Connie Kindsvater tells us :

 One of our newer members (2011) Jeff Bruce is now the Managing Editor of the NDN! Congrats to Jeff!!  In his new job, he will have a nurturing role, working with staff to help produce the best investigative and enterprise stories that can't be found anywhere else (according to Phil Lewis).  In the article (on p. 1 of today's paper) it states that Bruce was hired in 2011 by the NDN after a national search; he's a former editor of the Dayton (OH) Daily News, a managing editor for the Austin (TX) American-Statesman, and editor-in-chief for Cox Ohio Publishing. Earlier in his career, he had various reporting and editing jobs with the Miami Herald, the Palm Beach Post, the St. Petersburg Times and the Tampa Times. He has also been a member of two Pulitzer Prize juries and a judge for national journalism, writing and photography awards. Currently, he is a journalist in residence at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and has traveled back and forth from Naples to teach Mass Media Writing, Editing, and Feature Writing. From now on, he will teach an online course and does not plan to commute.

The NDN also announced that Phil Lewis (also one of our members), now the Executive Editor and Vice President, will continue to be responsible for newsroom operations, including the editorial and opinion pages, and will continue to head up the editorial board and will resume a weekly column.

Also, one of our old-time members, Olga Hirshhorn is receiving the 2012 International Sculpture Center "Patron Award" at an Award Ceremony at the Naples Philharmonic Center on Friday, Feb. 3rd. $150 tickets for the event are available: www.sculpture.org.

 

Phil Jason reports: 

This match was made at the Authors & Books Festival l!  Published in 2011 by Barringer Publishing, Suzie Weinert's first novel has been selected to become a Hallmark Channel Original Movie. The movie will air in 2012. Suzi is now working on the second and third book in the series, which Barringer will publish in 2012. 

 

"Garage Sale Stalker"

[see http://philjason.wordpress.com/2011/03/31/who-knows-what-evil-lurks-at-a-garage-sale/] will be directed  by Michael Scott, who has directed over 40 films over a 25 year career.

 

We would also like to thank our staff, including Carole Greene, literary agent, who represented "Garage Sale Stalker", negotiating the contract with Hallmark, plus our very talented editing and graphic design staff, who brought the book to life.

Suzi related to us that the most recent Hallmark production, based from a book, sold 75 million copies of the book. With her sequels coming out the same year as the movie, Suzi is very excited about the possibilities.

 

And more from Phil: 

Quality of Life Publishing Co., established in 1999 by founding member Karla Wheeler, reached new heights in 2011 by winning national book awards for two of the firm's new book titles. "Reflections of a Loving Partner" written by Boston-area hospice nurse C. Andrew Martin, won a coveted Benjamin Franklin Award from the independent Publisher's Association.

 

"Weird is Normal When Teenagers Grieve" written by Karla's daughter, Jenny Lee Wheeler, won two Nautilus Book Awards. Both of these titles also won awards in the 2011 President's Book Awards of the Florida Publishers Association. This past year marked the sixth consecutive year Quality of Life's Books have earned awards on the national level.

 

Nicole Groll,Scholarship winner (USF graduated 2011) announced at the recent "Shakespeare in Paradise " event, held at Clive Daniels Home, that she is joining the Coast Guard and will train in the Communications Department. Congratulations Nicole!  The evening was a huge success and an excerpt from "Macbeth, A Love Story" met with lots of applause.