For 17 years, Joyce Marcel has been speaking her heart and her mind in opinion columns for the Brattleboro Reformer and on a variety of Web sites. Although some have called her radical, she believes passionately in common sense and in doing the right thing, even when, sometimes, it is the left thing.
Marcel's work does not fit into neatly defined boundaries. Her topics include: politics, women's lives, the Bush family, the Iraq war, culture, fast food, fascism, cats, daffodils, southern Vermont, her family — especially life with her dancer mother, horse racing, sex, marriage, fashion, aging, the death penalty, gospel music, September 11, 2001, racism, homosexuality, democracy and love.
Marcel's self-published first book, a collection of her reader's favorite columns called "A Thousand Words or Less: Favorite Columns 1996-2005," is now available.
She will be reading from her book at Heartstone Books in Putney on June 6 at 7 p.m.
The editor of the Brattleboro Reformer, Sabina Haskell, says, "Joyce Marcel's musings are miraculous at capturing the intimacy, foibles and challenges in the often-overlooked moments of our daily lives. She'll take your breath away in recounting the magic and mystery of mother-daughter relationships. She relishes womanhood's hard-fought battles for equality and the lingering issues of inequality. She knows what it takes to live a full life and she gladly shares that with us. You'll recognize your own struggles and triumphs in these columns and more likely than not, you'll be recalling her words long after you've finished reading."
Call Heartstone Books at 387-2100 for more information about the reading.