Nancy Purcell - Monday, December 6th, 2021

This was Nancy's favorite photo of herself and it was taken by my husband, Barry Beall at an NCWN-West event

 It is with great sadness tonight that I learned of the passing of Nancy Purcell, writer, teacher, and friend. Nancy served as Netwest representative for Transylvania County, NC for a number of years. She led writing groups for NCWN-West and then while teaching writing classes at Brevard College, she led another writing group for her students. 

I always enjoyed our phone calls. She was a generous writer, always helping others but also encouraging others including me. 

These are some of the words in her obituary.

"Following in the footsteps of her idol, Georgia O'Keeffe, fairly late in life Nancy began writing short stories and poems. Many of her stories were published in well-known literary journals. She honed her writing skills when she was accepted to the Iowa Writers' Institute Summer Program. She also served as Prose Judge at Carl Sandburg Home Writer in Residence Program, taught writing classes at Brevard College, and led a writer’s group for many years. Nancy loved to laugh and entertain friends and family with stories of her life and experiences."

I was honored when Nancy sent me copies of her short stories and happy for her when her work was published. She knew sorrow and loss and had great empathy for me when I endured the loss of loved ones. Read the comments on her obituary and you can see that she was well-loved.

We have lost a dedicated member of our writing community.

 https://www.moodyconnollyfuneralhome.com/memorials/nancy-purcell/4797546/obituary.php

A memorial service will be held at 11 AM Saturday, February 12, 2022 in the Moody-Connolly Funeral Home Chapel. To livestream her service please go to https://foveo.stream/moody-connolly/nancy-lou-purcell

 In lieu of flowers, donations in Nancy's name may be made to the charity of your choice.

Read more about Nancy here.   and here.

Nancy said this about NCWN-West:

You and the entire membership of Netwest have been an inspiration to me in my writing life. The group is a welcoming & encouraging gathering of like-people. Thank you for all you've done for others. It does not go unnoticed.

Nancy Purcell

 

Nancy Purcell's poem accepted for Anthology

Kudos to Nancy Purcell, former Transylvania County Representative for Netwest. Her poem, Hard Frost was accepted for inclusion in the anthology, Life is a Roller Coaster from Kind of a Hurricane Press. http://www.kindofahurricanepress.com/

Nancy’s prose has been published in various print media, and she teaches Creative Writing  at Brevard College in their Creekside program for adults. She also facilitates a writing group made up of her students.

A Southern fiction writer, Nancy has learned to tap into readers’ emotions and keep them riveted right up to the final sentence. As a student of relationships, she explores family dynamics that include romance, old age, deceit, even murder. She is also a prose judge for the Carl Sandburg Home Writer-in-Residence program at Flat Rock, NorthCarolina.

Congratulations, Nancy. We look forward to seeing more of your poetry. Visit Nancy online here.

"Young at Hearts" Luncheon Meeting on November 12

From Wayne Drumheller in Brevard comes this information: 

The November 12th “Young At Hearts” luncheon meeting will feature readings by participants in the “Faith and Heritage” Book Project Writing Series at First Baptist Church.

The book series covers a wide range of interests and writing styles from conversational prose, poetry and historical memoirs. Book subjects include an active 95 year old senior who still farms and drives a tractor, a mission driven volunteer who has a pristine waterfalls in his backyard, a retired SAC Lt. Colonel who designed a model car at age 15, a former Transylvania school teacher who grew up in a Memphis hotel, a former Latin teacher who see God’s wonders in the mountain landscape and an adventurer who traveled, worked and raised her family before returning to Brevard to live on a mountain.

All are sure to delight the monthly gathering in the fellowship hall of First Baptist Church.

Reading participants are Sarah Julen, JoAnn Bryson, Will Dinkins, Molly Tartt, Marianna and Billy Clarke, Kevin Spears, Dot Brooks and Max Shepherd. Other will be invited to share and questions will be invited from those attending.

The “Faith and Heritage” First Baptist Church book project is a collection of Individual short books, 20-99 pages, written by current and former members of the First Baptist Church community. The stories are written in narrative form using notes, poetry, prose, photographs, art illustrations, ink drawings. The finished collection will a collaborative effort that is representative of one’s faith, heritage and cultural link to the church community. The “first” 10-15 books produced will become the “Faith and Heritage Book Collection” to be donated for permanent display in the church library center.

To confirm participation or for more details, contact Wayne Drumheller at email: wd2999@yahoo.com or 828-877-5133.

Nancy Purcell is busy in Brevard, NC

We always love to hear what is happening in the Netwest area. Nancy Purcell, NCWN West Representative for Transylvania County, sent an update on her activities.

Instead of teaching an adult education program at Brevard College this semester, I've been volunteering at Brevard Middle School, working with 7th & 8th graders who are "enrichment" students. The 20 student class is an Art/Writing group, working on Life Books. I introduced them to an internet site, Wordle.net, where you paste a story you've written and saved in your documents into the sites "box" and hit GO. The words come out jumbled by size....largest being the words you used most frequently. Poets & Writers touted this site for writers, showing the writer which words they most frequently used in their work. For instance, if you have lots of similes in a story, the word "like" would come up larger than other words.

 What made it so much fun for the class members was doing this with the various fonts and COLOR. The site provides color selections and font selections. As a writer of fiction or non-fiction, it's a quick way to check your chapters or stories for word over-use.

It has been wonderful to see the work these young people produce and to learn they've been writing and drawing "forever", as one student told me. She has written 12 short books and writes every night. She is one among many who want to further their education in the Arts and have the full support of their parents. They speak to me of visiting colleges and selected careers, family discussions of their futures and the need to learn. They have lifted me through their work and their attitudes. Our group is considering a writing competition for 8th graders, offering 1st, 2nd & 3rd place certificate recognition and monetary prizes. This must be approved by the school and submission rules are yet to be written. Transylvania writers are at work!

Thanks, Nancy. The gift of your talents will be long-lasting with these children. Most of us have had mentors who helped us get where we are today with our writing successes. The most generous writers seem to be the most successful.

Nancy has published numerous short stories and essays in magazines and anthologies. She leads a writing group, Wordsmiths, and teaches at Brevard College.