Guess Who's 18 Years Old Today

As you may have heard, Rockville City Council Candidate, >Waleed Ovase, is a senior at Richard Montgomery High School. Today is his 18th birthday! So although he has been 17 while running for office, he will be old enough to be on the ballot this Tuesday, November 3, 2009.

His age has stirred up some media coverage for Rockville and our City Election.

He was interviewed by WUSA9 on video:

Teenager Hopes for City Council Victory for Birthday

and they have a story too.

He also by interviewed by WAMU Radio:

17 Year Old Hopes Voters Elect Him to Rockville City Council

and by the Kane Show on Hot 99.5 where they say “18 Year Old Running For City Council. This kid better at least get into a sweet college over this”.

Obviously, his campaign has been considered newsworthy beyond our local Rockville scene, so we thought our readers would like to know about the coverage.

And, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish him a “Happy Birthday!”

Rockville Central does not endorse candidates. We are encouraging towards all people who choose to run for office the city and try our best to make ourselves open to all. We actively encourage candidates to submit opinion pieces and other news. We don’t include every last bit, but we try to be fair to all and give useful information about what is happening.

Rockville Candidate Finance Reports Show Hoffmann, Pierzchala With Most Cash On Hand

>The City of Rockville has now posted all candidates’ October 29 finance reports. They show a different story than our last story on this, which was based on the informal reports that candidates sent us on Monday and Tuesday.

In terms of cash on hand, the campaign of Susan Hoffmann has the most in the mayoral race, with $5,717.48 on hand. Among city council candidates, Mark Pierzchala leads cash on hand with $2,329.17.

The way the campaigns filled out the City’s finance forms varied, as did what they sent us earlier this week. In fact, it appeared that some of the forms did not total up correctly, and I started to try to make sense of it. While most campaigns filled the forms out the same way, some appeared to interpret the instructions differently. I finally gave up and decided to provide an overview of the summary sheets and direct links to the forms so you could make your own determination!

So, in the spreadsheet that follows, I just used the numbers written by the campaigns. If you see a discrepancy you can check out the original documents. (The direct links to the pdf reports are at the end of this article.)

(Here is a link to our last complete report on finances, so you can compare the spreadsheets.)

And here are the original reports:

Mayor

• Susan R. Hoffmann
• Phyllis Marcuccio

Council

• John Britton
• Piotr “Peter” Gajewski
• Carl Henn
• Trapper Martin
• Tom Moore
• Bridget Newton
• Virginia Onley
• Waleed Ovase
• Mark Pierzchala
• Max van Balgooy

A Voting Story by Temperance Blalock

The >Rockville City Election is this Tuesday, November 3, 2009 and we have been encouraging everyone to vote. Last time only 20% turned out. Rockville Central friend, Temperance Blalock sent along this story about a time when voting was taken much more seriously.

I’ve heard and read lots of amusing stories of this nature, about how election day in the South in the late 19th century was a rambunctious and dangerous occasion, because voters took it so seriously.

I was glad to hear all of the recent talk about the significance of citizen participation in the election, that they MUST actually VOTE. It’s sad that so many people are blase about it.

I’m an amateur historian and genealogist, with a special interest in the Civil War in the South, and the period of Reconstruction. My Blalock ancestors were Southern Unionists, living in central Tennessee (Bledsoe/Cumberland counties), and the communities were polarized between the Democrats (former Confederates), and the Republicans (former Southern Unionists). Election Day in the 1880-1890s was a MAJOR event of the year, and the people exercised their right to vote with a vengeance. Not only did they make sure that their (male) family members all went to the polls and voted, they would even kidnap family members who had other allegiances and would forcibly take them to the polls, and intimidate them to vote a particular ticket. The bottom line was that eligible voters (only males) took their right to vote with a deadly seriousness, and gunfights at the polls were a regular occurrence.

