Mavens & Mavericks
The DPA Media Mavens column contains information about the
personal and professional achievements of our members. Names of new DPA
members featured in this column are starred.
Please send any information about your honors, achievements and awards to
delawarepress@aol.com by the 1st of any month for
publication in the next issue.
DPA members featured in this issue:
-
Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt
-
Chelsea Caltuna *
-
Rita Farrell / Katherine Ward
-
Roxane Ferguson
-
Bridget Gillespie-Paverd
-
Barry MacMonegle / Kathi Lehmer* / Patricia McDowell*
-
Lynn Maniscalco
-
Sandra Michel / Jean Herman
-
Roy Podorson
-
John Watson
-
Bob Yearick
• Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt has written several
award-winning books, including You Think It's Easy Being the Tooth Fairy?,
which took a first in the 2008 NFPW Communications Contest and has now sold
more than 12,000 copies! She also pens features and profiles of people and
places for businesses, Web sites and publications, including American
Profile, Family Circle, Ladies' Home Journal and
The Washington Post. Sheri says she now writes two blogs. One,
a writer blog, is
Write On!
The other, which she describes as “my ramblings as a pastry student,” is
Pastry
Student: Rising Like Dough.
Contact Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt at
Sheri@Bell-Rehwoldt.com.
• New member Chelsea Caltuna, who recently has begun
a course of journalism studies at the University of Delaware, has written a
collection of short stories for FictionPress.com and is working on her first
full-length story, “Something Like Fate,” which also is posted on the site.
She is a beta reader for FictionPress and says that she "enjoys editing and
is eager to help anyone who needs it."
Visit
Chelsea's Web page.
Contact Chelsea Caltuna at
ccaltuna13@yahoo.com.
• Rita Farrell, president of the Delaware Coalition
for Open Government (DELCOG), and Katherine Ward, DELCOG membership
director, attended the two-day national Freedom of Information Summit,
sponsored by the National
Freedom of Information Coalition (NFOIC), in Philadelphia in May.
Ted Gup, former investigative reporter, author and Professor of
Journalism at Case Western Reserve University, gave Friday’s keynote address
about the dangers of America being a nation of secrets. On Saturday,
keynoter
Toni Locy, Professor of Journalism at West Virginia University, spoke
about the need for journalists to fight for a national shield law. A former
reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News, Boston Globe,
Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report and
Associated Press, Locy has been in the news and was threatened with enormous
fines for refusing to reveal her sources for articles about the 2001 anthrax
attacks. Read about these talks and about many of the conference sessions,
including “FOI Reform Efforts, Rewriting Your State’s Laws?,” “Wikis,
Podcasts and Blogs, Oh My!” and “ID Theft” at
News from the Summit.
Contact Rita Farrell at
ritakfarrell@earthlink.net.
Contact Katherine Ward at KatWard1@aol.com.
• DPA treasurer Roxane Ferguson is serving on the
planning committee and doing publicity for the 18th annual Dave Tiberi Youth
Center Charity Championship golf outing. The funds raised at this event will
support the Youth Center’s work with at-risk youth in Wilmington, including
one-on-one mentoring, tutoring and homework help, recreational activities
and character development. The event takes place Monday, October 20, at
Delaware National Country Club. If you’d like to play in the outing, you can
register
online.
And, if you’d like to be an event sponsor, please contact
Roxane at 302-656-6050.
Contact Roxane Ferguson at
rferguson@diamondtechnologies.com.
• GillespieHall (GH), the Philadelphia-based PR firm
co-owned by Bridget Gillespie-Paverd, has been behind the scenes for
3 years, pushing for a comprehensive Clean Indoor Air Law for Pennsylvania.
“Our client, PACT (Pennsylvania Alliance to Control Tobacco), got their law
by working hard alongside national nonprofits like American Lung Association,”
Bridget says. “We will continue to work purposefully to protect all
Pennsylvanians from the dangers of secondhand smoke.” All the new law
implementation materials to be used by business owners throughout the state
have been designed by GH — everything from NO SMOKING signs to broadcast
PSAs. Bridget adds, “This has been a major project, but everyone is pleased
to see a law ready to be implemented Sept 11, 2008.”
