Deborah Rambo Sinn: Pushed Fear Out of the Way

          How does one adjust to small town living after performing on the world stage? Deborah Rambo Sinn seems to have found the secret. Maybe a hint lies in the title of her book, “Playing Beyond the Notes.” Talented, for sure, Deborah has an air of self-confidence in life often missing in gifted artists. 

 Deborah Rambo Sinn

Deborah Rambo Sinn has given concerts and master classes on four continents and has taught students from more than 14 different countries.  From 1996-2001, she lived in Hamburg Germany where she played concerts and musicals and operated two music studios for coaching and private instruction.  In 1990, her piano/cello duo was invited by the government of Mainland China to give concerts and master classes in four major cities.  In addition to a lifetime of playing classical music, she has played for productions of Little Shop of Horrors, Cats, Phantom of the Opera, Wizard of Oz, and Mikado.

She holds a doctorate and master’s degree in music from Indiana University, where she studied with Menahem Pressler (Beaux Arts Trio) and James Tocco.  Her bachelor’s degree in music is from Florida State University.  Before moving to Germany, she served on the music faculty of Angelo State University in Texas and taught one semester at Universität Lüneburg (Germany) as an exchange professor.  In 2004, she founded the Olympic Music School in Sequim, Washington. Most recently, she can be seen onstage and in the classroom with violinist Monique Mead from Carnegie Mellon University. The duo appears regularly as musicians in residence for the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival.

Dr. Sinn is the author of Playing Beyond the Notes: A Pianist’s Guide to Musical Interpretation, published by Oxford University Press in 2013 and is currently working on two additional books.

                                            

1. Who are you? List 5 words that define you!

Curious – Funny – Analytical – Creative - Outspoken

          2. What have you done that you’re most proud of?

I finished my doctoral degree at a top music school despite having a learning disability.

          3. If you could change one thing in your past, what would it be?

I wish I would have pushed fear out of the way much earlier in my life.

          4. On a personal/client level, what drives you crazy? What gives you joy?

Dishonesty makes me crazy.

Joy comes from being married to my best friend and from watching kindness in other people.

5. Given no restrictions (i.e. money/physical capabilities) – what would you   most like to do? 

I don’t think I would change a thing!     

 

Deborah and Zoey enjoying the Northwest

www.OlympicMusicSchool.com (business)

www.PlayingBeyondtheNotes.com (blog on music interpretation)

www.DeborahRamboSinn.com (professional)

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Brenda Webster - Painting with Words

        I'm happy to report as TAKING THE PLUNGE readership grows, so does the outreach to talented, interesting people. I met Alice Acheson (one of the most knowledgeable people I know in the world of publishing) at a writers' conference years ago and have kept in touch. Her introduction below for author Brenda Webster is just another example of networking at its best! R2

        Brenda Webster was born in New York City, educated at Swarthmore, Barnard, Columbia, and Berkeley, where she earned her Ph.D. A top-rated author on Redroom.com, she is a novelist, freelance writer, playwright, critic and translator who splits her time between Berkeley, California and Rome, Italy.  For many years she has been President of PEN West American Center.

        She is the author of four previous novels: SINS OF THE MOTHERS (Baskerville, 1993), PARADISE FARM (SUNY, 1999), THE BEHEADING GAME (Wings Press, 2006; finalist for the Northern California Book Award), and VIENNA TRIANGLE (Wings Press, 2009).  Her new play, THE MURDER TRIAL OF SIGMUND FREUD, was inspired by VIENNA TRIANGLE but goes beyond the story of Tausk and Freud to chronicle the latter's relationships with women patients, disciples, and his family.  It was written in collaboration with Meridee Stein, who conceived the idea of a play and brought to the table many stimulating ideas and twenty years of experience in the theater.

        She has written two controversial and oft-anthologized critical studies: YEATS: A Psychoanalytic Study (Stanford) and BLAKE'S PROPHETIC PSYCHOLOGY (Macmillan).   She is co-editor of the journals of the abstract expressionist painter (and my mother), Ethel Schwabacher, HUNGRY FOR LIGHT: The Journals of Ethel Schwabacher (Indiana, 1993).

