April 22, 2004

Spring break festivities fun for adults, too

By Jeanne C. Lewis
Staff Writer

Erna Holyer's Metropolitan Adult Education Program [MAEP] “Fact or Fiction, for Fun and Profit” celebrated spring break at the instructor's hillside Almaden home with a pot luck luncheon and entertaining conversation. The event featured lots of good food and camaraderie by the collection of authors.

The festivity took place on Holyer's covered deck with views of the purple dotted spring flowers layering the backyard hillside. A variety of the students' favorite recipes provided something for everyone's taste. The cuisine was so appetizing that one of Holyer's students teasingly suggested that the group should collaborate on a cookbook.

Holyer hosts the event annually and has been an educator for over three decades, instructing numerous local writers throughout the valley and beyond. Judy McPheeters drives from Sunol every Thursday for Holyer's class. She attended the celebration with a delicious chicken casserole. Ursula Meier travels from Los Altos. The students this semester range from novice to published author with many attending her class for decades. Shirley Harned of Almaden is a new student in Holyer's class, intending to write her memoirs of her life as a professional opera singer.

Pirjo Polari-Khan is another past student of Holyer's and attended the affair. She is a ceramic artist and recently published “Blue Berry Pieway and Other Short Stories.” The two dozen attendees represent a collection of the valley's talent and many have published books, sold short stories and articles and won contests.

“When writers congregate, ideas turn into stories,” said Rosemarie Niles, a student of Holyer's since 1976. “Erna always tells her students to carry a pen and notebook at all times. I have a drawer full of notebooks filled with ideas. A few have turned into published stories, but just listening to people and information is fascinating. It keeps one alive.”

The prolific Holyer has published 15 books and more than 200 articles. Her current novel is “Dangerous Secrets: A Young Girl's Travails under the Nazis.” She is the recipient of numerous honors for art, writing and educator—and she gives a great party.

For more information on MAEP's weekly “Fact and Fiction, for Fun and Profit,” call (408) 947-2300.