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We’re wild about words!

Celebrate centennial of women’s suffrage in New York State

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The fight for women’s suffrage was organized in 1848.

You may be aware that it wasn’t until 1920 that women were allowed to vote nationwide, but did you know that New York State passed a suffrage law in 1917?

That’s right. A statewide referendum validated the work of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and thousands of others (women and men), work that began in earnest in 1848 with women’s rights conventions in Seneca Falls.

Suffrage advocates joined forces with the abolitionists.

There are many events planned in our region to commemorate the centennial, thanks to dozens of partners, and their creativity is shining through. I recently was invited to a breakfast to start planning for making Rochester “The national destination for women’s history tourism and begin planning a community-wide celebration in 2020 of the centennial of the 19th Amendment.” At that breakfast, I also learned about the cornucopia of events planned for the 2017 celebration.

Most exciting to me is the VoteTilla,  sponsored by the National Susan B. Anthony Museum and House. The VoteTilla will consist of a caravan of five canal boats, traveling the Erie Canal from Seneca Falls to Rochester from July 17-22. The VoteTilla will make stops in various towns (including Fairport and Pittsford) along the way, where there will be local programs and an opportunity for residents to learn more about women’s suffrage. The VoteTilla culminates with a parade and celebration at the Anthony Museum and House. My heart swells with pride just to think of how women and girls will get to learn about our foremothers and their hard work.

Along with the VoteTilla, another major event is an exhibition commemorating the centennial of the New York State Woman Suffrage Amendment from June 2-Oct. 14 in Hacker Hall in the Rundel Memorial Building of the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County.

The fight for reforms continued even after women’s suffrage was achieved.

And how amazing is this: Bristol Valley Theatre in Naples is devoting its entire summer season to plays and musicals by female playwrights. First up is Hear Me Roar, described as a “steamy new rock musical of a love triangle gone wrong.” Can’t wait.

Coming up soon is the Rochester Oratorio Society’s free concert “Songs of Suffrage.” It’s at 1 p.m. April 29, also at Hacker Hall in the Rundel building. It sounds way cool to me — songs sung by the suffragists and songs about women suffragists.

You can check out a calendar of events by going to the RocSuffrage website. I also want to give a big shout-out to all the people planning the various events, and especially to the leadership of Christine Ridarsky, Rochester city historian, and Michelle Finn, deputy historian, and Deborah Hughes, president and CEO of the Anthony Museum and House.

So check out the calendar at RocSuffrage and start marking down those dates.

Jimmy Buffett’s philosophy works well in business

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“If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane” — Jimmy Buffett. Photo by Kent Russell.

I’m a big fan of Jimmy Buffett’s music. Some of his song lyrics speak to my soul and offer a philosophy that has helped me in the business world since I started listening to him when I moved to Bradenton, Florida, in 1997.

I was 28, knew no one, and in my first management job, as features editor of The Bradenton Herald. I felt a bit unsure of myself as I began to lead a staff of eight journalists, most of whom were older than me.

To get into the Florida mode (having moved from Chicagoland), I bought a few Jimmy Buffett cassette tapes. One of them had a song called “It’s my job,” written by Mac McAnally. I used to listen to this song as I drove to the newsroom each day, to get my head into the work mode.

In the middle of late last night I was sittin’ on a curb
I didn’t know what about, but I was feelin’ quite disturbed
A street sweeper came whistlin’ by, he was bouncin’ every step
It seemed strange how good he felt, so I asked him while he swept.

He said, “It’s my job to be cleaning up this mess
And that’s enough reason to go for me
It’s my job to be better than the rest
And that makes a day for me.”

What’s the business lesson? Whether you’re a street sweeper or an exec, strive to be the best.

After I heard one of Buffett’s more famous songs, “Changes in Attitudes, Changes in Latitudes,” I adopted one line as my personal philosophy. “If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.” It served me well working for so many years in often stressful newsrooms.  I must have thought of that thousands of times over the years.

It’s those changes in latitudes,
changes in attitudes, nothing remains quite the same.
With all of our running and all of our cunning,
If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.

What’s the business lesson? Laughter can offer great stress relief. In appropriate situations, keeping it light helps to keep the problem du jour in perspective.

Finally, lyrics from the Buffett and Matt Betton song “Breathe in, Breathe out, Move on,” written in response to Hurricane Katrina.

If a hurricane doesn’t leave you dead
It will make you strong
Don’t try to explain it just nod your head
Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On …

According to my watch the time is now
Past is dead and gone
Don’t try to shake it, just nod your head
Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.

What’s the business lesson? No matter how devastating the storm, it will make you stronger; don’t dwell too long on it, keep breathing and move on.

What song lyrics run through your mind in the course of a business day?

Got writer’s block? 5 quotes from Ernest Hemingway may help

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Ernest Hemingway before he became the famous writer.

We writers are always looking for inspiration and ways to make the writing come easier. Maybe we should just accept that even brilliant writers like Ernest Hemingway struggled.

Here are five quotes from the book Ernest Hemingway on Writing, edited by Larry Phillips.

  • “There’s no rule on how it is to write … Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly. Sometimes it is like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges.”
  • “After a book, I am emotionally exhausted. If you are not, you have not transferred the emotion completely to the reader. Anyway, that is the way it works for me.”
  • “Have been work(ing) very hard on this book. She pretty near over. All that remains now is to perform the unperformable miracle you have to always do at the end.”

This next one is from Hemingway’s speech accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in 1954.

  • “Writing, at its best, is a lonely life. Organizations for writers palliate the writer’s loneliness but I doubt if they improve his writing. He grows in public stature as he sheds his loneliness and often his work deteriorates. For he does his work alone and if he is a good enough writer he must face eternity or the lack of it, each day.”

For when you are struggling for the right word:

  • “Actually if a writer needs a dictionary, he should not write. He should have read the dictionary at least three times from beginning to end and then have loaned it to someone who needs. There are only certain words which are valid and similies (bring me my dictionary) are like defective ammunition (the lowest thing I can think of at this time).”

Do you have a favorite quote on writing?