Feb 19, 2004

National League of American Pen Women honor nine local women

By Lorraine Gabbert
Staff Writer

The Santa Clara County branch of the National League of American Pen Women recently honored nine women at their annual Celebrity Luncheon. “The purpose of the National League of American Pen Women is to honor and encourage women in the three arts [Art, Letters, and Music],” said Achievers Chair Susan Zerwick.

“Women don’t get encouraged enough. When this organization started 100 years ago, you couldn’t put your own name on something,” commented Zerwick, “you had to have a man’s name, or else they wouldn’t even look at it. That was one of the reasons these women banded together, and we still find that everyone just needs that little push.” Award winner Kymberli Brady agrees. “Its always inspiring for a writer to be recognized by her peers, when recognition is so hard to come by in this field,” Brady said.

In the category of Art, Judy Bingman, Therese May, and Maralyn Miller were honored. Bingman is an award-winning photographer who has photographed polar bears in Canada, whales in Baja, penguins in Africa and Antarctica, and bison in Yellowstone National Park. May is an award-winning quilt artist, and has exhibited throughout the United States, Europe and Japan. In 1991 and 1992, she was commissioned to create two quilts by the San Jose Convention Center. Miller’s oil and pastel paintings include California landscapes, people, still life, and abstract works.

Kymberli Brady, Jeanne Lewis, and Diane Wilson were acknowledged in the Field of Letters. Brady is an award-winning author and a staff writer for the Almaden Times Weekly. She has written “Give Them Wings and Let Them Fly,” “The Sleepy Little Star,” and “The Day America Cried.” Lewis is also a writer and a staff writer for the Almaden Times Weekly. She was the first place winner of the California Pioneers 45th Annual Essay Contest. She was inspired to write this essay upon viewing Charles Henry Harmon’s oil painting, “Santa Clara Valley at Springtime.”
After separating from the Jehovah Witnesses, Wilson penned, “Awakening of A Jehovah’s Witness: Escape from the Watch Tower Society.” Since her book has been published, she has received numerous e-mails and phone calls from people who want to leave the group but are fearful to do so, including the clerk who received her rough draft at the Library of Congress.

In the area of Music, Sophie Chang, Nancy Bloomer Deussen, and Joyce Johnson-Hamilton were award winners. “Without music, life is a journey through the desert,” noted Zerwick. Chang began studying piano at the age of 13 and was a full-time organist by age 18. She became dean of the San Jose Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and is presently on the Board of the San Jose Study Club and has performed various solo concerts. Deussen composes pieces for the piano, plays by ear and transposes by sight. Her orchestral work, “Reflections on the Hudson,” won the Marin Symphony competition and has since been performed by 30 orchestras around the world. Johnson-Hamilton has played trumpet with the San Jose Symphony, and conducted the San Jose State University Orchestra. She is the conductor for the Diablo Symphony and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. She has performed at length, as well as done professional orchestral arranging.

“It was a thrill to be nominated as one of the achievers for the National League of American Pen Women this year,” said Lewis. “The organization represents a dedicated and talented group of women that dates back to 1897. I am honored with the recognition and proud to be a member.”