I’m reminded of a story about one of my distant relatives, which I read in a book called “My Swafford Ancestors” by Tommy Swafford of Bledsoe County. The story goes that this man, I’ll call him Sam, walked 10 miles from his home to the polls to cast his vote. When he arrived at the polls, he ended up in the middle of a gunfight between two groups, and was hit in the backside with a rifle shot. He decided it was too dangerous to remain at the polls long enough to cast his vote, so he walked back the 10 miles to his home.

When he got home, he told his mother about the gunfight. Mother said “but, did you vote?”, and Sam said “No, it was too dangerous.” Mother then very resolutely told him that he must return to cast his vote, and she put a big pillow on the back of the mule, perched Sam on the pillow, and told him not to come back until he had cast his vote.

Temperance Blalock

Please join us in voting!

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POTD: Red!

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These pretty fall leaves are by Rockville Central reader Janet Piczak Brown. Of it, she says, “I love this time of the year!”

You’re not alone!

Candidate Yard Sign Slideshow

Many come to have a love-hate relationship with this time of year. It’s election season! That means that, while we prepare to do our civic duty and make wise choices in the voting booth, candidates are urgently prevailing upon us to choose them.This brings with it a certain flowering of yard signs all throughout town. In case you have not yet seen all the candidates’ signs, we have prepared this little slideshow for you. No they are not in any particular order:>

(Note that candidate Max Van Balgooy has no signs so we sort of made one from a mailer.)

Contributor Opinion by Theresa Defino: Politics and Facial Expressions

>I’ve been thinking a lot about my friend Jeff, a newspaper reporter who made an uneasy transition to television. See, Jeff had an expressive face. He smiled, he raised an eyebrow as he read the news, perhaps a bit too much, according to his producers. To train his face to behave, Jeff wore tape on his brows for a while.

Perhaps you’ve caught your reflection in the mirror while in the barber’s chair or at the hairdressers. Did your face do some things you weren’t aware of? Your mouth drops open, your eyes widen, maybe you even rolled them a bit?

Jeff came to mind as I watched the candidate forum on Saturday morning, hosted by this very Website. I listened as City Councilman Piotr Gajewski answered-expertly I thought-questions posed by the host. As an incumbent, Piotr has a wealth of experience.

He also brings to the post business skills, as evidenced by some of the money-saving initiatives he has sponsored and participated in, such as keeping taxes down, hiring an in-house attorney and trimming the 2010 budget. Piotr also has a law degree. I feel honored that a man of Piotr’s caliber represents us, and believe he is a good colleague and complements those who bring different but equally valuable experiences to the Council.

But I was troubled as I sat there. Piotr was defending himself from what he has rightly termed “a bum rap.” He has been accused of contributing to an air of incivility on the City Council because he has rolled his eyes on occasion. He has admitted to rolling his eyes, and promised to try and stop. But isn’t this a little silly, and not a measure of his fitness to serve?

Every candidate seems to have “civility” at the core of his or her platform. Yet, to me, what is “uncivil” is voting against something because you felt personally “hurt” that you weren’t included in some discussions. What is “uncivil” is being so thin-skinned you derail serious discussions. That’s what I have witnessed at some Mayor and Council meetings.

I have known Piotr for more than a year and have personally worked with him on a number of issues, and found him to be helpful, attentive and resourceful. He is the only elected city official who meets regularly with citizens at Town Hall meetings that he holds.

It is reasonable to expect that citizens will bring facts and not harmful rumors to the council at its public meetings. Piotr once expressed disappointment when a teacher came to a meeting waving a sign that said “layoffs” when none were even remotely under consideration but he did not behave uncivilly.

In contrast to some who are running for a council seat, Piotr is not one of those people who might grin and greet you warmly in public yet privately disparage you.

What might be less at the top of voters’ minds is that Piotr is a world-class conductor and musical director for the National Philharmonic. He gets paid to use his face. To show emotion.

But I am less concerned about what Piotr’s face is doing than the work he has accomplished, and wants to keep doing, on behalf of the citizens of Rockville. Maybe it’s good he’s not a practiced politician or a stone-faced newsman like my friend Jeff was striving to be.

I would simply ask that you judge Piotr by his record of service to the city and give him your vote on November 3rd.

