This post was most recently updated on November 2nd, 2021
Tag Archives: Family
Unlocking : Memoir of Family and Art by Nancy L. Pressly
This post was most recently updated on July 31st, 2020
Unlocking: Memoir of Family and Art by Nancy L. Pressly
Publisher: She Writes Press (May 5, 2020)
Category: Memoir
Tour Dates June and July, 2020
ISBN: 978-1631528620
Available in Print and ebook, 224 pages
Description Unlocking: Memoir of Family and Art by Nancy L. Pressly
While recovering from a near fatal illness, Nancy Pressly discovers a treasure trove of family material stored in her attic. Haunted by images of her grandparents and her parents in their youth, she sets out to create a family narrative before it is lost forever. It takes several more years before she summons the courage to reconstitute a path back to her own past, slowly pulling back the veil of amnesia that has, until now, all but obliterated her memory of her childhood.
In this sensitive and forgiving meditation on the meaning of family, Pressly unravels family dynamics and life in a small rural town in the 1950s that so profoundly affected her―then moves forward in time, through to her adulthood. With an eye attuned to visual detail, she relates how she came into her own as a graduate student in the tumultuous sixties in New York; examines how she assumed the role of caretaker for her family as she negotiated with courage and resilience the many health setbacks, including her own battle with pancreatic-related cancer, that she and her husband encountered; and evokes her interior struggle as a mother as she slowly traverses the barriers of expectations, self-doubt, and evolving norms in the 1980s to embrace a remarkable life as a scholar, champion of contemporary art, and nationally recognized art museum strategic planning consultant. Full of candor and art-inspired insight, Unlocking leaves the reader with a deep appreciation of the power of art and empathy and the value of trying to understand one’s life journey.
Advance Praise Unlocking: Memoir of Family and Art by Nancy L. Pressly
“A wrenchingly honest account that deftly combines a marriage story and an art tour.”-Kirkus Reviews
“In her searching and compassionate memoir, this keenly sensitive writer . . . tells how her own near-fatal illness allowed her to unlock her painfully lost girlhood with clear vision and empathy . . . . With Unlocking, she proves herself a woman of the deepest human insight.”-Kate Moses, author of Cakewalk, A Memoir and Wintering
“Inspired by resilience and renewal, commitment and perseverance, love and trust—themes that are instantly relatable, Unlocking is an exquisite articulation of personal and professional stories, shared through the lens of someone who is deeply passionate about the connections between art and life.”-Allison Perkins, Executive Director, Reynolda House Museum of American Art
“This is an unflinchingly honest memoir, written with the clarity and powerful visual sense of an art historian. Particularly vivid are the retrieval of [Pressly’s] childhood memories through letters, diaries, and photographs . . . . Her career as art historian, curator, and arts administrator offer fascinating insights. But above all, this is a memoir about her love of family and her own evolution as a person. Finishing it, you realize you have been privileged to get to know a remarkably gifted and indomitable spirit.”-Tom Dunne, author of Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize winner Rebellions: Memoir, Memory, and 1798
About Nancy L. Pressly
(c)Atlanta Portrait Photography
Nancy L. Pressly, a graduate of Goucher College, received her master’s degree in Art History from Columbia University. She began her career at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and subsequently held curatorial positions at the Yale Center for British Art and the San Antonio Museum of Art, where she organized several important exhibitions, most notably the acclaimed Fuseli Circle in Rome: Early Romantic Art of the 1770s.
In 1984 she became Assistant Director of the Museum Program at the National Endowment for the Arts; was a visiting Senior Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Visual Arts during the fall of 1992; and in 1993 founded Nancy L. Pressly & Associates, a nationally recognized consulting firm specializing in strategic planning for art museums. She has authored numerous publications, most recently a book titled Settling the South Carolina Backcountry (2016.) She and her husband live in Atlanta, Georgia, close to their son and two grandchildren.
Website: https://nancylpressly.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NancyLPresslyauthor/
Buy Unlocking: Memoir of Family and Art by Nancy L. Pressly
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Giveaway Unlocking: Memoir of Family and Art by Nancy L. Pressly
This giveaway is for 3 print copies open to the U.S. only. There will be 3 winners. This giveaway ends August 1, 2020,midnight pacific time. Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.