Contact Bridget Gillespie-Paverd at
bridget@bgpublicity.com.
• When award-winning videographer and owner of Immàgine
Studios Barry MacMonegle heard that the Dalai Lama would be visiting
the Kalmyk Buddhist temple in Philadelphia in July, he invited filmmakers
Kathi Lehmer and Patricia McDowell, both new DPA members, to
film with him. “How could we not do this? [It’s] something that matters very
much to this group of people — and it’s something we will remember the rest
of our lives,” Barry remarked to Gary Soulsman of The News Journal.
“And when we post our footage online, Mongolians and Tibetans around the
world will be able to connect with this event.” Kathi added, “It was one of
the most memorable days of my life.” Read Gary’s article, “Revered
teacher helps pass on Buddhism,” published in the July 21, 2008, issue
of The News Journal and picked up by the Associated Press. Visit
Barry’s
Web site.
Pat works part time as a producer for
ImmagineHDV.com
doing background research, location and release management, set decoration,
makeup and microphone, camera operation and still photography for the Web.
For several weeks before the Dalai Lama visited, she photographed repairs
and cleanup at the Kalmyk Temple in preparation for the big day. “To be in
the presence of His Holiness was extremely moving,” she says. “Young and
old, Tibetan and Mongolian, monks, lamas, families — everyone was deeply
affected.”
Program Director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness
in Delaware (NAMI-DE), Pat works with people who have severe and persistent
mental illnesses and with their family members and loved ones. She develops
education programs and support groups throughout the state, organizes the
newsletter and is "staff photographer,” covering NAMI-DE events and
activities. For NAMI National, she is a National Trainer, traveling to
states throughout the country to teach people living in recovery with a
mental illness how to facilitate a weekly support group.
Kathi owns a film production company, Trinka Five Films.
After years of living in New York City and Philadelphia, she has made
Wilmington her home and the setting for many of her films. She wrote,
directed and produced a comedy, Mama and Damian, which played to a
packed house and won “Best of the Fest” at the 2007 Newark Film Festival.
Along with her fictional works, she has made several “mini-documentaries,”
as she calls them, three of which were featured at the 2008 Goodwill Awards.
“Wilmington and the surrounding areas are ideal for an independent filmmaker
because they are close to every major East Coast city,” she says.
“Wilmington is a beautiful city, very photogenic: there are tall buildings,
parks, stunning architecture everywhere.” Kathi currently is in
pre-production on her latest project, Mortal, a vampire film that
will be set in Wilmington and will feature local actors. Visit her Web site
at
www.trinkafivefilms.com.
Contact Barry MacMonegle at
bmacmonegle@yahoo.com.
Contact Kathi Lehmer at
kathi@trinkafivefilms.com.
Contact Patricia McDowell at
patsym54@yahoo.com.
• Lynn Troy Maniscalco was one of six local women
whose photographs were featured in an exhibit at the Grand Opera House in
June, with a June 6 Art Loop opening reception. Lynn also chaired the 2008
Photographic Society of America Photojournalism Slide competition, which
drew 300 entries from twelve countries and was judged in Delaware on July
28. Three invited judges selected the medal winners and 100 other
outstanding images, which Lynn assembled into a show and presented at the
annual PSA conference held in Portland, Oregon, Aug. 31–Sept. 6.
Contact Lynn Maniscalco at
LTMphoto@juno.com.
• When the National League of American Pen Women — the
oldest national organization of female writers, artists and musicians in the
United States — named new officers in June, four Delaware women were among
them. N. Taylor Collins, of Dover, is the new president. Her goal is to
“increase membership, deliver scholarships, raise funds and digitize” much
of the operation of the national organization. Two DPA members will be
helping her realize those goals. DPA founding member Sandra Michel,
who is a freelance writer, author, poet and one of the first Delaware poets
in Delaware’s Artist-in-Schools residency program, is the new NLAPW second
vice president. Jean Hull Herman, who has received nominations for
the prestigious Pushcart Prize each of the past two years for her
award-winning poetry, served as editor of Pen Woman magazine for the last
several years and has turned that job over to Ann Rosati, of Millsboro, in
order to serve as NLAPW ethics chairwoman.