Theresa Defino

This is a contributor opinion. Rockville Central encourages readers to submit such opinions for consideration — the more voices the better. We especially welcome people who disagree with us. We ask that all such contributions be civil and we reserve the right to edit (in consultation with the author) or reject. Contributor opinions should not be seen as reflecting opinions held by Rockville Central editors, as they are just as frequently at odds with our own views. That’s the whole point!

Rockville Central does not endorse candidates. We are encouraging towards all people who choose to run for office the city and try our best to make ourselves open to all. We actively encourage candidates to submit opinion pieces and other news. We don’t include every last bit, but we try to be fair to all and give useful information about what is happening.

Pick of the Week 10/29/09 ROCKVILLE ZOMBIE WALK

>Pick of the Week

Rockville Zombie Walk
Friday, October 30, 2009
7 PM meet up, 7:30 Walk begings
Meet at the Apollo, 12 North Washington Street

For the absolute fun of it, turn yourself into a zombie and walk through Rockville Town Center among the unsuspecting. Who used to go to the Rocky Horror Picture Shows? Who just wants to laugh and have fun on a Friday night? What else are you going to do? Rockville Central friend Bill Bird and I are hosting this flash mob.

7:00 PM All the undead in Rockville will meet up at the mall at 12 North Washington Street to form the mob. Have a soda, drink or coffee while you wait. There’s full bar in the Apollo Restaurant /or/ coffee and gelato/desserts at Lola’s Cafe right next door. Get to know your fellow zombies. BUT MAKE IT QUICK!

7:30 PM The mass of zombies will limp off around the streets of Town Center to see who’s still among the living in Town Square.

7:50 PM Zombieland at the Rockville Regal 13!!!! What could be better than a theater full of zombies? See it with any and all of the undead in Rockville. It’s a ZOMCOM!!

From the WaPo, “Don of the Dead” features DC native Ruben Fleischer as Director. Here’s a bit:

“…”Zombieland,” which was written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, turns out to be just plain hilarious, as Fleischer manages to keep the gore apolitical, the gross-outs appealing and, in between, the story surprisingly touching. (The film stars Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin.) But Fleischer allows that there’s something symbolic at the core of why zombie movies — be they dead serious or scathingly satirical — continue to fascinate audiences.”

You might want to get your tickets in advance especially if you limp slow (but hey really, those trailers last forever):

http://www.fandango.com/regalrockvillecenter13_aaixz/theaterpage?date=10/30/2009

or

http://www.moviefone.com/theater/regal-cinemas-rockville-center-13/1750/showtimes

9:30 PM The movie is 1 hr. 21 mins. Austin Grill is thrilled to host the mob after the movie and will even put on a scary movie for us! So we can socialize after too.

Tell everyone. Spread the word around like a zombie virus.

Turning yourself into a zombie can be as easy as some powder and lipstick or much more elaborate. Who might have died that you could come back as? (If you are still among the living and not undead, come in your street clothes and be sure to bring a pencil. No survivor goes anywhere without a pencil as a weapon. Larger weapons are not advised!)

If you don’t want to zombie, the Rockville Sister City Corporation’s Annual Fall Wine Tasting of Red Wines of France is also this Friday, October 30, 2009 at 7:30 PM at the Rockville Senior Center. $25 for RCSS members, $30 for non-members. Heavy Hors d oeuves included.

Events in Rockville

Here’s the links to Rockville Living’s events in two formats - a one week list or six week calendar.

Six Week Calendar

This community event listing is a partnership between Rockville Central and Rockville Living. If you would like your community event listed, submit your information to Rockville Living using this form. Please become a regular contributor by requesting a username so that you can enter the information directly to the database.

If you attend an event in Rockville, we invite you to write a Contributor Review. Share the experience. Let everyone know about an event worth attending. Tell us about the school play, fair, or city activity, as long as it’s recent and you are not offering it for publication elsewhere. We prefer short, not more than 500 words. Please include a photo if you have one. Send it along to Cindy Cotte Griffths for consideration.