        Her memoir, THE LAST GOOD FREUDIAN (Holmes and Meier, 2000) received considerable praise.  The Modern Language Association in 2007 published her translation of Edith Bruck's Holocaust novel, LETTERA ALLA MADRE.  She also has translated poetry from the Italian for THE OTHER VOICE (Norton) and THE PENGUIN BOOK OF WOMEN POETS.
          Alice B. Acheson, Book Marketing/Publicity Specialist

Brenda Webster

    As a child I thought my mother was a miracle worker.  She made things come to life on canvas.  Branches weighed down with fuzzy peaches, blue-green bulls, enormous lilies, goldfish in an underwater world.  Naturally, I assumed I would be able to do that too, but I was hopelessly bad at it.  By the time I was ten, I refocused myself to painting with words.

    My new novel, my fifth, AFTER AUSCHWITZ: A Love Story, takes on the most difficult subject I've had so far.  It is narrated by an eighty-eight-year-old man suffering from early dementia and investigates the way enduring love strives against loss and aging, illness and imminent death.  Finally, I feel in command of my tools and can fully use what a lifetime has taught me about my subjects and my craft.  Of course, there is always more to learn.  As one of my earlier characters says: "It is hard to get things right."  But trying and getting closer is what makes writing so compelling.

1. List five words that define you.

          Curious – Creative – Passionate – Funny - Hungry for life

2.  What have you done that you're most proud of?

          Raised three beautiful and talented children and grandmothered five.

          3. If you could change one thing in your past, what would it be?

          My father would not have died when I was a child.

          4. On a personal level, what drives you crazy?  What gives you joy?

          I can't stand it when there are disagreements with anyone I love.

I'm happiest when everyone gets along and when my work is going well.

5.   Given no restrictions (i.e. money/physical capabilities), what would you most like to do?

         

          Gallop a racehorse around the track and win the Derby.

 

Brenda with her daughter and granddaughter

Reading at Orinda Books in Orinda, CA

Brenda in Rome, where her latest novel is set, with Alfredo,
the owner of the cafe where her hero, Renzo, has breakfast

For more about Brenda and to email her:

www.brendawebster.com

brendawebsterauthor@Redroom.com

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Lori Henriksen - Not at the End of Her Journey

One of my joys in writing Taking the Plunge is meeting new people. The first thought that came to mind when I read about Lori Henriksen was “I can’t wait to meet her! The second was “I can’t wait to read her book!”   

Special thanks to writer Stacy Lawson for making the connection and introducing Lori – something she does extraordinarily well. R2                                                                                                                                                      

Lori and I met on a flight from Seattle to San Francisco.  She was on her way to the 2010 SF Writers Conference, and I was on my way down to visit with a writing friend, We fell into each other's lives. This is what can happen when writers meet each other. We want to support each other, because we know how hard the work is.

It didn't take long for Lori and me to uncover the fact that we were both writers. Lori was working on a novel The Winter Loon about a young woman who in 1930 joins a rodeo circuit and is introduced to a world where love is not always restricted to a man and a woman.

          I admire people who risk and have risked to show up for their own life's journey. Ruth Thompson, the protagonist of The Winter Loon interests me for this reason. She is out to find herself during the Great Depression, and in so doing, opens herself up to the ridicule, fear, and small mindedness of others when being gay was illegal. I think Lori's book is coming at a good time.

Gay marriage is legal in many states. Hurray. I'm convinced it will be legal everywhere at some point. In ten years or less, some of us will begin to forget the work done to bring about this change. Poll people under thirty and see if they know about the 1969 Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village that started gay advocacy. I believe that revisiting history through fiction or non-fiction reminds us of our past and keeps us in touch with our own vulnerabilities. The importance of this is that we seek change and remedy for other people who are struggling for their rights.  

          All I can say is that I am hungry to read Lori's work. Stacy Lawson

Lori Henriksen

Most of my adult life has been spent working as a psychotherapist in the child abuse prevention field with both children and adults and in the community college system, counseling students with learning and psychological disabilities. I volunteered with the AIDS Health Project in the 1980’s and 90’s and learned first-hand the intense identity struggles in the gay community.

