Appearances
APPEARANCES, 2020
All locations are in Maine, unless otherwise noted.
January
Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance: Seminar "Public Speaking Survival Skills for Authors." This was the last in-person talk I gave before the onset of the pandemic.
Virtual
March
Clark University, Worcester , MA: Guest lecture: "The Power of Story," discussed the use of narrative in marketing
April
CEI Maine: "How to Connect Through the Power of Story," a four-week webinar on the use of story to promote small businesses
Portland Press Herald, "This Date In Maine History": Provided a segment on behalf of the Portland nonprofit Cooking For Community, where I volunteer
June
Midcoast Community Alliance Set for Success 2020 : Featured performer for their online fundraiser
July
SCORE: Webinar, "The Power of Story"
October
Maine College of Art: ongoing story training
2019
November
Jobs for Maine’s Graduates, Management Team training in critical listening and critiquing skills
October
Portland Chamber of Commerce, “Women of the Chamber” series. Delivered a keynote entitled the "Power of Presence" to a sold-out house -- during a hurricane.
Maine College of Art: Presented a series of lectures aimed at training young artists how to speak about their work
September
Jobs for Maine’s Graduates: Presentation to the Board of Directors
August
Bay Path University’s Summer Writing Seminar, Dingle, Ireland
I joined authors Andre Dubus III, Ann Hood, among other talented writers to serve as faculty in this storybook town on Ireland’s southwest coast.
Jobs for Maine’s Graduates all-staff training day, Sugarloaf, USA: Keynote
July
Jobs For America’s Graduates National Training Seminar, Orlando, FL: keynote
June
Jobs for Maine’s Graduates all-staff training day, Waterville: keynote,
May
Avesta Housing all-staff training day, Pineland Farms: keynote
Maine College of Art: senior presentation speech training
Black Fly Spring Writing Retreat, Grand Lake Stream: faculty
April
University of Maine Fort Kent Scholars Symposium: keynote
March
Guest Author, Live! Word Buzz, Rolling Fatties, Kingfield. There were burritos and beer involved. That’s all I needed to know.
January
Literary Lunch, Portland Public Library: a conversation with author Catharine Murray about memoir writing and her book Now You See the Sky
2018
Keynote speaker, Maine Public Relations Council Annual Conference
Open Studio talk, as part of my month-long Monson Arts Residency
Author talk, in conjunction with my Illustration Institute residency, Peaks Island
Featured speaker at Fill the Plate Breakfast to benefit Meals on Wheels, sponsored by SeniorsPlus, Western Maine’s designated Agency on Aging
Memoir Instructor, Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance annual Black Fly spring writing retreat, Grand Lake Stream
Guest lecturer, Gifted Young Writers series. A daylong workshop held at Bates College for select Lewiston/Auburn-area high school students. My fourth repeat performance for this group.
2017
Two-week run of my one-woman show, My Mother’s Clothes Are Not My Mother, at the Public Theatre, Lewiston (please click on the “My Mother’s Clothes” button for a full performance history)
27th Annual Maine Geriatrics Conference, Bar Harbor: I performed an abbreviated version of my show and led a discussion group about caregiving and end-of-life issues.
Maine State Bar Association’s Leadership Institute: Conducted a public-speaking intensive for emerging attorneys.
Maine Health, Farmington: My Mother’s Clothes performance and discussion
2016
Guest lecturer, Stonecoast MFA winter residency
Featured speaker, Belfast (Maine) Book Festival
Maine State Bar Association’s Leadership Institute: public-speaking intensive
ADDITIONAL LECTURES AND TALKS:
“The Unlikely Making of a Maine Writer,” George Stevens Academy Summer Speakers Series, Blue Hill
Maine Festival of the Book: “Laughter From the Underbrush”
"Three Class Acts" an evening of poetry and performance with me, poet Gary Lawless and national slam champ (and former teammate) Taylor Mali to benefit the Cobscook Community Learning Center
"Bath Girls Who Write Books," with author Morgan Callan Rogers, Morse High School and the Patton Free Library, Bath.
“Finding ME” – an original performance piece that tells the story of how two very different women came to call the Pine Tree State home – Strand Theatre, Rockland, August, 2010
Norway Summer Festival, “Poets on the Porch” reading series that included such poetry luminaries as Baron Wormser, Gary Lawless and Arizona Zipper.
York County Retired Educators Association annual meeting
Maine Retired Teachers Association annual meeting
Maine Media Women
Fifth Maine Regiment Museum lecture series, Peaks Island
66th annual Chautauqua-by-the-Sea Writers Conference, Ocean Park
Bath/Brunswick Area Arts and Cultural Alliance reading, Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick
“Meet a Maine Author,” Carey Memorial Library, Wayne
Sebasco Estates, Phippsburg
Clairemont Hotel, Southwest Harbor
Friends of Scarborough Library annual meeting
TEACHING/GUEST LECTURER
University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast MFA Winter Residency: “Take My Workshop… Please: Some Thoughts On Humor Writing,” and paired in the instructor’s evening reading series with author Rick Bass
Pine Manor College Solstice Summer Writers' Conference, “The Power of Place”
Maine College of Art, memoir-writing program
“Seniors to Seniors,” a memoir-writing program I developed to pair senior citizens and high school seniors to help the elder seniors tell and preserve their life stories. Pilot program sponsored through Graves Library, Kennebunkport, where the students and seniors gave a community presentation in June.
Maine Writers and Publishers Black Fly spring writing retreat, Grand Lake Stream: memoir writing
Seniors’ Memoir Workshop, Betsy Ross House, South Portland: a six week intensive on memoir and storytelling that culminated in an open performance reading for residents and staff. Designed to be self-sustaining, the workshop continues with senior participants running the meetings on their own.
Patten Free Library, Bath: memoir-writing workshop in my old hometown
Memoir Writing, Pasco Lecture Series at Graves Library, Kennebunkport
Bay Path College, Longmeadow, MA. Performance of My Mother’s Clothes culminated my week as writer-in-residence.
AUTHOR EVENTS
Maine launch of Glorious Slow Going, Portland Museum of Art
Boston launch of Glorious Slow Going, Pucker Gallery, Newbury Street
Author talk, Glorious Slow Going, Camden Public Library.
Author talk, Glorious Slow Going, Thos. Moser Gallery, Freeport.
Graves Library, Kennebunkport, Pasco Lecture Series
Portland Public Library’s Brown Bag Lecture series (2004, 2006 and 2012)
Books & Blooms, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay
L.L. Bean, Maine Coast Books, book signing
Longfellow Books, Gulf of Maine Books, Books Etc., reading and signing
MEDIA APPEARANCES
Panelist on the MPBN program Maine Calling, discussing why we keep stuff and why we have trouble letting go.
Frequent guest on the WCSH-TV program, “207,” including as a panelist on the “207 Book Club”
Award-winning slam poet and a member of the 1995 Maine Slam Team, which came in fourth at the Slam Nationals
Maine Funeral Director's Association annual meeting. I was the entertainment. I am not kidding.