POTD: Second Spring

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This cool shot is by Rockville Central reader Alain Menguy. Of it, he says, “The Albert Camus quote came immediately to my mind ~ ‘Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower.’”

I don’t know about all that philosophy, but I know I like it!

Prepping For The FiOS Visit

As >Rockville Central readers are well aware, many residents have been chomping at the bit to get their hands on Verizon’s super-speedy all-in-one phone-TV-Internet service called FiOS. Big Red is busy running fiber optic cable throughout Rockville, so you may eventually be getting a flyer on your door that says FiOS can come to your very own home.

Rockville Central friend Jennifer Ramarui recently had her home blessed by the fiber optic deities, and she offers these tips if you are planning on it:

My tips:

1. If you can, ask for the guy named Bill — very pleasant and funny guy. But, I’m sure everyone else is good too, so it’s not a deal-breaker if he can’t come.

2. Clear clutter around areas where they need to work, and think of an area near a plug where the battery backup can be installed. Ours went in our cellar near the circut box.

3. They might need to drill holes to get the coax cable routed through the various rooms. If that ‘s not an option, think of ways it can go over over door frames, near baseboard, etc. If you have Comcast right now, it might not be an issue. We had wacky double DirecTV cords, which caused a little confusion

After you place your order, you’ll receive an email with a link to a”what’s next” page which provides more details about preparing. The installation took a long time, but I was only offline for about 30 minutes. It may have been shorter since I ran out for a bit while Dante was there.

Important — you need to be there the whole time. Our installation took from 11:30 til 6:45, but it was thorough. He programmed ALL the remotes to work with ALL the devices, which was very nice.

Thanks so much Jenny! Now I just have to wait for them to reach me.

Contributor Opinion By Art Stigile: From The Record

>If you’ve seen the Mayoral debates, you know that Councilmember [Phyllis] Marcuccio has been pitching herself as the candidate who opposes charging fees for services. This has puzzled me for some time. I follow the Mayor and Council meetings fairly closely, and I never noticed much difference in their votes on fees. So, I decided to research each candidate’s voting record on fee issues.

I did this by electronically searching the minutes of the Mayor and Council meetings for two words – “fee” and “rate”. I included all meetings, starting with the meeting on November 21, 2005, when Councilmember Marcuccio first took her seat on the Council, and ending with the meeting on September 21 of this year. Minutes for the two meetings that occurred this month are not posted yet. However, I included the vote on the parking garage fees that occurred last Monday night, which I observed in person. I recorded a description of the motion regarding the fee issue, the name of the Councilmember who offered the motion, the total votes for and against each measure, and the votes of Councilmember Marcuccio and Mayor [Susan] Hoffmann. I only counted final votes, and did not include other votes that, by themselves, would not implement or change a fee. For example, I excluded interim votes that instruct staff to draft a fee ordinance and bring it back for consideration at a later date.

The minutes are posted on the City website here. You can do the same test, if you want to check the accuracy of my list. If you find a vote that I missed, please let me know, and I’ll update my list.

My compilation is shown below [and in a table here]. I found a total of 27 votes on fees where both candidates voted. Mayor Hoffmann and Councilmember Marcuccio voted the same way 22 times. In other words, the two candidates had the same position on fees more than 80 percent of the time during the past 4 years. This is consistent with my memory of how votes on fees have been cast. In fact, most times (19) the votes on proposed fee ordinances are unanimous.

The two candidates voted differently only 5 times. Two of these involved fees for the refuse and recycling system, with their votes reflecting their opposing positions on the larger issue of once-weekly trash service. For example, on the question of whether to freeze the trash fee in FY 2010 for the third year of the five-year freeze promised when the Council approved once-weekly trash service, Mayor Hoffmann voted yes and Councilmember Marcuccio voted no.

Two other votes involved parking fees. I’m not sure what this says because they voted the same on parking fees six other times.