Contact Sandra Michel at
sandramichel@verizon.net.
Contact Jean Herman at
jherman007@aol.com.
• It’s official! Through Team Bank of America, DPA secretary
Roy Podorson, the bank’s AVP and senior art director, has received
the President’s Volunteer Service Award — presented by the White House — for
more than 200 hours of community service in 2007. Roy’s wide-ranging
community service extends to the WILMAPCO PAC committee representing the
City of Wilmington, The Midtown Brandywine Neighbors Association, the
American Cancer Society, Pet Awareness Days, the Delaware Chapter of the
National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the New Castle County Chamber of
Commerce.
Contact Roy Podorson at
Roy.Podorson@bankofamerica.com or
rpodorson@iglide.net.
• John Watson, host of “NewsTalk-AM” on 1450 WILM
Newsradio, attended the unveiling and dedication of the Civil Rights
Memorial on the Virginia State Capitol grounds in Richmond, July 20–21. The
monument was dedicated in honor of those who led the student strike for
desegregation at Robert R. Moton High School, in Farmville, Va., in 1951;
those who were denied an education for five years when the school board
closed the schools rather than desegregate; and those who fought to change
the law.
John was a member of the Student Strike Committee, led by
16-year-old Barbara Johns, at Moton High School. He also was a student
litigant in the 1952 U.S. District Court case, Davis v. County School
Board of Prince Edward County, seeking integration of the public
schools. That case, together with similar cases from four other states,
including Delaware (Belton v. Gebhart), became the 1954 Brown v.
Board of Education Supreme Court case, which struck down the doctrine of
“separate but equal” with the unanimous decision “to admit the parties to
these cases to public schools on a racially nondiscriminatory basis with all
deliberate speed.”
For more on John's experiences,
read his
blog on the WILM Personality Page.
Contact John Watson at
jwatson@wilm.com.
• Bob Yearick, a board member of the Delaware
Literary Connection, was the featured reader at Second Saturday Poets on
July 12 at Genelle’s Restaurant, in Wilmington. Bob read selections from his
novel, Sawyer (Bay Oak Publishers, 2007), essays published in Out & About
Magazine, and his short story, “The River,” published in the September
2007 edition of The Broadkill Review. Two weeks later Nancy
Karibjanian, of WHYY TV 12, interviewed Bob on the Newsmakers segment of
“Delaware Tonight” about his "War on Words" column for Out & About. A
freelance writer for Delaware Today and an editor of Out & About,
Bob was an editor for the DuPont Company for more than 30 years.
Bob’s popular NewsBreak column,
WordPlay, has been picked up by NFPW and will run in AGENDA, the
quarterly newsletter of the National Federation of Press Women.
Contact Bob Yearick at
allwriter@comcast.net
^Top
DPA Reports on the Common Wealth Awards
Science, Mass Communications, Dramatic Arts, Government
Editor's Note: The Common Wealth Awards —
presented annually by PNC Bank at the Hotel du Pont in Wilmington — honor
distinguished service to humanity in the fields of literature, public
service, science and invention, sociology, government, dramatic arts, and
mass communications. This year's recipients, sharing a prize of $200,000,
were Glenn Close, award-winning actress (Emmy, Golden Globe, Tony), for
Dramatic Arts; John Howard, former four-term prime minister of Australia,
for Government; Ann Curry, veteran broadcast journalist, for Mass
Communications; and climatologist James Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard
Institute for Space Studies, for Science.
Dr. James E. Hansen: Expert Climatologist Explains Planet
Earth’s Tipping Point
by John David Lake
Imagine a world-renowned climate scientist telling a highly
respected investigative news journalist that we have about two years to “get
on a different path” and begin to reverse the damaging effects of global
warming or else reach the tipping point and face dire consequences.
 That
is exactly what happened when Ann Curry, news anchor of NBC’s Today
and co-anchor of Dateline NBC, posed the question “What’s the window
. . . decades?” to Dr. James Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute
for Space Studies, at the 2008 Common Wealth Awards last April.
