Reading and signing event to be held in Springfield on Monday, Oct. 16 from 6:30-7:30 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD – Leslie Lawrence, a retired marketing strategist in the region, has released her memoir, “I’m a lucky woman: A Photographic Memoir of a Breast Cancer Survivor,” and will host an event Monday, Oct. 16 at the East Forest Park branch of the Springfield libraries from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Lawrence was a product manager for Milton Bradley early on in her career and later founded and led an ad agency for 20 years in Springfield called TSM Design. TSM served clients such as Milton Bradley, Friendly’s, Random House, and Apple, in its early years. She retired early to enjoy her family and continue her passion for volunteering and moved from Longmeadow to Dartmouth in 2013.

Lawrence will read and sign her book, a memoir told through deftly crafted stories and amplified with meaningful haikus, humor and photographs that are revealing, raw, and real. The book shines a light on Lawrence’s experiences, including her clinical treatment, which is painstakingly documented, and her creative musings on her emotional journey.

“The book is an offering of hope,” she said.

For most of her life, Lawrence expected a cancer diagnosis as her mother and two aunts also battled the disease. Lawrence’s diagnosis came in 2016, when she was 66. Five years later, she reached the cancer-free milestone. To celebrate, she penned her memoir to give hope to other women experiencing the same diagnosis.

“I’m a lucky woman,” a cancer story unlike any other, can be purchased at leslielawrenceauthor.com, where details of her events schedule and more information about the book can also be found.

Lawrence and her husband, Ron Weingartner, live in Dartmouth, and have one son. For more information, visit leslielawrenceauthor.com. Follow her on Instagram and Facebook.

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Work of fiction, based on a true story, is the first title for Janice Beetle Books imprint

SOUTH HADLEY—Janice Beetle, owner of Janice Beetle Books LLC, will discuss a client’s book, Flight of Integrity, and read from it on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. at South Hadley Public Library. 

Beetle developed the book with Peter Cichon of South Hadley over the past four years. The work, with cover and page design by Lisa Stowe in Florence, tells the story of Cichon’s former career as a ramp agent for a major airline that is now defunct. 

“Peter’s experience there traumatized him,” Beetle said. “His reason for telling his story was to free himself of the shame he felt after he and the airline parted ways.”

Flight of Integrity is the first title published through Janice Beetle Books and carries the business imprint along with that for Off the Common Books in Amherst, which printed the work. Through Janice Beetle Books, Beetle works with writers of all skill levels—as well as nonwriters—to help them carry a book idea through to publication. She also offers writing coaching services.

The reading is free and open to the public; South Hadley Public Library is located at 2 Canal St. 

Beetle will tell the story of how she and Cichon partnered to tell this story, and she will read several excerpts from the book. Beetle and Cichon will answer questions from the audience.

The book is available at https://www.levellerspress.com/product/flight-of-integrity/.

While the book is fictionalized, it is based on Cichon’s life and career path as well as on facts and actual characters and events. 

In it, the main character is James Kowalski, who grew up poor and developed a work ethic that served him well. Kowalski became an exceptional laborer and was praised by every employer he had. Working as a truck driver, he dreamt of changing his career and fantasized about working at an airline. 

When he was finally offered a job as a ramp agent—loading and unloading baggage and maintaining airplanes for Arrow Airlines at Bradley International Airport—Kowalski jumped at the opportunity. He also took on the volunteer role of managing employee payroll because he loved being a part of the success of the airline.

Sexual harassment was common in the workplace, and race relations were troubled. The book details incidents and the players involved and tells the story of how events played out for Kowalski.

Judith Kelliher, a longtime colleague of Beetle’s, helped Beetle conduct interviews early in the process and also copyedited the manuscript. 

For more information, visit JaniceBeetleBooks.com.

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In 2006, Tom and his wife, Beth Hewson, moved to Ontario, Canada. If he hadn’t written a book about the death of his brother as a teenager and asked me to edit it for him, I would know him even less now than I did 15 years ago. Instead, I feel very connected to Tom. I’m excited that his memoir, Seasoned: A Memoir of Grief and Grace has been printed. And I’ll be front and center at his first reading at St. John’s on Tuesday, April 25 at 7 p.m.

I feel the kinship with Tom on several levels. I understand his pride and his anxiety in the fact that people will now be able to read his book. I felt the same way when Divine Renovations came out, and I started taking it out in the world, wondering what people would think.

I also feel a deep connection to Tom’s story of loss. His brother Steve was hit by a car and killed while both boys were doing their paper routes. Steve was 15. Tom was 14. As his family buried their son and brother, they also buried their grief.

I empathize and understand the quiet mourning because my parents also lost a son. My brother Johnny died of leukemia at 10 years old, before I was born. I came around three years later and somehow, even though we didn’t talk about Johnny much, I still felt the loss.

I first read Tom’s manuscript a year ago. We have worked together since then to tighten and trim the book, and when it was ready, we turned it over to Maureen Scanlon of The Creative, and she designed the cover and insides, and brought it to life.

I communicated with Tom via Skype and email. My role in readying the manuscript was to make it more powerful and a little less personal. I remember telling Tom in that early phase to think of the book as if it were a family photo album. Together, we worked to remove images that were redundant, to add shots that brought new layers and voices into the story and to bring some images into better focus.

Tom greatly appreciated this work. In his acknowledgements at the back of the book, Tom says, “The skill, sensitivity, and professionalism of my editor, Janice Beetle, are gifts that helped to sharpen, shorten, and sweeten the narrative. Her challenge to go deeper into early interactions with Steve led me to new understandings I had never before considered.”

I’m very proud of those words, and I’m very proud of Tom. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Micronesia in the late 1960s, and has also been a preschool teacher and director, a child care counselor, a city parks and recreation superintendent, and a New Games trainer. He holds degrees from Valparaiso University in Indiana, George Williams College in Illinois, and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

His book, Seasoned, is not just a story of grief and recovery, though. It is also a tender and lighthearted look at humor and laughter, winning and losing, and doubt and faith. It’s a book about family, fun, laughter and love.

Please join me at Tom’s reading on April 25. Hear him tell his story and buy a book! Proceeds from the sales will benefit the Stephen A. Zink Scholarship fund at Steve’s alma mater, Lutheran High School West in Rocky River, Ohio.

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