A warm welcome to our new subscribers! This is the GAB Gazette, a highlight reel from the world of Guided Autobiography.
In this Newsletter
Announcements: GAB Fest
Board Update: Cheryl’s State-of-the-Non-Profit
Featured GABBER: Mimi Holmes
Booklist: West Vancouver Stories 2024
the Business: Senior Center GAB classes
Member Shoutouts: Lindy Pfeil and Mark McNease
Article Roundup: Literary community and Poetry Month
Community Poll: Poetry in GAB classes
Announcements
On March 23, a great time was had by all at GAB Fest Pasadena. GAB instructors and participants joined for food and story sharing at the Descanso Gardens. Thank you to the sponsors Amy Chen of GAB Seattle, The Birren Center, and Jana Rae Corpuz for making this event possible. And a special thank you to Pam Hueckle for hosting the first GAB Fest with her students many years ago.
Board Update
On April 4, Jim Birren’s birthday, Cheryl sent out an update of happenings in the Birren Center non-profit. Among the many new developments, Cheryl praised the results of last year’s fundraiser, which brought in $10,000, as well as the release of the 2024 anthology and the new website that will soon be unveiled.
This year, Cheryl and the Birren Center board plan to continue building partnerships with other organizations, securing legal protection for the Birren Center brand and intellectual property, and fleshing out the new website. She invites collaboration from the community to assist in helping the Birren Center reach it’s goals and fulfill it’s mission.
Booklist
Lindy Pfeil submitted the latest release of their local collection West Vancouver Stories 2024: View here
The Business
There was a good question from Stephen Dolainski to the GAB community on adapting GAB to senior living communities, and the response was informative and supportive from experienced GAB instructors. To view this discussion and the attached resources, visit GAB Google Group - senior GAB group discussion.
Member Shoutouts
Lindy Pfeil wrote a piece called “Celebrating Community Stories” for her publication the Beacon (see page 2): West Vancouver Beacon | March / April 2024 | Edition 61
Mark NcNease was featured in River Towns Magazine, pages 46-48: River Towns Magazine
Article Roundup
https://janefriedman.com/building-your-literary-community/
https://poets.org/national-poetry-month/30-ways-celebrate-national-poetry-month
https://www.deseret.com/faith/2024/03/04/can-family-history-help-youth/
Community Poll
In honor of National Poetry month, we want to know the role of poetry in your GAB courses!