MANZANITA, OREGON—What happens when women tell the truth? Find out at a special event at Hoffman Center, Wednesday, September 18th, 4:00pm featuring Dena Taylor and her latest book, “When A Woman Tells The Truth,” an anthology of creative works and writings about life by women in their 80s.
Along with Taylor, seven local women—all over 80—will read their favorite pieces from this anthology. Readers will include Liz Cole, Claudia Johnson, Julianne Johnson, Linda Kozlowski, Ann Morgan, Leila Salmon and Suzanne Wallis. Glenna Cook, a poet, will be here from Puyallup to read her selection from the book.
A regular visitor to Manzanita for over 60+ years and a resident of Santa Cruz, California for over five decades Taylor has filled her post-retirement years with activism, writing, extensive international travel, obtaining her pilot’s license, and saying yes to unusual opportunities of all kinds from her circle of life-long friends.
“I turned 80 in March of 2021 and was talking to a friend who had also recently turned 80. We discussed what that milestone meant to us, and we wondered what other women were going through. We decided to find out and this book project was born,” said Taylor.
“I am eager to share this book and conversation with the Nehalem Bay area community and look forward to hearing the amazing women—all in their 80s—who have stepped up to read at this event. This will be a fantastic opportunity for women and men to hear what older women have to say!”
The book is filled with funny, heart-breaking, tender, sly, angry and loving stories, poems, essays and memoirs by poets, professors, Zen Buddhists, theater directors, French teachers, jewelry artists, union organizers, midwives, hospice workers—all women in their 80s. The honesty, wisdom and humor contained in the book’s pages portray rich lives whose roots are still growing into the future.
The book will be available for sale at the event and the author will be signing. Admission is $7 at the door, Hoffman Center for the Arts, 594 Laneda Avenue, Manzanita.
“When A Woman Tells The Truth” is Taylor’s ninth published book. Her other titles include, “Exclamation Points: Collected Poems,” she co-authored with her daughter Becky Taylor “Tell Me The Number Before Infinity: The story of a girl with a quirky mind, an eccentric family, and oh yes, a disability,” and several books on women’s issues. Dena Taylor completed her graduate studies at Rutgers School of Social Work and is retired from careers in social work and education.
For more information contact Julianne Johnson, jjmanzanita@gmail.com.