Feet to the Fire Writers' Workshops® OUTLOUD Angela Burton, Host

Carol Mead is a woman who values the power of words, as a way to communicate with her children and grandchildren a valued reach to loved ones. She cherishes her friendships dearly and so when faced with the word "buddy", it prompted her to examine what that meant in her life. She writes about belonging, contributing, doing and the value of her female comrades,  as "...older, wiser women who can revolutionize the way we live and the way we are seen by society: compassionate, nurturing, fierce about what matters..."

Ellen Stanley Sears is a teacher, writer, and artist who finds peace in observation, in nature, especially. In this episode Ellen talks about language, the beauty of words and walking through grief, writing through grief. She says, "I know I'll be okay. I know everything will be okay. It's just what do you have to do to get there?" 

Joe Proctor is a faithful writer of daily journals, haiku (a traditional form of Japanese poetry), a former DJ and a grower of vegetables. He emphatically believes that writing is one of his best daily practices and he's accumulating quite a collection of words. Joe says, "Writing, perhaps, is the highest form of expression. The spoken word is important, but it comes and goes, and if it's not written down, no one remembers it later on. But writing can be permanent." 

Dr. Jennifer Jenks is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist who works with children, adolescents and adults in her private practice in Ann Arbor, Michigan. As an avid writer herself, she shares a solid belief in the benefits of writing; sharing and creating stories can help us through difficult times in our lives, especially now during our current global pandemic. She agrees that writing is one of the best ways to share ourselves with others. She says, "When you read someone's words you hear their voice, they come back, they come to you in a way that even photos don't do - photos, videos, they all do something different - but there's something about the written word that's so powerful." 

John Harbison is a prolific reader, writer and watcher of birds, a watcher of all things nature. He writes nearly every day, as he believes that writing is therapeutic and a way to capture his legacy for his daughters. In "Dancing on the Edge", he writes about a moment that shifted beneath him, a moment with the woman who would later become his wife: "I thought then, and I still do, that there is nothing more graceful and beautiful as a woman casting a fly rod; it's piscatorial ballet..."  

Weezie Walker has discovered a newfound love for writing in her later years, as it's opened a "wonderful outlet" which she didn't realize was within her. Constantly amazed by her children and grandchildren, the learning is a continuous process, especially when it comes to technology and pop culture. She writes, "I don't feel very smart and I do feel my age but while putting my thoughts down on paper, I realize I'm exactly where I should be in the great scheme of things and I'm grateful for being able to express it."