Sharon Wachsler Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
Artist with Humor
More than 325">
Sharon Wachsler Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
Artist with Humor
More than 325,000 visitors to this site since 2002 and
starting March 9,2006 new visitors to this page begin at
Having a chemical Sensitivity is a depressing outlook for most
of those with this debilitating environmental Illness, but Sharon gets
past the mask to share her wicked wit. This information Diva has quite a
following and recently was featured on WMAC radio on the roundtable discussion.
Following is the recent news:
Just a quick note
to invite you to listen to me read my humorous essay, "Bringing Home the
Anti-Lassie" tomorrow morning, Tuesday 1/20/04.
My essay will air a little after 10:15 AM Eastern Time during the morning
program, "The Roundtable" on Northeast Public Radio, WAMC. It tells the tale of
my first adventure with my as-yet-untrained service dog, Gadget.
WAMC is the NPR station out of Albany which broadcasts to most of New York
(upstate), as well as Western Massachusetts and parts of Vermont, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.
If you are outside the broadcast area you can tune in via the Web. Go to
www.WAMC.org.
For the list of WAMC stations/call letters/frequencies, see below.
Enjoy!
Sharon Wachsler
www.sharonwachsler.com
Writer, Humorist, Dog Trainer, MCS & Disability Educator
Check out my collected humor columns at www.abilitymaine.org
WAMC, 90.3 FM
Albany NY
WAMC, 1400AM
Albany NY
WAMK, 90.9 FM
Kingston NY
WOSR, 91.7 FM
Middletown NY
WCEL, 91.9 FM
Plattsburgh NY
WCAN, 93.3 FM
Canajoharie NY
WANC, 103.9 FM
Ticonderoga NY
WAMQ, 105.1 FM
Great Barrington MA W205AJ, 88.9 FM
Oneonta NY
W226AC, 93.1 FM
Rensselaer-Troy NY
W299AG, 107.7 FM
Newburgh NY
W220CE, 91.9
Southington CT
NEW NEWS!
DISABILITY LITERARY
JOURNAL LAUNCHED BY ONLINE NEWSPAPER
Contact: Sharon Wachsler, Editor Breath & Shadow: A Journal of Disability Culture and Literature
BreathandShadow@aol.com or 413-625-9820; www.abilitymaine.org/breath
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCH 23, 2004
RESOURCE AND ACTIVISM ORGANIZATION SPAWNS CULTURAL ENDEAVOR
MONROE, ME (March 23, 2004) -- AbilityMaine.org, the online newspaper of news,
resources, and activism information on disability in Maine and the world, has
branched out to promote literary writing by people with disabilities. On January
30, 2004, AbilityMaine launched Breath & Shadow, the only online literary
journal with a focus on disability. The monthly publishes poetry, fiction,
essays, interviews, drama, and other writing from the perspective of life with
disability.
Originally the idea of AbilityMaine editor, Norman Meldrum, the project was
taken up by award-winning poet and writer, Sharon Wachsler, whose humor columns
have drawn readers to the online newspaper since February 2002. "I'm proud to be
editing the sole cross-disability literary magazine written and edited entirely
by people with disabilities," says Wachsler. "As a writer who has a disability,
I know firsthand how frustrating it is to have my work turned down by editors
who are confused or frightened by my life. A big part of the impetus for
Breath & Shadow is to provide opportunities for other talented writers with
disabilities to make their voices heard."
Breath & Shadow is succeeding in attracting such talent. The first issue
includes an essay by two-time Pushcart nominee and novelist, New Yorker Tobias
Seamon, as well as poetry by Rhode Island's Peggy Munson — winner of several
awards and fellowships and contributor to Best American Poetry 2003. "I'm
thrilled with the quality of submissions that have come in," Wachsler
acknowledges. "And the quantity. We received over 100 submissions in just the
first month. The community's enthusiasm for this venture has surpassed my
expectations."
Each issue touches on a theme. The inaugural edition focused on "Beginning"; the
second,
"Trust/Distrust" opens with "Maine poet Patricia Ranzoni's gentle, lyric trust
of the people in her life flows lightly under her words — like the streams and
rivers about which she writes — even as she has learned to trust her body's
unpredictability." It is followed by Tricia Owsley's essay "Programmed," about a
nightmarish experience in an Illinois mental hospital.
"We have some powerful, beautiful, diverse pieces coming up," promises Wachsler.
These artists include Texan Suzie Siegel, a newspaper reporter whose 20-year
career was halted by cancer and playwright Kari Ann Owen of California, whose
work will be presented at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
this June by VSA Arts. (Both in Issue 3, March 26, on "Treatment.") "Visual Art
Reflections," (Issue 4) profiles Deaf art ambassador Brenda Schertz, who curated
the first fine art exhibit of Deaf artists and is organizing a Deaf film
festival. Future contributors include Edward McInnis, former "Naked City"
columnist for Boston Magazine, disabled by fibromyalgia and Kenny Fries,
author of multiple books of poetry and prose and winner of the Gregory Kolvakos
Award for AIDS Writing. "Don't be scared away by preconceived notions of what
writers with disabilities have to say," Wachsler cautions. "I can promise plenty
of surprises for our readers. I'll even have a humor column in the 'Death'
issue."
Startup funding for Breath & Shadow has been provided by Resources for
Organizing and Social Change (ROSC) — the grassroots, nonprofit organization of
which AbilityMaine is a part. "The people at ROSC and AbilityMaine have been
fantastically supportive and integral to the project," says Wachsler. "However,
it's the public's support that will keep us going."
Read Breath & Shadow at www.abilitymaine.org/breath. Visitors to the site
can also learn about sponsorship opportunities, the history and staff of the
project, and how to subscribe (for free) or submit their work. For more
information, e-mail breathandshadow@aol.com. Wachsler asks allies of artists
with disabilities to make a tax-deductible contribution to Breath & Shadow
by sending a check to ROSC, PO Box 776, Monroe, ME 04951.
Hello Sick Humorites,
I forgot to mention I have another article currently published online. It's at
Ragged Edge Magazine online. It was published 3/17/04.
Sharon Wachsler's article, "MONKeying with disability rights," is now online at
http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/mediacircus/monkshot0304.html and is linked
from their home page at http://www.raggededgemagazine.com
Thanks!
-Sharon
P.P.S. Don't forget about the www.sickhumorpostcards.com special I mentioned a
few days ago. # for the price of 1.
Sharon Wachsler
www.sharonwachsler.com
Writer, Humorist, Dog Trainer, MCS & Disability Educator
Check out my collected humor columns at www.abilitymaine.org
