Earlier this year, I had the pleasure and honor of slipping away for another weekend of Fearless Writing while Ron held down the proverbial fort in our corner of Brooklyn. While we’ve gotten beaucoup kudos from city dwellers who’ve become our regular customers, it was fun to hear reactions from other folks who came from far and wide to participate in another outstanding workshop and retreat hosted by James Beard award winning writer (and all around phenomenal woman) Crescent Dragonwagon with help from filmmaker David Koff (of “Occupied Palestine” and other acclaimed works) and writer Sue Stevenson, co-creator/writer of Fresh Prince of Bel Air and other indelible hits. The weekend itself was a smash, as Dragonwagon’s workshops reliably are (challenging, yes, but also fun – thus they’re part “work”shop, part retreat).
Ron, forever thoughtful, sent me with off with plenty of ice cream, which we indulged in throughout the weekend. I was so impressed with the response it was receiving, and sorry Ron wasn’t there to hear it, that I asked David to catch the reactions on film. Here is what he gave me.
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Thank you, David, Crescent, Sue, and Shadi Towfighi of the celebrated Kismet Inn in Bath, Maine, featuring slow-food lovingly prepared by Shadi, and offering a toxin-free restorative environment, Lori Randall Stradtman, best-selling author and online reputation guru, and Sarah Hollister Potts, whose stories of involvement in As Ever Yours: The Letters of Max Perkins and Elizabeth Lemmon kept us delighted, and of course Mary Gunderson, who has her hand (and fork and spoon and pen) in all kinds of adventures. Thanks, too, to everyone else who was there. The lessons stay with me (“authorization in progress”), and I think fondly of our weekend away and writing together. I’m looking forward to moving Fearlessly Onward with all of you.
**Sadly, Crescent recently lost her mother, famed children’s book author Charlotte Zolotow, who Crescent cared for with help from a team of caring individuals, including the talented and brave Hawa Diallo who also was a Fearless participant with us. Charlotte lived well into her 90s and left a legacy of love and inspiration that is felt wherever Crescent goes. We’re sending thoughts of comfort and healing to the friends and family of Ms. Zolotow, and also saying thanks to her for lighting up the lives of so many young readers. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/20/books/charlotte-zolotow-whose-books-tackled-childrens-real-life-issues-dies-at-98.html?_r=0