Mary Ricketson on the Program to Read at CWP June 13

Coffee with the Poets will have two Netwest featured readers this month, June 13, 10:30 a.m. Mary Ricketson is also on the program Wednesday with Maren Mitchell.

Mary Ricketson’s poetry has been published in her chapbook, I Hear the River Call My Name, Lights in the Mountains, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Freeing Jonah IV, Freeing Johah V, and Wild Goose Poetry Review, Future Cycle Press, Your Daily Poem, various magazines and blogs, and in Disorgananza, a private collection distributed among family and friends. She won the gold medal for poetry in the 2011 Cherokee County Senior Games/Silver Arts and silver medal for 2012. She won first place in the 2011 Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest national poetry contest.

Mary writes a monthly column, Woman to Woman, for The Cherokee Scout. She is a long time member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network. Mary says she writes to satisfy a hunger, to taste life all the way down to the last drop. She gains perspective from family and friends, her Appalachian home, and her life’s work as a counselor. Writing poetry places her in kinship with her own life.

Mary Ricketson is a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor in Murphy, North Carolina. She brings more than thirty years experience to her work, with twenty-five years in private practice. She is a founding board member of REACH. She has a special interest in women’s issues, victims of abuse, and family and couple relationships. She offers innovative ways to effect change in difficult life patterns, including Journey to Intuition and Neurofeedback. She is listed in Who’s Who in America.

Come out to hear Mary and Maren share their delightful poetry at Coffee with the Poets on Wednesday, June 13.

Netwest Has Lost a Loyal and Active Member

Our deepest sympathy goes out to Judy, wife of Richard Speir Argo II, age 66, CWO 3, Coast Guard, Retired, who died July 8, 2010, at home in Murphy,NC of cancer. Richard was a long-time member of Netwest.

Born February 21, 1944, in Tampa FL, the first of two children, to Richard and Ann Argo, he was a gifted athlete and a man of many talents.

Richard joined the Coast Guard in 1962, after high school graduation. His career spanned over twenty years with duty stations up and down the East coast and Gulf region, and Marcus Island. He was trained as a boatswain mate, then rose through the ranks to captain his own ship, The US Coast Guard Cutter Kennebec. He retired in 1983, then attained a BA degree at Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA.

He and his wife, Judy, moved back East, where Richard enjoyed time as a white water raft guide on the Ocoee and Nantahala rivers. In 1994, Richard and Judy hand-built a cord wood house in the Hanging Dog Community in Cherokee County.

A man who believed in keeping fit, Richard entered the sports events in the Senior Games. He cross trained in biking, swimming, tennis, jogging, and kayaking. He won medals in swimming and tennis. On the grueling 700 mile North Carolina Bike Tour, From Murphy to Manteo, Richard rode his 12 speed Huffy amongst the high speed racing bikes of others. Because he had ridden and trained for hours on the mountain roads, he pedaled right past some of those fancy bikes going across Chunky Gal Mountain and beyond.



Richard was an active member of NC Writers Network West. He taught writing locally, read publicly and for many years led The NCWN West Prose Critique group until he had to resign due to his illness. He won awards for his literary work in the Senior Games, published short stories in Moonshine Review, Lights in the Mountains, and the new anthology, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge. Although his poetry was not as well-known as his short stories and essays, an award winning poem was published here on the Netwest Writers site.

Richard loved telling stories. He loved old jokes, making people smile, and all kinds of music. He quietly showed his compassion for others. His passion for environmental concerns revealed a caring for his fellow man, particularly in the sustainable house he built.

He was cremated, and asked that his ashes be scattered on the Outer Banks of NC. Richard did not want a memorial service, but requested that his family and friends plant a tree in his memory.

Richard’s essence seemed captured in the following poem sent by his friend Mary Ricketson during his illness:

I’m calling good vibes
speaking to the trees
asking the sun
and all the earth
to hold my friend close
impart faith and courage
while time is uncertain
to lend wisdom
when time comes
to chart a course.

(Most of this post comes from the obituary for Richard written by Mary Ricketson)


Read Richard's essay on critique .

Our members who wish to send condolences to Judy Argo will find Richard's address on our membership list. If you need further information, please contact glendabeall@msn.com .

More Winners in 2009 Cherokee County Senior Games/SilverArts

In the 2009 Cherokee County Senior Games/SilverArts (SilverArts: one word, two caps), in addition to Brenda Kay Ledford and Blanche Ledford, who won the silver and bronze for their life experience entries, Jerry Hobbs won the gold medal for his short story "A Slippery Bar of Soap and the Rose Colored Bikini."

Jerry Hobbs also won the bronze for his essay, "How To Sweep Away The Silence." Peg Russell won the silver medal for her essay, "Hanging Around In North Carolina And Cherokee County."

Cherokee County Games is in its second year, and Jerry, Brenda Kay, and Blanche have won medals both years. Richard Argo won the NC state silver medal in 2008 for his poem "Ode to Rock and Roll."


Other NetWest participants in the 2009 Literary Arts included Shirley Uphouse, Richard Argo, and Mary Ricketson. Other medalists this year included Judith T. Lott and Carol McAfee, (who both also won last year), and John C. Tuffy