Harriet Halpern, of Montclair, has won three times. Peggy LaVake of Cedar Grove won once, and received an honorable mention another time. And both say it was one of the best experiences of their lives.
Their true stories topped hundreds of other entries in the Essex Legacies Writing Contest. And if you are an Essex County senior, ages 60 and up, now’s the time to begin polishing up your own nonfiction story for the 2013 contest, which has a March 25 deadline. Senior scribes are invited to submit an original story focusing on a special person, a life-changing experience or a significant period of their life.
“Our senior citizens have led interesting lives and I am always impressed by the stories that are submitted. Our Legacies Contest is an opportunity for our older residents to remember their past and share their experiences with family, friends and the younger generation,” Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo said.
All writers who enter are invited to a Legacies Luncheon Celebration in May, where awards will be presented to the authors of winning and honorable mention stories. These stories will be also posted on the Essex County website.
Harriet Halpern, age 75 and a retired English teacher, notes that the luncheon is a highlight of the contest. “It was so well organized,” she recalls of one of the events. “I felt like I was going to the prom. The writers are taken seriously. It’s a gala event. Then, the winners got to read their stories to the whole group, which was projected on a big screen.”
One of her nonfiction pieces was a poignant recollection of her father’s role as an Air Raid Warden in her Brooklyn neighborhood during World War II, which was triggered by having to sort through her parents belongings after they had both passed. Another of her winning essays centered on a music teacher in elementary school who shamed her because she had trouble carrying a tune.
“From Miss McNally (not her real name) I learned what not to do when I became a teacher. No student was ever humiliated on my watch!” says Halpern, who is active locally with The Write Group. She won awards in the contest in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Peggy LaVake, a musician and health care worker, wrote her 2009 story about how surviving a plane crash when she was in her late 30s impacted her life. A licensed pilot, she had learned to fly to get closer to her father, an Eastern Airlines pilot, though a friend was at the controls the day their small plane crashed in Westchester County while doing traffic reconnaissance for a radio station. “Up to then, I didn’t think I was old enough to die. Then I realized, you’re always old enough.” The story was cited for the 2009 Director’s Award, the contest’s overall top prize.
The win spurred her on to more writing. “After that, I was fearless, writing and submitting to a lot of places.” She’s since had stories published in Volkswagon Magazine and on the AARP website.
However, you need not be a professional writer to enter. In fact, most of the writers who enter are writing for the first time, according to a county official.
So seniors, get going on your first draft, or work on revising something you may have already begun. The stories must be true, original and unpublished, with a suggested maximum length of 1,500 words (that’s about six typewritten, double-spaced pages). For a complete list of contest rules and information, please visit the county website or call the Essex County Division of Senior Services at 973-395-8389.
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