Follow Unlocking: Memoir of Family and Art by Nancy L. Pressly Tour
Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus June 4 Kick off & Interview
Miller Amazon June 5 Review
Lu Ann Rockin’ Book Reviews June 8 Review & Guest Post
Vicki I’d Rather Be At The Beach June 9 Review
Linda Lu Goodreads June 15 Review
Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus June 18 Review
Betty Toots Book Reviews June 24 Review
Bookgirl Goodreads June 26 Review
Infantina The periodical gazette June 29 Review & Excerpt
Gud Reader Goodreads July 14 Review
Just Another Reader July 27 Review
Amy Locks, Hooks and Books July 31 Review
Parrot Talk by David B. Seaburn: On Tour
This post was most recently updated on July 24th, 2018
Parrot Talk by David B. Seaburn
Publisher: Black Rose Writing (May 11, 2017)
Category: Literary Fiction, Humor, Family
Tour dates: Aug-Oct, 2017
ISBN: 978-1612968551
Available in Print & ebook, 193 pages
At the age of 14 and 11, brothers, Lucas and Grinder’s mother has left them and their alcoholic father. They never hear from her again.
Out of the blue a friend of their mother, Janice, contacts Lucas with the news that their mother has died. She asks them to come to Pittsburgh to take care of her effects, chief among them being Paul. Reluctantly, Lucas and Grinder head for Pittsburgh where they meet Janice and learn that Paul is their mother’s African grey parrot. Turns out that Paul has things to say that turn the brothers’ worlds upside down, especially regarding their mother.
This is a humorous look at matters of consequence—abandonment, alcoholism, grief and loss of a mother, living without clear answers, the relationship between brothers, separation and reconciliation and hope. It is also about a father who carries a piece of Jesus with him in a Ziploc baggie, a parrot who likes to get stoned, and a brother who cleans dead animals off the streets for a living.
Praise for Parrot Talk by David B. Seaburn
“As with David Seaburn’s other novels, Parrot Talk is ultimately about reconciliation and redemption among anguished family members. But this book uses the device of a seemingly wise and prescient parrot to great comic effect. I found myself literally laughing out loud at several points. The parrot steals the show but there are several clearly drawn and compelling human characters as well. This is Seaburn’s most successful novel and, overall, a moving hoot.”- Barry Jacobs, Amazon Reviewer
“I picked up this title based on its classification as humor and satire (two of my favorite words), and had absolutely no preconceptions about what I might find. I was delighted all the way through to find characters who were human, yet comical. Animals who were comical, and somewhat human. And a family with a genuine hurt that wasn’t easy to heal. Seaburn placed average people in average cities, and gave them relatively average lives. With nothing more than a parrot as a catalyst, three men are able to face ghosts of their pasts, and attempt to right some wrongs that give them all hope for a better future.
Seaburn’s writing is light without being shallow, and he brings levity to a situation that’s taboo for many…the notion of a mother who is not present to watch her children grow up. Some authors might be tempted to vilify her, but Seaburn allowed Grinder and Lucas to grapple with real emotions and come to resolution. Seaburn also allowed the reader to love Millie, no matter what her past, and even gave us the chance to reconcile with Pop’s misdeeds.
This book is a lovely tale of family, peppered with laughable antics, squirrel-sweeping, and parrots smoking pot. It’s a great opportunity to relax the mind and feel good about life for awhile.”-Amazon Reviewer
“Parrot Talk by David B. Seaburn is a hurricane in terms of language, dialogues, and situations. There is pretty admirable frenetic life and time for all the protagonists, not a second of break during the reading!
Forget a great description of characters in the common sense of the word, because you see what it’s like to live the experience of a roundabout with this book. Enjoy this group of great chatters and these funny situations!” – Buckwriter, Amazon Reviewer
About David B. Seaburn
David B. Seaburn has been a Presbyterian pastor of a small country church, an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Family Medicine at a leading university medical center, a pioneer in the field of Medical Family Therapy, and a prolific author.
Since 2005, Seaburn has published six novels. His newest, ‘Parrot Talk’, was released in May 2017 by Black Rose Writing. He also writes a blog for Psychology Today magazine, “Going Out Not Knowing.” Seaburn was a Finalist for the National Indie Excellence Awards in fiction for his novel, ‘Charlie No Face’ (2011). He is currently an instructor at Writers and Books in Rochester NY. Seaburn is married with two married daughters and two wonderful granddaughters. A third grandchild is on the way.
Website: www.davidbseaburn.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.seaburn
Twitter: twitter.com/dseaburn
Buy Parrot Talk by David B. Seaburn
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Barnes&Noble
IndieBound
BookDepository
Follow Parrot Talk by David B. Seaburn Tour
Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Aug 25 Kickoff & Giveaway
Caty Goodreads Aug 28 Review
Inspire to read Aug 29 Excerpt
Don Amazon Review Sept 8 Review
Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Sept 11 Review
Jo-Anne Goodreads Sept 22 Review
Amy Amazon Reviewer Sept 29 Review
Lisa Amazon Reviewer Sept 29 Review
JBronder Book Reviews Oct 20 Review
Tilly Amazon Reviewer Oct 23 Review
Write Review & Amazon Review Oct 30 Review & Excerpt
*This schedule is subject to change
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