Please join us for our next meeting
Wednesday, September 22
7:00 - 8:30 PM

LOCATION
Virginia Foundation for the Humanities
CONFERENCE ROOM
BOARS HEAD INN - CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA

GUEST SPEAKER

MARC LEEPSON

Journalist, historian, author of six books, including: Saving Monticello, and Desperate Engagement, about the Civil War Battle of Monocacy. www.marcleepson.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION, E-MAIL
Jack Trammell, Pres.   jtrammel@rmc.edu
or Randy Salzman, VP  salz@rocketmail.com

PRESIDENT'S COMMUNIQUE

I often wonder about the exact nature of the "writing life," what it entails, who gets to define that. As a sociology professor, I certainly understand that there is no one right answer, and that the real answer in a global sense is defined by all of us together. But that doesn't help from a practical standpoint, and I think the writing life (for me) must consist of a few primary elements. It must include some spark inside of you that yearns to use words to express something important to you; moreover, it is almost always intended for an audience of some sort, even if it is solely your inner self (a private diary, for example). It also includes some element of narcissism, in my opinion, because the writer seems to have a pathological need to "be a writer" (or to enjoy the mostly positive perks of such status). What does this all mean? It means, I think, that the Blue Ridge VWC provides conduits to satisfy all of those elements, even as they manifest in so many diverse individual ways.

                                                   Jack Trammell