Kate’s 2¢: “Away From Home” by Carrie Hooper

“Away From Home” by Carrie Hooper

   Behind Our Eyes Writers with Disabilities had invited Carrie Hooper to a Zoom meeting on Sunday, March 19, 2023 to present her books of original poems and discuss her translations of other languages into English.  Her books are available from Lulu.com, and many other sources.

   BIO of CARRIE HOOPER

Carrie Hooper, blind since birth, was born and raised in Elmira, New York. She received a B.A. in vocal performance, an M.A. in vocal performance, and an M.A. in German. As a Fulbright scholar, Carrie spent a year at the Royal University College of Music in Stockholm, Sweden.

Carrie currently lives in Elmira, New York, where she teaches voice, piano, and foreign language lessons. Her other activities include performing in solo  concerts, playing the piano and organ at a church, and singing in a community chorus. She has translated texts from Albanian and Romanian to English.

* Book Blurb for MY LIFE IN MY WORDS

MY LIFE IN MY WORDS is a collection of poems which explores various aspects of the author’s life. The book includes poems about faith, interactions with nature, and holiday memories. Other poems were inspired by the author’s visits with her friends, Tim and Debbie who live in Huntsville, Alabama. Miss Hooper also reflects on life experiences as diverse as riding a children’s train at a local ice cream store and attending Evensong at Kings College Chapel in Cambridge, England. Finally, Miss Hooper offers her views on a variety of topics, such as making peace, celebrity worship, and the use of words.

* Synopsis of AWAY FROM HOME

AWAY FROM HOME is a collection of poems inspired by the author’s travels. Part 1, “A Week at Sea,” includes poems inspired by a cruise the author took with her family in 2019. Part 2, “Other Adventures,” contains poems about other travel experiences. Topics include overcoming the fear of escalators during an American Council of the Blind convention in Des Moines, Iowa; driving to Florida; enjoying outings with a friend from Holley, New York; visiting the New York State School for the Blind in Batavia, New York; experiencing an old country church in Pennsylvania; and more.

Carrie Hooper:

hoot751@stny.rr.com

Carrie Hooper – wordgathering.syr.edu

“Disastrous September” by Skifter Kellici, translated by Carrie Hooper

 Kate’s 2¢: “At the edge of the Haight: by Katherine Seligman

“At the edge of the Haight: by Katherine Seligman

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   I think, although this does have some rough descriptions of life in the park, it is a sanitized version of what really happens.  I do like the ending, because it gives you the hope that, at least these two young people, have started to stop blaming their parents for everything and are getting their heads screwed on straight.

Btw:  She didn’t actually see the boy killed, as the NLS annotation states.

From the web:

Katherine Seligman is a journalist and author in San Francisco. As a reporter, she’s focused on social issues, from homelessness, mental health and end of life issues to the city’s boom and bust cycles. But she’s also written about everything else, from self-appointed graffiti curators, urban coyotes and embryonic sex selection to what her kids learned growing up in Haight Ashbury.

She has been a staff writer at the San Francisco Chronicle Magazine and a reporter for the San Francisco Examiner and USA Today. Her stories have appeared in Redbook, Life, Time, California Magazine, PBS Next Avenue, CALmatters, Al Jazeera America, and the anthology “Fresh Takes.”

She is a member of the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto and loves working in clay. (Check out some of her ceramic work, made and sold at Sharon Arts Studio).

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

At the edge of the Haight DB110657

Seligman, Katherine. Reading time: 7 hours, 2 minutes.

Read by Gabra Zackman.

Suspense Fiction

Mystery and Detective Stories

“Maddy Donaldo, homeless at twenty, lives with her dog and makeshift family in the hidden spaces of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. She thinks she knows how to survive and whom to trust until she accidentally witnesses the murder of a young man. Her world is upended as she has to face not only the killer but also the police and then the victim’s parents, who desperately want Maddy to tell them about the life their son led after he left home. And in a desire to save her since they could not save their own son, they are determined to have Maddy reunite with her own lost family. But what makes a family? Is it the people who raised you if they don’t have the skills to look after you? Is it the foster parents whose generosity only lasts until things become more difficult? Or is it the family that Maddy has met in the park, young people who also have nowhere else to go?” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

Downloaded: January 28, 2023

Download At the edge of the Haight