“I am with you!”  Dr. Bruce Noll, a Chautauqua performer, eloquently entertained us all at the Saturday luncheon.  His portrayal of America’s beloved poet, Walt Whitman, exuded gentle humor, wit, and charm as he spoke of Whitman’s love, life, soul, opera, and his fancy.  He spoke on his censorship issues in both Boston and Canada and the qualities of leadership, during his lifetime and in the present.
 Dr. Noll presented Whitman as an observer of life as he reflected on his editorial experiences.  He left us all with a gentle farewell.  “Good-bye my fancy.”  “None more than you are immortality.”  All in all, it was a wonderful way for our conference to end and we thank Walt Whitman (Dr. Noll) for coming to Roswell and visiting with us.

 On Saturday afternoon, our author’s panel was comprised of Dorothy Cave, Uma Krishnaswami, and Jeanne Whitehouse Peterson.  They answered questions for a good sized audience about their writing and their experiences as writers with their words, their ideas and their publishers.
 When asked by an audience member whether or not they have a plan for their writing, Uma Krishnaswami, children’s author, answered, “If I can’t surprise myself, how can I ever surprise my audience.  My writing is always a journey.”  Dorothy Cave, an historical fiction and non-fiction writer answered, “I always need to know where I’m going,” and Jeanne Peterson said, “I know some things about my fiction.  I have plot details to attend to.  For me, it comes out like poetry.”  Three very different authors, each with a style of their own, kept answering questions for the would be published authors in the audience.
 All three did agree, however, when asked about shelf space being taken up by celebrity writers.  Their comment, “Ick!”

 Poetry night out!  Friday night’s open microphone at the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art seemed to be by far the most popular event during the conference.  It gave everyone a time to unwind, a time to catch up, a time to laugh and visit, a time to reflect on the gorgeous art covering the walls of the museum, and most importantly, a time to share their work.  Many, many shared poems, essays, and musings written by themselves and others.  Topics reflected upon included joy, confusion, pain, excuses, love, erotica, loss, and birth.  We spoke of all these things in our own personal writings ~ these are the threads that run through our lives ~ our realities in life.
 One particularly important reading by Janet Spence was none other than “Little Orphant Annie,” enjoyed immensely by the crowd on this spookiest of weekends.  She so engaged us that we all cried out the refrain with her ~
                                     “And the goblins ‘il get cha if ya don’t watch out!”