Since then, more than 100,000 viewers in 65 countries have
watched Ann Curry’s stunned reaction as Dr. Hansen, in only a few minutes,
explains that unless we can “draw down” the amount of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere from 385 to 350 parts per million (ppm), we will have caused
irreversible damage to the earth. He also made the point several times that
the U.S. needs to step up and take the lead.
The US government, however, has tried several times to
stifle the studies and outcome of its own expert, but Dr. Hansen refuses to
give up on the inhabitants of the earth. By speaking out, he helps people
understand how to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and make our planet
livable for generations to come.
Dr. Hansen’s short but powerful “350” video message was
taped, edited and produced by DPA members John Lake, Lori Lake, Patricia
Lake and Christine Weiss of GreenTV. The video is viewed by more people each
day, and millions around the earth are rallying together in organizations
such as Green Drinks International and
350.org.
Watch the James Hansen / Ann Curry “350” video now.
The video also can be viewed and shared free on the home
page of GreenTV.com or
by calling 302-239-5253.
Ann Curry: Distinguished NBC Reporter / Anchor
by Bill Lindsey
 Ann
Curry, who has been the news anchor for NBC’s Today show since 1997
and the co-anchor of Dateline NBC since May 2005, was honored with
the Common Wealth Award for excellence in mass communications.
Curry has traveled the globe to tell stories of humanitarian
crises in Darfur, Chad and Kosovo; to file reports from Iraq, Qatar and
Kuwait as the war with Iraq got underway; and to discuss women’s rights and
education when traveling throughout Africa with First Lady Laura Bush. For
several weeks following the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center,
she reported daily from ground zero.
The winner of countless awards for distinguished reporting,
it was Curry who asked the killer question during the Q&A session at the
Common Wealth Awards press conference. When fellow honoree James Hansen,
director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and preeminent
climate scientist was speaking about how to reduce the amount of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere before we reach “tipping points” and it’s too late
to avert a crisis without geoengineering solutions, she queried: “What’s the
window . . . decades?” Hansen’s wake-up call reply: “No. We need to get on a
different path (stop building coal-fired power plants that don’t capture
pollution) within the next couple of years.”
See the video of this conversation.
Glenn Close: Award-winning Actress
by Roy Podorson
 The
format of this year’s hour-long press conference featured the four
distinguished honorees sitting together for the presentation and a
traditional question and answer period without the accustomed breakout
sessions. It was a little tougher to get a question in. Eventually, I was
able to ask award-winning actress Glenn Close, 61, a two-part question.
"Ms. Close, you grew up in Africa and Switzerland while your
father, a doctor, maintained a clinic in the Belgian Congo: How did that
influence your acting career? And how does your daughter, with whom you have
a strong bond, feel about a career as an actress?”
She paused before saying: “You raise a question that is so
big I can hardly begin to talk about it. My father was in a cult. It is
something that we never talk to the press about and never really discuss
amongst our family.”
Ms. Close spoke with enthusiasm about her nineteen-year-old
daughter and only child, Annie: “I haven’t given up hope that she and l
someday will share a soundstage. I've never been able to understand why some
people do something for their whole life and then decide that they don't
want their kids to do it. I've had a fantastic life in this industry. I
can't think of a more exciting thing for my daughter to do.”
John Howard: Former Australian Prime Minister, Pragmatic
Reformer
by Jean Lamensdorf
 John
Howard, Australia’s tough, hard-talking former prime minister and my fellow
countryman (we once lived on the same Sydney street), is best known as
Australia’s second-longest-serving Prime Minister.
A pragmatic reformer, Mr. Howard led the Liberal Party of
Australia (a conservative party with, perhaps, a confusing name) for 16
years. During his four terms in office, Australia experienced continued and
strong economic growth. Inheriting a heavy budget deficit from his
predecessors, Mr. Howard eliminated the deficit. Ten of the twelve annual
budgets produced by the Howard government during its almost twelve years in
government were in surplus.
Another of Mr. Howard’s noteworthy accomplishments while in
office was the development of a strong export relationship with China.
Ironically, Mr. Howard was defeated in a 2007 election by Mandarin-speaking
former diplomat Kevin Rudd.
