~WRITERS
UNITE~
HALL OF FAME
Carmella Van Vleet
(www.carmellavanvleet.com) is the
first inductee into The Writers Unite Hall of Fame! An excerpt (with permission)
from her email: "I
just have to tell you - I'm
downright inspired by your idea of donating money from author visits to worthy
causes. I've been running ideas through my head for the last two days and then I
came across an article this morning about an organization that I'd love to
support: R.E.A.D (which stands for Reading Education Assistance Dogs). It's a
group that brings therapy dogs into schools and libraries to help children who
are struggling in reading. This is just the kind of thing that my own daughter
would benefit from." Hats off to you, Carmella! You have made the world a better
place!
Rick
Walton (www.rickwalton.com) is the
second inductee into The Writers Unite Hall of Fame. An excerpt (with
permission) from his email:
"I love your idea. Before I was diagnosed the world of disease and
suffering just flowed around me, without my noticing. And then, after my
four-year-old was diagnosed with diabetes, and I was diagnosed with Parkinson's,
a light went on. And I learned two major things-- one bad, one good. The
bad: there are a lot of people with chronic, debilitating, or life-threatening
diseases, or who love someone with these diseases. That's a lot of
suffering. The good: there's a lot of good research being done, and a lot
of good people working to cure these diseases, to eliminate the suffering. Many
of these diseases are just a few short years away from being cured. And
every little push, even the kinds that ordinary individuals can do, brings those
cures even closer, and saves real lives." Rick, YOU make a difference. I'm
sure you'll turn the light switch on for many.
Barbara
Kanninen (http://www.barbarakanninen.com)
joins Writers Unite! An excerpt from her email:
"I'm in! I finally made my decision about an organization and got the Writers
Unite part of my website ready. As you will see, I'm planning to pick a
different organization for each of my books and will announce them as the books
come out. Jake's
Lemonade Stand will be published in Fall 2006
by educational publisher
Kaeden Books.
It is an emergent reader for grades K-2 that illustrates entrepreneurial and
economics concepts. It wasn't hard to find the right organization to go with
this book. I plan to donate 10% of my earnings from Jake's Lemonade Stand to Alex's
Lemonade Stand. Please
check it out and thanks for all you do!" No, Barbara...thanks for ALL you
do! You help make the world a sweeter place!
Talented
illustrator Connie McLennan (http://ckmclennan.foliosnap.com/)
joins Writers Unite! An excerpt from her email:
"Writer's Unite, which I found through
Barbara Kanninen's web site, is exactly what I have been looking for.
Choosing the
UCSF
Pediatric IBD Foundation to
receive a portion of my books' royalties was easy. In 1999, at exactly the time
I began illustrations for
Domitila, the first children's book I
illustrated, my son Thomas (then 8) was hospitalized and diagnosed with
ulcerative colitis--an autoimmune, inflammatory bowel disease. Eight months
later, a severe, medically refractory flare-up resulted in the removal of his
entire large bowel. Because of post-surgical complications, he remained
hospitalized nearly five months and required two additional surgeries. All told,
he has had five major abdominal surgeries.
Thomas is lucky: even though this radical surgery is not a "perfect"
alternative, is a cure for his disease. People with Crohn's (the other
debilitating inflammatory bowel disease), also may require one or more
surgeries, but for them there is no cure--only a lifetime of powerful
medications with dangerous potential side effects; the most severe cases can be
fatal. Because of IBD's "unsexy" nature, it is not a particularly popular cause;
but for the estimated one million children and adults who suffer from it,
research to find a cure is vital.
More information about IBD is available on the
Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America web
site. Although this is the national foundation, I am donating to fund
research through the UCSF Pediatric IBD Foundation, because Thomas' great
gastroenterologist, Dr. Mel Heyman, is Chief of the Pediatric Gastroenterology,
Hepatology and Nutrition Division at UCSF. My dedication in the fifth children's
book I illustrated,
The Rainforest Grows All Around reads,
"To Thomas--survivor, hero."
Hey, Connie...Thomas isn't the only hero in your family!
NOTE: I've never "met" Connie before this although I recognized her lovely
artwork immediately. I assumed she knew Barbara Kanninen. She
doesn't. That's the power of the web...
THIS SPOT IS RESERVED FOR YOU!