Since school will be starting soon, educators and parents who would like to engage their children in some fun learning activities can download lesson plans that accompany Just Fine The Way They Are; From Dirt Roads to Rail Roads to Interstates. Developed by two elementary educators who are also adjunct professors in the Department of… [Read More]
The National Road Brings the Historic Road Conference to Indianapolis
July 25, 2012 By
The national non-profit group Historic Roads is holding their annual conference on September 20-22, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Dedicated to identifying, preserving and managing our nation’s historic roads and scenic byways, Indy was specifically chosen because of the region’s unique transportation history, which includes the Historic National Road. Read more about the work of this important… [Read More]
Get a Chance to Win a Signed Copy of Just Fine The Way They Are
July 7, 2012 By
To be eligible you must be subscribed to my mailing list. The winner will be randomly selected on July 31, 2012. Details In Celebration of Audiobook Month in June we’re giving away a signed copy of Just Fine The Way They Are, which is now available in school and local libraries on CD and cassette thanks to Recorded… [Read More]
My Dear Governess; The Letters of Edith Wharton to Anna Bahlmann – Reviewed by Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge
July 4, 2012 By
My Dear Governess; The Letters of Edith Wharton to Anna Bahlmann edited by Irene Goldman-Price; Yale University Press, 2012. 296 pages; $30.00 (hardcover); reading level: adult. On May 31st, 1874, twelve-year-old Edith Wharton (then Edith Jones) wrote to her beloved twenty-five-year-old governess, Anna Bahlmann, inviting her to come to the Jones’ summer home in Newport,… [Read More]
National Road Yard Sale
May 30, 2012 By
Beginning on May 30 and running through the early part of June, folks will be setting up shop along the National Road (US 40) and creating one of the longest yard sales going: from Baltimore to St. Louis! For 9 years now, beginning on the Wednesday following Memorial Day, churches, museums, stores, and plain old… [Read More]
Visit to Northwest Elementary School
May 17, 2012 By
The drive to McDermott, Ohio winds through the greenest, most idyllic countryside you’ll find anywhere. Northwest Elementary School sits 5 miles off of US-23 and is home to around 800 K-5 students. A step inside the front door brought me into a high-energy zone: several parents in the office, classes of students filing through the… [Read More]
More Letters From Edith!
May 9, 2012 By
Just as my Edith Wharton biography was going to press, a stash of letters from Edith to her governess (and later secretary) was discovered. How can I get my hands on those? I wondered. The answer wasn’t long in coming. In April of 2011, when I spoke at The Mount, I met Irene Goldman-Price who… [Read More]
Jane Thurmer Wins a Signed Copy of “The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton”
May 9, 2012 By
Congratulations to Jane Thurmer, the winner of our March Women’s History Month give-away! Jane will receive a signed copy of The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton (Clarion 2010), Connie’s YA biography about the iconic writer who would be 150 years-old this year! Thank you, Jane, and everyone who entered.
Writer’s Retreat
April 14, 2012 By
In February, I drove east for eleven hours, through Ohio and the very mountains of Pennsylvania I used to call home, to the town of Honesdale, Pennsylvania. I turned left onto the property of the family that created the magazine Highlights for Children and pulled up to a small cabin with two twin beds, a… [Read More]