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“BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF READERS” EVENT AT TRINITY COLLEGE More than 100 members of the Greater Hartford community gathered November 29 at Trinity College for “Building a Community of Readers,” an event celebrating literacy and local volunteers making a difference in Hartford through literacy outreach. Elementary school children and their parents, college students, faculty, and staff, literacy advocates and volunteers, and other interested members of the Hartford community attended. The event was made even more timely, as many in the audience noted, because of the recent release by the National Endowment for the Arts of a new study showing “startling declines in how much and how well Americans read." The idea for the celebration of literacy and literacy volunteers at Trinity was suggested by Old Lyme poet and painter Mary O’Connor, former director of communications at Trinity. A champion of literacy, O’Connor is donating all proceeds from the sale of her recently published book, Dreams of a Wingless Child, to the Freedom Writers, the group whose story was told in the movie of the same name, starring Hilary Swank. In so doing, as with the November 29th event, O'Connor hopes to reinforce the power of writing for youngsters to achieve their dreams and to decrease high school dropout rates.
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| Book
by Connecticut Author to Benefit the Freedom Writers; Recognizes
Fulfillment and Empowerment of Writing Dreams of a Wingless Child, a collection of poetic reflections on nature and life penned by Mary O'Connor of Old Lyme, Connecticut, has been published by Wheatmark, Inc., Tucson, AZ (Paperback, $11.95, ISBN 978-1-58736-803-5). With all proceeds being contributed to the Freedom Writers Foundation, the book is dedicated to the original Freedom Writers, who, as seen in the Paramount Pictures 2007 release, use the power of writing to achieve dreams for themselves and the world. Read more... |
| IN THE NEWS... |
| Giving Wings to a Voice Inside: Old Lyme woman's poetry
to benefit Freedom Writers "For a woman who is good with words, who has made them her life, Mary O'Connor is at a loss for them when talking about Maria Reyes. "I can't describe her - because you can't." She looks down at the floor, out her window of her Old Lyme home to the marshes and the sea beyond, and finally finds the right way to describe Reyes, one of the Freedom Writers, a former student in a struggling California school system who turned her life around through journal writing." (Lyme Times, by Sharma Howard, Times Arts Editor, May 24, 2007.) Read the complete article. |
| Interviews |
| Writers in the Sky Visit Writers in the Sky, a writers' blog, pos cast and newsletter, for an interview with Dreams of a Wingless Child author Mary O'Connor, about the role of community involvement in book promotion. |
| BOOK REVIEWS |
| Dreams of a Wingless Child Written for all ages, these poems are reflections on nature and life and remind us that we need not look far to find an element of peace, of celebration, of fulfillment of dreams in the extraordinary world in which we live. It is difficult to select a favorite poem from this collection as they are all uplifting and beautiful. I highly recommend this slim book of verse for its sense of peace, its soothing qualities, and its support of freedom Writers. You will want to read the poems over and over again. Reviewed by Miriam Stannard Epstein A Curriculum of Hope for a Peaceful World Newsletter - Summer 2007 Curriculum of Hope is an Alpha Kappa State/Delta Kappa Gamma Society International program. |
| News Archive Click here for additional news releases. |
Media Inquiries Note to Editors: To receive a free reviewer's copy of Dreams of a Wingless Child, please contact WheatMark Book Publishers with your format preference (hard copy or electronic), press credential, and full shipping details, as applicable. For media inquiries or for further information about the Freedom Writers, contact Freedom Writers Foundation. |
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