It is not widely known that Australia has been the United
States’ closest ally for the past sixty years. Mr. Howard’s government
continued that friendship between our countries. Australia’s forces continue
to serve today alongside American and coalition forces in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Contact videographer John Lake at
ME@GreenTV.com.
Contact photographer Bill Lindsey at
bill@lindseystudio.com.
Contact Bank of America art director Roy Podorson at
rpodorson@iglide.net.
Contact author Jean Lamensdorf at
jlamensdorf@comcast.net.
^Top
Bidding Adieu to Sally Rinard, 1997
DPA COA
 Sally
S. Rinard, journalist, author, poet, movie critic and the 1997 Delaware
Press Association Communicator of Achievement, died June 11 after a
year-long struggle with T-cell lymphoma. A longtime DPA board member, Sally
served as director of publicity and vice president of programs. She won
numerous awards at the state and national level through annual
communications contests sponsored by DPA and the National Federation of
Press Women. In 1995, she was instrumental in the founding of the Delaware
Literary Connection and served as DLC's director for many years. She also
was a member of the Diamond State Branch, National League of American Pen
Women.
Sally’s personal and professional creed, “Do not give people what you think
they want. Give them what they do not expect,” was reflected in her life and
in her writing. Of writers, she said: “Through our own unique pursuit of
syntax, of essay, we summon our powers, chase that story and open the
windows of our soul. We are sturdy warriors who tell it like it is, standing
alone if we must.”
In New York in the ’70s and ’80s, she was a star reporter for the “Eye” page
of Women's Wear Daily, covering business, fashion and the New York social
scene. While working as market editor and social reporter, she interviewed
presidents of Fortune 500 companies, designers Bill Blass, Givenchy and
Ralph Lauren, and celebrities such as John Updike, Henry Kissinger, Barbara
Walters, Nancy Reagan and Jackie O. She freelanced for McCall's, the
New York Daily News Sunday Magazine and Baltimore
magazine. A published poet, Sally also wrote a novel, Pretensions,
that earned a hardcover book club sale as well as paperback publication. Her
book reviews appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer, WWD and
Wilmington's
News Journal.
In Wilmington, she wrote feature articles, cover stories and the “Gabby”
gossip column for Delaware Today and was a contributing writer
and movie critic for Out & About Magazine. Bob Yearick, O&A
associate editor, said in the tribute to Sally in the magazine’s July 2008
issue, “Each month she worked her verbal magic anew in our Cinema column.
Sprinkled with literary, artistic and culinary allusions, as well as the
occasional foreign phrase, her reviews enthralled a loyal readership who
read her not so much to decide which movies to see, but to revel in her
sumptuous, soaring prose.”
In the O&A farewell, author and playwright Drury Pifer added, “Like
Shakespeare’s fairy Queen Mab, Sally always seemed to me a work of art,
composed of gossamer and light. She was fascinating, unique, irreplaceable,
much to be missed.”
^Top
Calendar of Events
SEPTEMBER
11 Poetry At The Beach: Shelly Grabel, Martin Galvin and
Gary Hanna, 7 p.m., Lewes Public Library, 111 Adams at Kings Hwy.,
Lewes. 302-654-2733. Poetry At The Beach is a reading series now in its
third year. The program is sponsored by the South Coastal Library (Bethany
Beach), Rehoboth Beach Public Library, and the Lewes Public Library, and
funded in part by the Delaware Division of the Arts. Event is free of
charge. For more details, please see the
Rehoboth Art League Web site.
11–13 NFPW/MNI Communications Conference: “Kickin’ Back
in Idaho.” Shilo Inn, Idaho Falls, Idaho, doorway to Yellowstone
National Park and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. For full info (speakers, workshops,
tours) and to register, visit
NFPW Conference
Registration.
22 Philadelphia Speakers Series: Steve Forbes,
Editor-in-Chief, Forbes magazine and former presidential candidate.
CEO of Forbes, Inc. and an expert economist, he explores complex
business issues and has been a longtime proponent of the flat tax. Presented
by Widener University at the Kimmel Center, 260 S. Broad Street on the
Avenue of the Arts, Philadelphia. 8 p.m.