They voted differently on only one other occasion. The vote occurred in May of this year on a motion to revise and establish a new fee schedule for licensing rental units. Mayor Hoffmann voted to approve the fee schedule; Councilmember Marcuccio voted against it. This contrasts with both of their votes to approve an increase in licensing fees in July 2006.

Now, since I’m a strong supporter of Mayor Hoffmann’s reelection bid, I’m sure that some of Councilmember Marcuccio’s supporters are going to cry foul about this review of the voting record. I have two responses.

First, I think it is perfectly reasonable for voters to consider a candidate’s record as well as the candidate’s campaign promises.

Second – and I this is, perhaps, the more important point – no matter which candidate is elected, the Mayor and Council will continue to approve fees. This is because fees are often a more fair and effective way to fund many City services, and because voters generally support using fees over taxes. For example, most of us would agree that if someone wants to water his lawn every day in the summer, he should pay for the water, not taxpayers. And requiring the homeowner to pay for the water used by his family encourages them to use water more efficiently.

Fees are here to stay. We use them to fund a lot of services. The real question is how fast and by how much will they increase. This is where I think a candidate’s promise to restrain fee increases might be a factor to consider.

Even then, however, we have to admit that circumstances often overwhelm campaign promises. Sometimes, such as for our water and sewer fees, we simply have to face up to fee increases because we have to cover the cost of replacing 33 miles of old and corroded water pipes that are mostly located east of 355. It’s very expensive, costing as much as $300 per foot. But we have no choice. It’s a matter of protecting life and property. The pipes are so plugged up that 51 fire hydrants do not have enough water pressure to fight a fire.

There are times, however, when we can implement efficiencies in program delivery that make a significant change in the trajectory of future fee increases. The once-weekly trash service was such an opportunity. The large trash bins allowed us to cut in half the frequency of trash pickup, which generates huge savings in personnel costs, and the large recycling bins plus single-stream recycling allows us to reduce the volume of trash that goes into the landfill. The annual savings are about $1.4 million, producing a permanent savings to homeowners of $100 per year.

Opportunities like this come very infrequently. We have to grab them when they come. We absolutely need them to offset the impact of other costs that are rising.

So, to summarize, these two reasons – understanding the valid and necessary use of fees to fund many City services, and grabbing opportunities to realize efficiencies – are far more persuasive to me than campaign promises. Thus my vote for Mayor Hoffmann.

Art Stigile

This is a contributor opinion. Rockville Central encourages readers to submit such opinions for consideration — the more voices the better. We especially welcome people who disagree with us. We ask that all such contributions be civil and we reserve the right to edit (in consultation with the author) or reject. Contributor opinions should not be seen as reflecting opinions held by Rockville Central editors, as they are just as frequently at odds with our own views. That’s the whole point!

Rockville Central does not endorse candidates. We are encouraging towards all people who choose to run for office the city and try our best to make ourselves open to all. We actively encourage candidates to submit opinion pieces and other news. We don’t include every last bit, but we try to be fair to all and give useful information about what is happening.

Marcuccio, Newton Appear To Lead In Campaign Finances

(This article contains a bit of my own opinion, but is mostly news so we are running it in the news column.)People who watched the very excellent Twinbrook Citizens Association candidate forum know that one of the questions posed to the candidates was whether they would agree to release details of their campaign finances early, on October 26. The official filing deadline is Thursday at the end of the day, which is after the Gazette’s publish date. This means that voters don’t have a chance to look at the latest campaign finance records over the weekend before election day.In my view, this is a significant problem, as it opens up the possibility of last-minute donations going unremarked until after the elections are over. The question at the Twinbrook forum was intended to make it possible for voters to see this information in the main Rockville news outlet (the >Gazette) before they decide who to vote for, instead of after they have already voted.

Along with the Gazette, Rockville Central asked the candidates to provide the information. (The Gazette asked last Thursday, we asked on Monday.) All of the candidates responded, in varying ways ranging from copies of reports they had filed early to quick notes and emails.

