by MarianBeaman | Jan 9, 2019 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Tips, Travel
“Did you know Mt. Dora is about 180 feet above sea level?” asked our chatty waiter serving us coffee on a recent trip to this charming town during the Christmas holiday. Florida is flat. But northwest of Orlando near the center of the state lies Mt. Dora...
by MarianBeaman | Nov 28, 2018 | blog, book review, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Quotations, Tips, Uncategorized
My Mennonite parents laughed very little, except when relatives and friends tickled their funny bones. They took the business of parenting very seriously. Other relatives lit up with a sense of humor: I carry an image of my Grandma Fannie and Aunt Ruthie once slapping...
by MarianBeaman | Oct 17, 2018 | blog, Literature, Quotations, Tips, Uncategorized
Inquiring Minds want to Know . . . Who Put the Butter in Butterfly? a book that survived my Great Book Purge of 2016, was a birthday gift from the Dean of Liberal Arts at my college in 1993. It is billed as“compulsive reading for anyone incurably curious about the...
by MarianBeaman | Sep 26, 2018 | blog, book review, Coming of Age, Memory, Quotations, Tips, Uncategorized
I’ve been writing memoir for 3 ½ years now, three more if you count years spent blogging snippets that have become memoir chapters.. Truthfully, I’m ready for this part of the process to end. And it will soon. The Tricky Mind Since 2015, I’ve taken memoir-writing...
by MarianBeaman | Aug 29, 2018 | blog, Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, Quotations, Tips
Two Beaman families enjoyed Mexican fare at Chuy’s, a Fifties-themed restaurant where patrons can observe hand-rolled tortillas being tossed in air and prepared for the table. When our orders were delivered, we stuffed ourselves with tacos, enchiladas, and burritos....
by MarianBeaman | Aug 1, 2018 | blog, book review, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Quotations, Tips, Uncategorized
Writing a book is a long, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon one can neither resist nor understand. ~ George Orwell Orwell is right about the...
