2014 past speakers
CHARLES DICKENS MAKES AN APPEARANCE
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December 13, 2014
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Paul Jacques is an award winning actor, director, producer, writer and scenic designer with over 200 productions of experience spanning stage, film, commercial and radio. Directing credits include Hairspray, The Music Man, Glengarry Glen Ross, Hamlet and The Taming of the Shrew. Paul last appeared on stage as Elliot in the West Coast Premiere of Charles Evered’s Class. Before that, he played Rowley/Charles in Celadine, for which he won ITL awards for acting and co-directing. He is on the theatre faculty at San Bernardino Valley College, Mt. San Jacinto College, and California Baptist University and Cal State san Bernardino, holds an AA in Music from RCC, a BA in Theatre from UCR, and an MFA in Writing for the Performing Arts from UCR. Paul also portrays Charles Dickens for the Riverside Dickens Festival. He lives in Riverside with his wife, Sarah, and their two daughters, Katharina and Olivia.
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A tribute to Jack London
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November 8, 2014
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Readings from Jack London's works. Plus, a question and answer period with Diane Neil whose grandfather, Frank, was Jack London's best boyhood friend. Diane's grandfather penned, "Jack London in Boyhood Adventures," a nonfiction account of Jack and Frank's pranks and experiences. The High Desert Branch published this manuscript in September of 2014. The book is now available for purchase.
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New Member Meet and Greet
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October 11, 2014
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Our October 11th club meeting featured newer members with an opportunity to hear them introduce themselves, read from their works, and meet and greet.
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AARON GANSKY
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September 13, 2014
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A CONVERSATION WITH TWO AWARD-WINNING POETS
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August 9, 2014
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Mary Langer Thompson and Thelma Reyna are experienced public speakers and writing workshop presenters who love to help people with their own creative writing. Both have been high school English teachers, principals, and university adjunct professors, and both were recently published in Chicago’s reputable Journal of Modern Poetry.
Thompson’s book, “Poems in Water”, and Reyna’s book, “Rising, Falling, All of Us” were available for signing followed by a questions and answers session with the authors. |
CLUB HISTORY, GOALS, ACCOMPLISHMENTS
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July 12, 2014
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We saw a video about the growth of the CWC. We heard from past presidents of the HDCWC: Carol Warren, Bob Isbill, Freddi Gold, and Mike Foley.
We held an open mike time where members briefly told about their work, recent accomplishments in their writing and publishing, and how the club has helped them achieve their goals. |
AMY WALLEN
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June 14, 2014 |
Amy Wallen, MFA, author of Los Angeles Times bestselling novel, MoonPies and Movie Stars is a summer writer-in-residence at New York State Writers Institute, and a contributing book reviewer for the Los Angeles Times and other national magazines. She’s the founder of DimeStories, 3-minute stories featured on NPR stations nationwide. Her essays have been published in Country Living, The Writer, Huffington Post and literary anthologies. She lectures and teaches creative writing across the country, including the UCSD and UCLA Extensions, and private workshops. She has been a juror for the 2010 PEN/USA Literary Awards, and 2012 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. She is also the creator o Savory Salons, literary salons with pie.
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James Brown
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May 10, 2014
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James Brown is a favorite of the HDCWC. He is the author of the memoirs, This River, and The Los Angeles Diaries, as well as several novels and a collection of short fiction. The Los Angeles Diaries is currently under option with producer Jude Prest, and two time Academy Award winning director Steven Soderbergh as the project's consultant and advisor. Brown has received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction Writing and the Nelson Algren Award in Short Fiction. His work has appeared in GQ, Esquire, Ploughshares, The New York Times Magazine, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, The New England Quarterly, and anthologized in Best American Sports Writing; Fathers, Sons and Sports: Great American Sports Writing; and the college textbooks Oral Interpretations, and Creative Writing: Four Genres in Brief. Currently he is at work on a screenplay based on This River for Australian director Alkinos Tsimilados.
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RENE RAY DE LA CRUZ
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April 12, 2014
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Long-time High Desert resident and journalist, Rene Ray De La Cruz, spoke at the April 12. De La Cruz, columnist and staff reporter for the Daily Press, has authored hundreds of published articles. He spoke on the future of newspapers as it pertains to writers today, the chances for full-time and part-time writing positions, and about publicity opportunities available for published authors.
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Robert Kirk
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March 8, 2014
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Dr. Robert Kirk, author of “Warriors at 500 Knotts” and “Flying the Lindbergh Line: Then and Now” spoke about the importance of constructing a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation to highlight your book. “I plan to show how I promote my book via PowerPoint presentations using video, audio, historic photos, film and transitions in doing a powerful presentation about my books,” said Kirk.
Kirk graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in Biology. His teaching career was interrupted when he joined the Air Force. Kirk was a Distinguished Graduate from Officer Training School and attended basic flight training at Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Oklahoma. He then was assigned to the F-4 aircraft and began a tour in Vietnam. During his tour he completed 197 combat missions in the F-4D and was awarded several medals including the Distinguished Flying Cross. After Vietnam Kirk rotated back to the States and transitioned to the C-141 aircraft. He flew the C-141 until he resigned from the Air Force in 1971. The author completed his Ph.D. degree at Oklahoma University and has taught at the university and secondary school levels for over forty years. |
Todd Anton
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February 8, 2014
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Author and American History teacher, Todd Anton spoke on his work with students and World War II veterans. He has written three books: "Distant Thunder: The Field Artillery Units of the 70th Infantry Division in World War II", "No Greater Love", and "When Baseball Went to War.".
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Dodie Cross
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January 11, 2014
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Dodie Cross, an award-winning freelance writer who has traveled the world writing about her life in foreign countries, spoke about her two books: A Broad Abroad in Iran: An Expat’s Misadventures In the Land of Male Dominance. A Broad Abroad in Thailand: An Expat’s Misadventures in the Land of Smiles. Cross spends her time between Palm Desert, CA. and traveling.
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