Over and over again, I reaped the rewards of witnessing people work through conflicts and achieve goals they thought beyond their reach. The many life experiences interwoven in this career have influenced my belief that we have the potential to strengthen and transform ourselves through story.

          I retired in 1998 and moved from San Francisco to Ashland, Oregon. I enrolled in an extension class called “Writing Your Life” at Southern Oregon University. I met an accomplished writer and was surprised to be invited to join a writer’s group. For the first two years I mostly sat in and listened. At a local writer’s conference I shared a short story in a workshop and was encouraged to make it a novel. I learned to write on the wings of my critique group. Writing, rewriting, and rewriting. I learned to accept feedback without feeling defensive. I learned to cut and edit unnecessary words and make every word, every sentence and every scene move the story forward.

          It’s been a long journey on a winding path, but over the last ten years I have finished that novel. A year here and a year there pulled me away from my writing, but like any pilgrim on a quest, I take one step at a time. I won’t reach the end of the journey until my novel finds a home. The fortitude it took in the 1930’s—and even today—to be true to one’s self outside the norm is the essential drama of the novel inspired by my lesbian mother’s life. You can read the first two chapters and more about the writing of the novel at www.lorihenriksen.com.

1. Who are you? List 5 words that best describe you.

    Compassionate – Imaginative – Determined – Curious – Realistic

2. What have you done that you’re most proud of?

I have continued to grow over the years. I have been in a loving committed relationship for over forty years, and we are still best friends. I open my heart to stray dogs and cats and give them a home. They find me. I don’t go looking for them. I can now call myself an author.

3. If you could change one thing in your past, what would it be?

I would have had the confidence and self-esteem to do more. My early years were spent trying to find myself and my place in the world. I spent too much time feeling less than everyone around me.

     4. On a personal level, what drives you crazy? What gives you joy?

Crazy? War. The drive for materialistic gains without regard for others. Basic rights violations. The divisive political atmosphere. 

Joy? Stories of heroic acts as daring as pulling someone out of a burning car or as simple as a word of encouragement to a distressed child. Finding solace in nature. A hike with my dog. A glass of wine, good food and loving friends. People working together to fight discrimination.

5. Given no restrictions (i.e. money/physical capabilities) – what would you most like to do?

I would fund no-kill shelters for unwanted and homeless animals. This would include the funds to educate the public about the importance of spaying and neutering all dogs and cats.

With no physical restrictions, I would start with a climb to the summit of Mt. Shasta and stick my face in a lenticular cloud.

I would visit India and live in an ashram. I would learn to sail and visit as many ports of call as I could before publishing my final novel.

he world

 

Two Favorite Pups

On Holiday in England

Panther Meadows, Mt. Shasta

You can email Lori @ lorihenriksen@icloud.com 

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Karen Kronenberger - Celebrating Love

Taking the Plunge

          Sometimes you meet someone and instantly feel that they are “an old soul.” I consider that a compliment and I hope Karen Kronenberger does too!

          In the few times we met we learned we shared common interests, including kayaking and writing. The former allows for time on calm waters for introspection of life and appreciation of beauty. The latter is a gift to be shared, often times elaborating on thoughts that evolved while being on the water.

          One can rarely plan the path one’s life takes, but to make the best of what comes your way and grow and be willing to share in one’s discoveries is a gift.

          Meet a truly wonderful “old soul” who has done just that.

Karen Kronenberger

With forty years experience as a social worker, therapist, public speaker, manager, grant writer, planner, and developer/marketer of programs, I have created and conducted 100’s of personal growth groups, trained the trainers and written curriculum. At the pinnacle of those years, I was awarded USA Congressional recognition for my work and was a Goodwill Industries "Honoree of the Century.” Now I am retired and on to my next adventure.

My favorite place to live in the whole world has been the Pacific NW.  The stunning beauty of Discovery Bay and the Cascades, even when fog covered, greeted me every morning for the six years I made the area my home. In 2010, I wept through painful personal and physical changes. While on the mend I received a call from my family in Ohio. My mother, in her late eighties, needed a caregiver so she could continue living in her home. I moved to Ohio. I had not lived in Ohio for almost twenty-five years and it was culture shock. Living in the “’burbs” in city congestion and in a land where conservative values dominated left me feeling trapped. I sorely missed my dear friends in Clallam and Jefferson Counties.

