We are “The Book Club”, a group of 14 African-American women who decided to get together 18 years ago in Seattle Washington to talk about books by African-American authors.
“The Book Club” has been featured in newspaper articles on both coasts and was interviewed on Cheryl Robinson’s “All About Books” Maryland pod-cast. Most recently, we received recognition from J. California Cooper in her latest work of fiction “Life is Short but Wide” as people important to her.
We are very active mothers, grandmothers, retirees, career women, entrepreneurs, empty nesters, stepmothers, single parents, single women and childless by choice. We have the experiences and the complications of being wives, lovers and friends. We are successful paralegals, consultants, social workers, managers, executives, directors, HR specialists, accountants and teachers. Some of us have been friends for over 50 years.
We love the meetings. They are an escape from our day-to-day rigors and guarantee a good time with good friends and good food. We create an atmosphere which fosters the power of positive thinking. We can let our hair down or take it off. We can remove the masks we show the outside world and just be ourselves. We have had local and national Black authors attend our meetings.
Just as we enjoy our meetings, we also enjoy other activities. We have traveled to Martha’s Vineyard, The National Black Theatre Festival and NYC. We have attended numerous local readings, plays and musicals.
Standing (left to right) Gloria Eastland, Elaine Pearsall, Liz Causby-Miles, Helen Harris, Doris Hill, Sylvia Bushnell, Edna Nunn, Harriet Slye, Claudia Scipio, (In Front) Patricia Tanner, Valerie Dominique, Jackie Roberts, Vanetta Arnold. Not pictured: Pat Coleman, Nancy Palmer, Linda Thompson-Black.
The bookclub remembers our founder, Ms. Edna Nunn, who passed on September 28, 2008. Edna's love of reading and her dedication to the bookclub is the key factor in our success and longivity as "The bookclub." She will be missed.
