Nonfiction
-
Things that are tough are what you remember.
by Joanie Schirm on January 8, 2014 PermalinkThings that are tough are what you remember. I was brought up on the view that if you wait patiently until the end of the story, the good people will live happily ever after. As a 1960’s child, “Treat others with respect and make the world better wherever you go” paraphrases the example
-
Honoring UN World Refugee Day – June 20th – 74 years hence, my dad’s journey as a refugee
by Joanie Schirm on June 19, 2013 PermalinkDocks in Hong Kong, June 24, 1939 – L to R: unidentified aide to Frantisek Urbana, Leo Lilling (Valdik’s “distant cousin), and Oswald “Valdik” Holzer, a stateless Czech citizen on his way to China after escaping his Nazi-occupied homeland (then the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia) According to the United Nations, every minute, 8 people
-
How do you know the value of your writing?
by Joanie Schirm on May 31, 2013 PermalinkAs a writer, I work day in, day out in solitude. Some mornings I’m at my desk at 6:30 a.m. Other days I feel guilty because I don’t arrive in my writing room (converted upstairs game room) until 8:30 a.m. Most days I take an hour for lunch, solely to give my eyes a rest;