The good news is that during the period of adjustment, I delighted in time spent with family. Five of my siblings and their families entertained me and my daughter’s family moved back to the area from Maryland.  

Additionally, I chose to use this time to learn to love myself and involve myself more fully in another love - writing.  Over the years I have participated in three significant writers’ groups and have encouraged writers to publication. For many years I thought fiction was my voice, now I also write memoir, opinion pieces and poetry. I was happily settled into my writing routine when an unexpected star burst into my life. 

At age sixty-seven, I was asked to become an ordained minister.  It seemed an odd request because I am a confirmed agnostic. My spiritual path has taught me to respect the journey and not religion. I became a minister giving spiritual encouragement to Buddhists, Christians, atheists, pagans and to anyone hungry for spiritual or personal growth.

Recently I have been able to combine my ministry with my love of writing. After reading one of my prose poems to a favorite theologian, Mathew Fox, and others in leadership at a Creation Spirituality gathering, they asked me to submit my work for their newsletter and website.

Guess this old woman isn’t dead yet. I have entered my next phase of celebrating love. I am.

     

         

1.      Who are you? List 5 words that define you!

Introspective – Playful – Tenacious – Caring - Learner

2.      What have you done that you’re most proud of?

Successfully raising two children is the highlight of my life. They survived my rebellious swim upstream against the norm and thrived.

3.      If you could change one thing in your past, what would it be?

To rewind the clock and have recognized symptoms of abuse among some of those closest to me sooner than I did would have been the one thing I wished I could have changed. I could have been more protective.

4.      On a personal/client level, what drives you crazy? What gives you joy?

I drive me crazy. I am way too judgmental and critical. It sometimes freezes me in place. My goal is to live more fully moment to moment and in a state of mindfulness. 

What gives me joy is to honor the sacred mystery of the cosmos, from the tiniest particle in a grain of sand to the biggest star. We are after all, stardust.

5.      Given no restrictions (i.e. money/physical capabilities) – what would you most like to do? 

To love so well that the powers to be would hear and act, the earth would begin to heal, and all people could love and be loved with genuine love.

 

Coming out of a fish!

2nd Place Volleyball Champ

To contact Karen:  morganfire2@yahoo.com

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Bertha D. Cooper - Ready for the Young of Old Age

Taking the Plunge

I love it when readers recommend people to profile. It gives a different perspective and widens my circle of interesting friends. R2

My first impression upon meeting Bertha Cooper was her open and joyful face.   She breathed optimism and was an impressive listener.   I learned later that she was a very experienced facilitator for groups and organizations in conducting workshops and forums. She has a background in nursing and hospital administration.  She is also passionate about issues and works to have an influence on the course of events.

            Then she interviewed me for a book she was writing about women aging in America.  I found myself revealing more to her about my aging process than I had to anyone else in my life.  She has a gift of making a person feel accepted and special that I truly admire.  Her book is now complete and she is looking for a publisher.   By Carrol Hull

Bertha D. Cooper

            When I arrived in my sixties, I realized that despite or maybe because of spending decades working with ailing aging people, I wasn’t ready to be old. I didn’t really know what to expect besides illness and disability. So, I embarked on learning about natural aging which soon morphed into research into healthy and positive aging. I spent over three years writing a book on Women and Aging to answer my own questions and those of the women I involved in the conversation. I came to believe that women long for this conversation about aging in an environment that pushes anti-aging, one of the more absurd notions of our time.

I enjoy meeting with groups of women to talk about aging as a woman (the topic of my yet to be published book).  I have also facilitated, as a volunteer facilitator, initial discussions for non-profit groups who have found their mission changing usually due to growing membership and wish to constructively involve their membership in defining new directions.
I hope my book will be published and shared. In the meantime, I am entering the young of old age and I am ready.

                                               

         

1. Who are you? List 5 words that define you!

Bright – Curious – Loving – Analytical – Creative

2. What have you done that you’re most proud of?

I independently obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing in an environment of little encouragement (financially or otherwise) from family, society, and counselors. That degree opened the door to my good life. It was possible to work to afford college then; I am saddened and alarmed that women and men cannot do the same today.

