LZ ANGEL NEWSLETTER
Issue 9 - Volume 1 October 8,
2004
The American Authors Association
AAA President Bill McDonald with actor Danny Glover
September 26th in Sacramento, California.
(Nope, Bill did not grow any taller - Mr. Glover is sitting his
6'4" body in a chair)
AAA President Bill McDonald finally got around to meeting up with actor
Danny Glover in Sacramento after Glover's one man performance to raise money for the
local theater group. Danny had first tried to contact Bill back in November of
last year to talk about his writings and his website "The Vietnam Experience" (www.vietnamexp.com).
It seems that he was using the writings and poetry off the website to help him
develop his character role for his newest movie "The Woodcutter"
which is due to be released within the next several months. (We will update you
through our newsletter with a movie website link). Danny Glover has
received copies of all three Bill's books to read. One of which is dedicated to
him - "Purple Hearts".
Plot Summary for
Woodcutter
-
A haunted Vietnam veteran (Danny Glover), living in exile
in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, is faced with a life-changing decision
after he's visited by a former platoon member (David Strathairn) and his young
Amerasian daughter (newcomer Zoë Weizenbaum).
POETRY HALL OF FAME
On Radio station KDVS FM 90.3
The University of California at Davis
April 2004
Photo credit: Nancy Olsen
Poet W. H. McDonald Jr. (Bill) has been selected to The
University of California at Davis FM radio station's (KDVS 90.3 FM)
"Poetry Hall of Fame"
http://www.culturelover.com/halloffame.html
Some of the Honored Poets in The Hall
Quincy Troupe
Award winning writer & poet.
Winner of the Peabody Award
The first Poet Laureate of California.
Clarence Major - Poet, novelist, essayist, painter
and distinguished professor at U. C. Davis
http://www.onlinepoetryclassroom.org/poets/poets.cfm?prmID=505
Gary Snyder - Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
Considered one of the best living poets!
http://www.culturelover.com/garysnyder.html
Photo by Beatrice Weyrich
Jack D. Forbes - Poet, author and lecturer.
Professor Emeritus and former chair of Native American Studies at
UC Davis - Lifetime Achievement Award from the "Before
Columbus Foundation in 1007 - former Goggenheim Fellow
http://cougar.ucdavis.edu/nas/faculty/forbes/personal/forbes.html
New AAA Chapter - Northern California
Author and AAA national officer Andy O'Hara has been
charted to establish a northern California chapter of the AAA to provide better
services for members in that area. That includes social gatherings along with
book events and seminars.
Andy
OHara is a retired California Highway Patrolman who spent much of his boyhood
and career in the Sacramento Valley. He lives in Sacramento with his
wife, Lisa. He can be
reached
at
fike989b@yahoo.com
if
you wish more in formation or to join his chapter.
Vietnam Veteran EXPO
San Francisco in the spring of 2005
|
|
Playwright, author and Vietnam veteran Tony Lazzarini is organizing a
large Vietnam veteran EXPO in San Francisco for the spring of 2005 - no firm
dates have been set yet. There will be films about or by veterans, authors,
poets, artists and other creative people who will share a weekend with the
public.
Book signings and lectures by authors and film makers will highlight the event.
Those interested in exhibiting or participating in this AAA
endorsed event can contact
Tony Lazzarini
Book Review - Book of The Month
River of Memories - An Appalachian Boyhood
by David Lee Thompson
email: dlthomp43@aol.com
website:
http://authorsden.com/visit/viewwork.asp?id=9905
Publisher: Writers Club Press an imprint of iUniverse,
Inc.
I fully enjoyed getting an inside peek at a life so much different than my own
life in California was when I was growing up. The author David Lee Thompson
took me emotionally on a journey of the heart - to a time and place that was so
innocent and simple that I felt that I had missed something very important in my
own childhood. The life that he shares about Bowen Creek, West Virginia in the
1940's and 50's made me wonder how his going to Vietnam must have been so hard
and so vile for his very soul. It must have been a difficult thing for his
youthful self to see a world so opposite to the live he had before. The
contrasting worlds could not be any farther apart emotionally or spiritually.
It was like his youthful Appalachian innocence became a victim to the harsh
reality of that war. He survived but one wonders what long term effect it had on
his outlook on life. I was left wanting to read the next chapter in David's life
and find out what he is doing and thinking now.
This book is a nostalgic and loving look at a life that is no
more - a time that few have been privileged to personally ever know . When you
read his stories you can just picture yourself running along a creek or fishing
with him. The stories are written in a style that embraces your senses and
inner imagination. You will find yourself transported to his time and place and
you will feel like you have lived a part of his life with him - it is as if you
the reader - where along with the author and are sharing his adventures.
This is a must read book and the American Author's Association gives it a
5 Star Rating . It has also been nominated for a
2004 AAA Gold Book Award by the AAA Book Award
Committee.
Reviewed by Bill McDonald
NOTE: Bill McDonald - will be out of the country from October 11th through Thanksgiving week 2004. Any emails or communication to him may be delayed. He will be touring in India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet.
