Celebrating Writers Who Inspire Me

 Ántonia had always been one to leave images in the mind that did not fade….
~ from My Ántonia

When I read the quote above, I immediately thought of the Writers at Harwood Place. Most of them are 90 years old or older. They are sharp, committed to the group, and their stories are full of memories and images that settle in hearts and minds.

Last weekend, my co-teacher Maura Fitzgerald and I hosted the Harwood Place Annual Writers Showcase (our 7th year!). This event always draws a crowd; it’s a highlight for me, Maura, these writers, and the friends and family who attend.

We met before Christmas to practice reading the pieces everyone wanted to share at the podium, and a few of them teared up as they read. The stories they share bring back vivid memories and also serve to honor people in the past who shaped and molded one or another of the writers around the table, people who left images in minds that do not easily fade. Each time I sit at the table, I am honored to be a part of this group.

(From left to right) Row 1: Mary, Valerie, Ruth. Row 2: Maura, Geri, Katy, Toni, Betty, Carolou, Warren, and me.

Poet Katy Phillips visited our class a few months ago as a guest teacher and created a poem based on a writing exercise she ran with the group. She read her poem, “Where We Are From,”* at the beginning of our event as an introduction to these amazing men and women.

The day of the reading we had one writer missing, Chuck Moritz (right), a long-time member of the group and a pleasure to hear from each month. Chuck was unable to attend due to health reasons.

Knowing he would have been there otherwise, we left a chair up front for him and read his poem in honor of him, something he wrote several years ago to his mother on her 100th birthday. Chuck grew up during the Dust Bowl, and from all I heard and read about his mother, she was a rock in times of uncertainty and grief.

I’m so glad we were able to share his poem with the audience at Harwood Place that day. In the evening, I received an unexpected phone call that Chuck had passed away. Such a wonderful and generous man–in stories, in conversation, in spirit. We shared a special bond, too, as he and I were born on the same day, 46 years apart. I can’t begin to explain the energy he brought to the group and how much he will be missed.


*”Where We Are From” is based on a great exercise for gathering bits and pieces from family or friends around a table during a holiday, or any time of year really.

The Reading at Harwood Place: People in Community

Last Saturday, residents and friends gathered in the community room at Harwood Place to listen to the Writers of Harwood read stories they’d written over the last year. This is the sixth year we’ve done the reading event, and it’s a thrill to see each writer take to the podium and share their work. As always, listening to them read you can also hear reactions in the audience–affirmations of connection and deep sighs of remembrance. Because each story as written and shared by the author stirs memories and emotions from the listener. In those moments, connections are made and community deepened.

This event, and the anthology, could not have happened without the help of several people. Thank you to Harwood Place for giving us the space (and the refreshments!) for the reading, to my husband for taking the photos, to the friends and family who came out to support these lovely writers, and to my fearless co-leader, Maura Fitzgerald, who bore the brunt of the anthology layout & publication work (and did it with grace and a smile).

As these writers change, so do the dynamics of teaching and leading them. But one fact remains: no matter who you are, how young or old you are, your stories make all the difference to the people around you.

In my “I’ve got the podium” photo on the right, I seem to be stressing that very point: Put #PenToPaper! The hardest part is getting to the table.

Once you’re there and surrounded by your community, the writing comes a little easier.

#AmReading, #AmEditing: THEN and NOW, the next anthology by the Writers at Harwood Place

Stories from THEN, essays on NOW, poetry in between.

“I entered this house a new baby, coming home from the hospital in 1922. I wonder how many people have planted trees and built rock gardens in the yard and told stories in this layered house since then? I would walk right down to the bakery on Vliet Street (was it Meurers?) and bring back cupcakes for all of us to enjoy. Or walk up to Washington Boulevard and take the bus downtown to Wisconsin Avenue. Somehow there must be a way to bridge the magic fog between then and now.”

~ from “The Layered House” by Mary Lewis
in THEN and NOW: stories and poems by the writers at Harwood Place


Come to the Reader’s Showcase:
Saturday, January 27, 2018, 2pm
Harwood Place Retirement Living Center
8220 West Harwood Avenue, Wauwatosa, WI.