APH Conference 2001 Highlights

The sunny skies, palm trees and balmy breezes of Tampa greeted more than 100 attendees for the APH annual conference in November.

As is always the case with our conferences, the slate of workshops delivered an excellent array of informative topics, with presenters getting high marks for the content of their sessions. One comment from an evaluation form read, "I was very impressed with the generous content delivered by each presenter I attended-both quantity and thoroughness. They were all quite gracious in staying after to answer questions."

Without a doubt, the one session no one wanted to end-including the speaker-was the luncheon program by Rick Bragg. Bragg had literally just returned from six weeks reporting on the war in Afghanistan for the New York Times. He talked about some of his experiences there before discussing his best-selling family personal histories about life in the South: All Over but the Shoutin'-about his mother, and Ava's Man-his grandfather's story.

Bragg's natural wit made the overflow crowd roar with laughter, while his pensive insights into the importance of individual stories both reflected and bolstered APHers' passion for our profession. After talking about his motivation to write both books, Bragg opened the floor to questions, which led to a freewheeling and lively discussion before signing copies of his books.

Later, Bragg said he could not think of a better way than interacting with the APH members "to return to the books that I love."

Saturday night's "Personal Hysteria" party in Ybor City, Tampa's historical district, provided a night of lively entertainment. Peter Farquhar hosted a program that included a humorous sketch presented by Elizabeth Wright, Audrey Galex and Bruce Doneaux. Laurie McClain, an accomplished folk singer and guitarist, wowed the crowd with four songs from her latest CD, The Child Behind My Eyes.

Outgoing president Bob Joyce was then humorously roasted by Steven Friedman before being warmly toasted by incoming president Lettice Stuart. Lettice presented Bob with a book of memories and accolades of his years at the helm contributed by members. Paula Yost, who edited the book, read the introduction aloud to the audience. Layout, production and binding of the handsome volume were done by Marion Johnson.

Dancing closed out the evening, reinvigorating members after three days of on-going events. (Before leaving for the party, Nancy Colby asked if there was a way to return to the hotel early; Nancy literally had to be pulled from the dance floor in order to make the bus before it left!)

Closing the conference were two highly emotional programs on Sunday. Tales From The Heart, where members shared stories from their life-writing experiences, brought both chuckles and tears. In the afternoon, a panel of war veterans shared their stories with the APH and the public.

With this year's conference successfully behind us, planning is already under way for gathering in Vancouver, British Columbia. It's time to mark your calendars and make plans for next year's conference that, under Vera Rosenbluth's capable direction, is certain to be even more informative and fun!