Monday, February 18, 2008

Our First Event!

Women's History Month

We plan to celebrate March 6th with a coffee social and program for local educators. Authors Claire Rudolf Murphy and Kelly Milner Halls will share about several interesting and important women in history. We'll feature the League of Women Voters, and hear the story of May Awkwright Hutton, a pioneer woman who fought for women's rights in the Inland Northwest and spoke out against the abuse of power by multi-national corporations and crooked politicians. And that was just in her spare time! She also cooked on a steamboat and was part-owner in a silver mine.

Check back here. We'll have more information about our gathering, as well as resources for use in the classroom during Women's History Month.

1 comment:

StoryForce said...

I'm so sorry I couldn't be with Claire and Mary for this wonderful event as planned. My daughter Vanessa has had some health challenges and something unexpected kept me from sharing in the adventure. But I know those two women are remarkably talented and had folks enchanted. And I'll certainly be with them when we share some time with teachers on the Northside later this year.

Had I been there, I'd have shared a few words about the women scientists featured in my books DINOSAUR MUMMIES and TALES OF THE CRYPTIDS.

We tend to think of historic women as such serious, somber people, and of course there is a place for those women. But my books illustrate the value of humor in the realm of expertise as well. My experts are gifted scientists willing to study topics that might surprise you.

Dr. Karen Chin has spent her life studying coprolites -- fossilized dinosaur poop. And it was my absolute pleasure to write about her in DINOSAUR MUMMIES.

Dr. Yvonne Simpson is a geneticist at Edinburgh University. But on her own time she studies tissue samples of a "sea monster." I describe her search for the truth about legends she heard as a child in Scotland in TALES OF THE CRYPTIDS.

Women have made such serious contributions to human history, it gives us reason to feel proud. But women who use science to give us reason to smile deserve a pat on the back too.

See you next time, I promise.

Kelly Milner Halls
StoryForce Fan and Contributor
www.kellymilnerhalls.com