Category: Advocacy

Erma Bombeck Writing Competion opens

The Erma Bombeck Writing Competion opens Tuesday, January 3. New to the contest this year is a $15 entry fee and a $500 prize to four winners, along with a complimentary registration to the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop April 19-21. There are two categories, humor and human interest., but entries are limited to one article…

Standring in Award Winning Anthology

“Mug of Woe,” a hilarious collection of personal embarrassments, took second place at the 2011 New England Book Festival in the category of “Compilations/Anthologies.” An essay, “Down There Nothing is Minor,” by Suzette Martinez Standring was featured.  Contributors were humorists and professional standup comedians.  Jenn Dlugos and Kyle Cranston co-created and edited Mug of Woe.…

Best Columns of 2011, According to Facebook

Trophies image

We have a winner. Actually two. These two columnists were the overwhelming choice of a few hundred Facebook account holders. Not a tie, definitely a first and second, though. The National Society of Newspaper Columnists and NSNC member John Avlon (co-editor of this year’s popular anthology Deadline Artists: America’s Greatest Newspaper Columns) sponsored a straw…

Nominations: Unofficial Best Column of 2011

ballot box for vote

The NSNC and NSNC member John Avlon (co-editor of this year’s popular anthology Deadline Artists: America’s Greatest Newspaper Columns) want to know your choice of the best columns of 2011. Please list them, at Facebook.com/columnists, with headline, columnist and its web link. We are looking for Newspaper Columns in any medium. Nominations deadline, noon Central…

Bruce Cameron discontinues newspaper column

In an unexpected announcement, humor columnist and author  W. Bruce Cameron announced that he has decided to discontinue his newspaper column on Jan 7th. Cameron made the announcement with his usual sense of humor:  “So, after starting my column in 1995 as an email only thing, going to the Rocky Mountain News in 1998 and…

Ernie Witham leads workshops

Ernie Witham Columnist and author, Ernie Witham, who writes “Ernie’s World” for the Montecito Journal in Montecito, California, will be leading four workshops at the Whidbey Island Writers Conference, Langley, WA, March 2-4, 2012. *Humor on Vacation. The Fun and Funny Aspects of Travel *The Craft of Humor Writing. Making Funny Funnier *Did You See…

Board Meets – Discusses Georgia Conference in Spring

The NSNC board of directors met Monday evening online. The major topic was the the 2012 NSNC Conference in Macon, Georgia, May 3-6 at the Marriott Hotel.  Ed Grisamore, conference chair reports, “Everything is going great. Sponsorships falling into place. Programs lining up.”  Ed is getting help from the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and a…

Rademacher promoting new book

Tom Rademacher Tom Rademacher, Grand Rapids Press,  has a new book  called “Knocking at Your Door,” a book of columns published by Lake Michigan Books. Rademacher is a prize-winning columnist who received First Place for two straight years in the General Interest Category of the annual NSNC Writing Contest, as well as scoring wins in…

Bad Dad, lastest book by Dave Lieber

Columnist-author-speaker Dave Lieber has authored a deeply personal narrative that explores parental responsibility, child-rearing practices and discipline, journalistic ethics, small-town corruption and retribution, and the moral consequences of being a public figure. Lieber, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Watchdog columnist, said the book is “a risky project.” “Some warned me not to do this,” he said.…

Hot Dog! Gris Has a New Book

    Busy Ed Grisamore found time in his schedule of writing columns for the Macon, Ga., Telegraph and planning next year’s annual conference to turn out another book. It’s titled There Is More than One Way to Spell Wiener: The Story of Nu Way-Weiners and it’s the story of America’s second-oldest hot dog chain.   …

Horowitz Ending Syndicated Column

(Two corrections made to article, in bold, below) Rick Horowitz, long-time NSNC member, announced that he is ending his twice-weekly syndicated column at the end of the year. Rick plans to devote his extensive energies to a new business venture called Prime Prose, LLC. His new enterprise will pull together an expanding assortment of the…

Luellen Smiley Making The Radio Rounds

NSNC member Luellen Smiley was guest of Philadelphia-based radio host and television personality Mike Smerconish on The Morning Mouth earlier this month. Smiley, is the daughter of reputed mobster, Allen Smiley. Smiley’s dad was a close friend and confidant of famous Las Vegas mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel and he was sitting on the couch just feet…

Registration for Bombeck Workshop Opens Dec. 6th

University of Dayton ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Registration for the 2012 Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop, directed toward humor writers, will open Dec. 6, per Workshop Director, Matt Dewald. Space for this conference usually sells out fast, so if you are interested in attended, we recommend registering right away. The 2012 workshop at the University of Dayton will kick…

Penn State: “We Are — Going To Be OK”

By Russell Frank, NSNC Board Member & Penn State Faculty Member As Published at StateCollege.com 11/11/11 It’s time to stop calling this place Happy Valley. The name doesn’t fit. It never did.   The out-of-town reporters describe us as “an idyllic community,” “a tranquil football Eden” “nestled” in the mountains of central Pennsylvania.   Spare us. As many…

Andy Rooney was a close friend of Ernie Pyle during WWII

Courtesy of www.heraldtimesonline.com By Mike Leonard mleonard@heraldt.com 11/8/2011 Amid the many well-deserved tributes to the late Andy Rooney, it looks as though one of the things of which he was most proud is being greatly overlooked — his friendship with the famous columnist and war correspondent Ernie Pyle. Rooney was by his own account a…

Philadelphia member interviewed

Philadelphia member James Smart was interviewed by Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Dan Rubin for a 1,000-word column about his career and his book, Adonijah Hill’s Journal. “It’s a young columnist (55) interviewing a less young columnist (81),” said Smart. The author also discussed his book as a speaker at a dinner meeting of the Phi Beta…

New column for Florida member

NSNC Member Susan Young has a new column of being published monthly in The Hometown News, Volusia County, FL. It’s a monthly insert called “Forever Young” – aimed at Baby Boomers. Susan’s column is called “Life in the Middle” and is about the Sandwich Generation in which we live these days. Here’s the link… Scroll down and…