Click here
for further information or to order tickets.
OCTOBER
01 DPA Board Meeting, 6:30 p.m., Methodist Country
House (Sterling Conference Room), 4830 Kennett Pike, Wilmington.
02 “Introduction to Elements Software” is a series of
10 weekly sessions for photographers who are new to digital photography and
want to learn how to change their images. Sponsored by the Delaware
Photographic Society and made possible in part by a grant from the Delaware
Division of the Arts, the classes will be held at the Edgemoor Community
Center, 500 Duncan Road, Suite A, Fox Point, Wilmington, beginning on
Thursday, October 2, at 7 p.m. No registration required. The series is free.
For more info, call 302-368-1089.
06 DPA Meeting: “When You Catch an Adjective, Kill it:
Wordsmith Ben Yagoda Takes a Lively Look at Language,” 7 p.m., Hockessin
Public Library, 1023 Valley Road, Hockessin. Ben Yagoda, author and
professor of English and journalism at the University of Delaware, will give
a humorous talk, based on his book of the same name, on why the parts of
speech are far more interesting than you may think. Free and open to the
public. See article in this newsletter for more
info and directions, or call 302-655-2175.
NOVEMBER
01 Delaware Book Festival, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., rain or
shine, in First State Heritage Park, 152 S. State Street, Dover (the
Legislative Mall and The Green). Meet more than 35 nationally recognized
authors and illustrators; learn how to write poetry, create a blog and get
published; discover how to repair and appraise books; children can see
favorite storybook characters and create fun crafts.
Get more Book Festival information.
13 DPA Meeting: “Beyond Passion: Getting Your Book
Published.” Panel discussion hosted by Delaware
Press Association. Moderator: Jean Lamensdorf (author, Write Home for Me).
Panelists: Nancy Lynch (author, Vietnam Mailbag), Larry Nagengast
(editor), Sara Garrison (media relations and marketing), Claudia Young (Bay
Oak Publishers). Kid Shelleen's, 1801 W. 14th Street. (14th and Scott),
Wilmington. Networking, light fare and cash bar: 6 p.m. Program: 7 p.m.
Cost: $12 members; $15 non-members. For more info, contact Katherine Ward:
302-655-2175 or DelawarePress@aol.com.
DECEMBER
01 Philadelphia Speakers Series: Garrison Keillor,
humorist and radio host of “A Prairie Home Companion.” Often referred to
as the “Mark Twain of our times,” he writes and hosts “A Prairie Home
Companion,” which is heard weekly on National Public Radio. Presented by
Widener University at the Kimmel Center, 260 S. Broad Street on the Avenue
of the Arts, Philadelphia. 8 p.m.
Click here
for further information or to order tickets.
06 DPA Holiday Luncheon. Details will be published in
November NewsBreak.
07 Tenth Annual John Milton Memorial Celebration of Poets
and Poetry, John Milton & Co. Book Shop, Milton, Delaware. This year’s
event includes the dedication of a life-size statue of John Milton, by
artist-sculptor Paul Rendel, in the afternoon in Mill Park. The Milton
Community Foundation, 624 Mulberry Street, Milton, DE 19968, is seeking
donations (tax-deductible) to help cover the cost of the bronze statue.
Also, the Sixth Annual Dogfish Head Poetry Prize for a chapbook
written by a Delmarva poet will be awarded. Contact DPA member Jamie Brown,
the event’s founder, at
johnmiltonandco@earthlink.net for further information.
Send information for the Calendar of Events to
news@delawarepressassociation.org.
^Top
NewsBreak is the official newsletter of Delaware
Press Association.
Andréa Miller, Editor
Katherine Ward, Copy Editor/Layout
Mary E. Loewenstein-Anderson, Photo Editor
Submit editorial content to:
news@delawarepressassociation.org
Copy deadline for next newsletter: October 1, 2008
Contact Us:
Katherine Ward, Executive Director
Delaware Press Association
email: delawarepress@aol.com
phone: 302-655-2175
web:
www.delawarepressassociation.org
^Top
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