8 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Poet launches
new book at
Cloud & Leaf
ALEX PAJUNAS PHOTO
Jeanne Maddox Peterson in-
structs students in her senior Lit-
tle Ballet Theatre class at Maddox
Dance Studio in Warrenton.
FILE PHOTO
Denise Reed
LORRAINE ORTIZ PHOTO
FILE PHOTO
Carol Newman models Patty
Thurlby’s ‘Reigning Queen of
Green’ trash art piece.
Vocalist ChrisLynn Taylor will per-
form with the North Coast Sym-
phonic Band.
Women of the arts
ASTORIA — The American Association
of University Women (AAUW) Astoria
Branch presents “Leaders in the Fine and
Performing Arts,” 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, June
19, in the Flag Room of the Astoria Library.
AAUW Astoria continues to focus on
women leaders in the fine and performing
arts. This event features Jeanne Maddox
Peterson, Denise Reed, Carol Newman and
ChrisLynn Taylor.
Peterson is the artistic director of the
Little Ballet Theatre and owner of Maddox
Dance Theater. She spent several years as a
staff member on the Miss America Pageant
and was producer of the Miss California
and Miss Oregon pageants. She coached the
Astoria High School Dance Team, Pizazz,
for almost 30 years.
Reed is the North Coast Chorale music
director. She has taught chorus and music
theory in Chicago, Nevada, Tennessee and
on the North Oregon Coast. She composes
and arranges music as well.
Newman is the voice of “Arts Live and
Local” on KMUN. A tireless supporter of
the arts in all forms, she has participated in
theater productions as a dancer and actress.
She currently sings with the North Coast
Chorale.
Taylor is a teacher and singer. Until
recently, she was a worker bee for the Astor
Street Opry Company, where, since 1991,
she served as a board member, singer, direc-
tor and producer of many shows.
Participants will be sharing their stories
on the long history of the arts in our com-
munity, why they became involved in the
arts and their current activities in the arts.
The program is free and open to the
public. Light refreshments will be served.
For more information, contact Roz Edelson
at edelsonr4041@charter.net.
Jerry Ostermiller addresses CCC students
ASTORIA — Clatsop Com-
munity College is proud to
announce that Jerry Oster-
miller will address graduates
at the 2018 commencement
ceremony, 7 p.m. Friday, June
15, in Patriot Hall at the CCC
campus.
Ostermiller is a nationally
recognized educator who has
been featured in numerous
documentaries for the History
Channel, the Discovery Chan-
nel, The National Geographic
Society and the Learning
Channel. He is known locally
for his time at the Columbia
River Maritime Museum in
Astoria from 1989 until he
retired as museum president
in 2009.
“As a local 20-year execu-
tive director, I have not only
hired staff who attended CCC,
but I have taken advantage of
the facility to invest in some of
my employees by paying for
classes to enhance their skill
sets,” he said.
Ostermiller earned an hon-
ors degree in social science
and history from Boise State
University and completed his
graduate studies in cultural
anthropology and historical ar-
cheology at the University of
Idaho. He is a graduate of the
prestigious Seminar for His-
torical Administration hosted
by the Colonial Williamsburg
Foundation, the National Trust
for Historic Preservation, the
American Association for
State and Local History and
the American Association of
Museums.
He currently serves as Vice
Chairman of the Oregon State
Heritage Commission and
a Special Projects Maritime
Historian for NOAA’s National
Marine Sanctuaries Program in
Silver Spring, Maryland.
CCC will award certifi-
cates and degrees to more than
130 students this year. This
includes 113 two-year degrees
and 25 one-year certificates.
For additional information
regarding the CCC commence-
ment ceremony, visit clatsopcc.
edu/student-resources/registrar/
commencement.
For questions, contact Siv
Barnum at 503-338-22407 or
sbarnum@clatsopcc.edu.
COURTESY CLATSOP COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Jerry Ostermiler
MANZANITA — “I can scarcely remember
the first / time we came to this doctor, /
David three, diagnosed delayed / as though
he were a flight / that might land anytime.”
So begins Phyllis
Mannan’s poetry
chapbook, “Bitter-
brush,” about her
adult son with autism.
The short collection
was recently released
by Finishing Line
Press.
The poet will read
from her chapbook 6
p.m. Thursday, June
COURTESY FINISHING
28, at Cloud & Leaf
LINE PRESS
Bookstore in Manza-
nita.
Phyllis Mannan,
author of ‘Bitter-
The author began
writing about her son brush’
David in an attempt
to understand him. Later, she wanted to
discover what happens to family relation-
ships when the ability to communicate and
understand feelings is severely limited.
Through her poems and nonfiction stories,
she also hopes to give her son — and per-
haps others with unique ways of thinking
— a voice in the world.
Based on poems in “Bitterbrush,”
Mannan received an Oregon Literary
Arts Fellowship in Poetry. Her poems
have appeared in Cloudbank, the North
Coast Squid, The Oregonian, Rain
Magazine, StringTown, Verseweavers,
Willow Springs and other publications.
Her memoir, “Torn Fish: A Mother, Her
Autistic Son, and Their Shared Humanity,”
published in 2015, explores the questions,
“What happens when a child with autism
grows up?” and “What makes us human?”
An advocate for adults with devel-
opmental disabilities and their families,
Phyllis has served on the board of directors
of Edwards Center and Bethesda Lutheran
Communities Family Association. A for-
mer high school English teacher, she lives
with her husband in Manzanita.
Finishing Line Press is a poetry publish-
er based in Georgetown, Kentucky. In ad-
dition to the Chapbook Series, it publishes
the New Women’s Voices Series.
You may order a copy of “Bitterbrush”
at Cloud & Leaf Bookstore or online at
finishinglinepress.com/product/bitter-
brush-by-phyllis-mannan/ or at Amazon.
com.