Today’s article by Nathan Carrick in the Gazette gives a good wrapup of where the candidates stand in terms of fundraising, and shows mayoral candidate Phyllis Marcuccio and city council candidate Bridget Newton apparently ahead of the pack:

Rockville mayoral challenger Councilwoman Phyllis R. Marcuccio continues to lead campaign fundraising efforts, gathering more than $18,000 from more than 160 donors, according to her unofficial campaign finance report sent to The Gazette.

The reports are not due at City Hall until close of business Thursday.

Most of the candidates had agreed at an election forum in the Twinbrook community last week that they would file an early report so that the information could be published in The Gazette. The Gazette also sent requests for early reports via e-mail Thursday evening.

Mayor Susan R. Hoffmann said she was unable to provide an early report by Gazette press time.

“While I am more than willing to comply with your request, my campaign treasurer has been travelling and is unable to prepare the report early,” she wrote in an e-mail Monday. . . .

Marcuccio’s cash on hand on Monday was $3,900. She has raised about $4,897 since Sept. 26. . . .

Bridget Newton raised $3,636 since the first report, spent $1,860 and has a cash-on-hand balance of $5,100.

(As you can see, I say Marcuccio is “apparently” ahead of the pack as mayoral candidate and incumbent Susan Hoffmann did not provide early information.)

[UPDATE: By my calculations, Newton has less cash on hand than the article reports. I have $2965.46. This is still the leading city council cash on hand number. When the official reports come out we will be able to get a definitive answer.]

Follow this link to the full article see how the rest of the candidates are doing in terms of money raised, spent, and cash on hand.

There’s just one addition to the Gazette piece. It lists city council candidate Virginia Onley as not having responded, but late Monday [CORRECTION: Tuesday] she sent us her information. Since Sept. 26 (the last reporting date), she has raised $715, spent nothing, and has $1,927.80 on hand.

As soon as the full, official reports are available from the City, we will post links to them. They are an important part of the campaign process.

[UPDATED, correcting Onley's email date, and adding a note that this article contains opinion.]

[UPDATED, to correct Bridget Newton's cash on hand.]

POTD: Bye Bye Summer

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This lovely shot (which makes me wistful for warmer, sunnier days) is by Rockville Central reader Rosalind Bauer. Thanks Rosalind!

Video Of Rockville Central Candidate Forum

Readers, thank you very much for waiting so patiently for us to upload video from> Saturday morning’s candidate forum. We’ve gotten a lot of really exciting feedback from the event.

You would not believe how tough it was to get this video file in shape to post. Turns out working with a two-hour video file is qualitatively different than working with 10 minute YouTube posts. We also had some technical issues during the event that cropped up in the sound (low volume level, intermittent buzzing, and I think one of the microphone cables was going bad at the end there) that we did not realize during shooting. So those had to be fixed.

With all that, I did the bare minimum when it comes to subtitles. The first time each person appears, we run their name as a subtitle. (Cindy Cotte Griffiths’ subtitle actually runs on her second appearance, as her first was brief and I misplaced the subtitle during editing. Sorry Cindy!)

We only show names once, so if you forget who someone is in the middle, I recommend you pause and go look at a website for their face!

Because it is such a long video, we were not able to upload full “high quality” so when you watch it may be slightly reminiscent of 2005. And, since we just had the one camera, there are no slick cuts between speakers. Tim Hampton had to pan from person to person and sometimes we talked faster than he could pan.

All this is to say, please forgive us if it is not exactly broadcast quality.

But our chief goal — to post it so people could see — was achieved. And so without further ado, we give you, THE VIDEO:

Rockville Central Candidate Forum, October 24, 2009 from Brad Rourke on Vimeo.

Also, at the forum, I promised I would upload the detailed agenda that Cindy and I worked from. We wanted to make sure there was full transparency and you could see we did not alter question order based on which candidates were up next or anything like that. So, I’ve posted a PDF scan of my agenda notes here.

As near as I can recall, we only made two deviations from what we planned. First, in the “introductions” segment at the beginning, our plan was to ask each candidate a quick question then go on to the next. But when I saw that the microphone handoff was going to be possibly problematic, I decided to ask each candidate all four questions in a row. I think that worked pretty well.