3. If you could change one thing in your past, what would it be?

My first name.

4. On a personal/client level, what drives you crazy? What gives you joy? 

I am most driven to straighten crooked ideas or at least poke them. Some are more serious than others. The most serious to me is the ease at which people will discredit the life and accomplishments of another or others in order to be right, to keep power and/or feel superior among other things. 

My joy of life comes from having a great love in my life and a great love for the human experience. I’m captivated by the seasons of nature. AND tulips give me great joy and laughs because they grow even after they are picked and following a final burst of beauty, they fall apart.

5. Given no restrictions (i.e. money/physical capabilities) – what would you most like to do?    

Hmm – I pretty much like what I am doing although I could pay experts to build a platform from which I could sell my writing. I find some of social media tedious to maintain when I am ready to go on to the rest of my bucket list of causes.

Me, my Great Love, and my Granddaughter - the artist.

Bertha’s column appears in The Sequim Gazette the first Wednesday of every month, typically placed on the editorial page.

Bertha’s e-mail is bdcooper@olypen.com 

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Stevie Wonder - Friend to All

Taking the Plunge

            After years of apartment living I was finally able to get a pet – Misty. She was a pure bred collie whose breeder had no more use for her. What a wonderful friend and the start of a long line of furry, four-legged companions.

          We had decided to be a one-dog family for a while after Hayward went on to Dog Heaven. Janey liked people so much we thought she’d go for it. But after several weeks of watching her mope around the yard and house, we decided to look online for a companion. Voilá, Stevie Wonder entered our lives!

          He was described as part Newfie (like Janey), but seeing him in person that assessment was in doubt. He had been abandoned in the woods and rescued and fostered by the most wonderful “Mom” who named him Stevie Wonder (because he survived) and warned us it might take him weeks to get comfortable with us.

          That was three years ago and from the very moment he entered our backyard and started playing with Janey we knew we were a perfect match. For the next few weeks he’s on vacation (as is your bloggerJ) and enjoying the good life at the Dungeness Pet Resort.

          But that’s enough from me. I’ll let him take it from here.

Stevie Wonder

          What can I say about my dog life? I get two squares a day in a round dish. Seeing my leash come out of the closet makes my heart race. Walks are the best part of my day – better than food even!

          I’ve got two moms who love me and pet me and scratch behind my ears whenever I nudge them while they’re watching TV.

          Of course my best friend is my big sister Janey! We don’t ever cuddle or sleep together or anything “cutesy” like that, but boy do we love to wrestle with each other in the back yard. We do it in the living room, too! We share toys and sometimes play tug o’ war, but our favorite thing to do is jump in the backseat of the car and head to Lake Aldwell on the weekend. It’s not a lake anymore but we get to run and sniff and run and mark and run and play ‘til we can’t play anymore because we’re so tired.

          All in all, I feel pretty wonderful. Get it? Stevie Wonder-ful. That’s me. 

        

1. Who are you? List 5 words that define you!

Energetic – Happy – Adorable – Inquisitive - Friendly

2. What have you done that you’re most proud of?

Learned not to run away from the people who love me. My foster mom taught me that. When I first met her I ran away to the Red Lion on the waterfront, and even when the folks there tried to feed me bits of steak, I wouldn’t eat it. I had given up. But my foster mom found me and nursed me and taught me how to trust.

3. If you could change one thing in your past, what would it be?

I have very short term memory. I wouldn’t have stepped on that thorn last week. Now I have to take pills and wear the collar of shame for a week. It’s embarrassing.

4. On a personal/client level, what drives you crazy? What gives you joy?

Crazy?  The neighbor’s dogs on the other side of the fence. I watch them through the cracks and run up and down but we can’t get together – because of the fence.

Joy? Any time the front door opens and one of my moms comes in. That’s the best.

5. Given no restrictions (i.e. money/physical capabilities) – what would you most like to do?

Do away with leashes so we could all be free. (I’d come home – honest I would!)       

Playing in the snow with my big sister, Janey.

Relaxing in the sun.

The Happy Family

A dog's life

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