The other change was at the end, where we squished together the final two questions and the candidates made closing statements. I signaled I was doing that in the event, but I wanted to call attention to that change as well. In all other respects, I believe we stuck to the script! (The “Tom” I wrote in the margin of the agenda is Tom Miner, whom I had forgotten to thank personally by that point and so I wrote his name down to remember.)

One last thing. I promised a full accounting of the costs of the event. The rental of the facility was $140 (plus or minus a few dollars — I will know when we get our security deposit back), and the coffee and donuts were $100.46. About $17 for the digital video tape. Cindy and I split the tab for all that, and, as I said in the event, we regard it as a contribution to the civic life of the community. We paid standard rate for everything — the same you would have paid if you were throwing a birthday party or reception. We considered passing a basket at the event to defray costs but ultimately decided that might be weird.

Gazette's Rockville City Election Coverage In One Place

The Rockville Mayor and Council Election is only a week away. As you research the candidates to make your choices, we here at >Rockville Central want to point you toward all the information available.

Joe Jordan, who is serving as Phyllis Marcuccio’s campaign manager, reminded us about Rockville City Election 2009 on the Gazette.net website.

In a nutshell, you will find links to:

• Short bio videos, about 2 minutes each
• The Gazette articles featuring each candidate
• Gazette news articles about the election going back to January 2009.

If you feel as though you haven’t been following the news closely enough regarding this election, it’s all a click away. Since they often don’t deliver the paper version of The Gazette to my driveway, I did some reading myself.

Two Recommended Women Writers, But You’ll Have to Choose

Rockville will be so literary on Wednesday November 4, 2009. Two different opportunities feature women with far-reaching experiences. Delve into a new world with one of these invitations.Professor >Monica Parrish Trent of Montgomery College sent along this announcement for DC author Marita Golden, who will hold a lecture and book signing at Montgomery College Rockville at 6:30 PM in the Theatre Arts Arena:

Golden’s talk, which is based on writers and their authority to speak, will cover her experiences and expertise as a novelist, nonfiction writer, creative writing teacher and her recent trip to Israel as a Fulbright Scholar. This event is free and open to the public.

Her novel “AFTER” won the 2007 Fiction Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association the 2008 Maryland Author Award from the Association of Maryland Librarians. Her other fiction includes “Long Distance Life”, “AWoman’s Place,” “And Do Remember Me,” and “The Edge of Heaven.” In the genre of nonfiction, Golden has edited three anthologies, most recently “Black Writers on Soul Mates Family and Friends.” As a memoirist and essayist, Golden has authored “Migrations of the Heart, Saving Our Sons: Raising Black Children in a Turbulent World,” and “A Miracle Everyday: Triumph and Transformation in the Lives of Single Mothers.”

Currently, Golden, born in Washington, D.C., serves as writer-in-residence at the University of the District of Columbia. She founded and served as the first president of the Washington, D.C.-based African American Writers Guild. In 1990 she co-founded the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation, which presents the nation’s only national fiction award for college writers of African descent and an annual summer writer’s workshop for black writers. She now serves as president emeritus of the organization.

For more information about this event, please contact Professor Monica Parrish Trent at 240-567-7976 or e-mail [email protected].

Local poetry musician, Uli Zislin, also sent along an invitation for the same evening, Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 7:30 PM at the Rockville Library to hear Washington poet, Marina Tyurina Oberlander, who he describes as a writer, poet, translator and philologist. She recently had a big performance in Moscow and will be reading at Pushkin’s House in London next month. We’re lucky to have her here in Rockville now.

Washington poet and translator of Scandinavian and English poetry Marina Tyurina Oberlander will read poetry from her Book of Poetry, Na Ostrom Rubezhe Prostranstva (On the Sharp Edge of Space) from Vodoley Publishers, Moscow, 2008. The book is published with the support of the distinguished Russian literary contemporary, Eugene Witkowsky and is available at the Russian book store, Russia on Line, 301/933-0607.