My Daughter Helps Save Trees

Nicole, my teenage daughter, has never expressed an enthusiastic interest in writing. But she was just published in The Baltimore Sun twice this week. Her letter to the editor regarding the Dumbarton trees in Rodger’s Forge was published in the July 30 edition and again on Saturday, August 2 in the “Maryland Voices: Your Turn” section.

In “Spare the Dumbarton Trees,” Nicole says that the county’s plans to expand Dumbarton Middle School at the expense of century-old trees must be scrapped.

And her letter just may have made a difference! Not only did she get two personal letters from local politicians, the Saturday edition’s Editor’s Note said that some executives have withdrawn support for parts of the plan that involve destroying the trees.

Read Nicole’s letter at the following link.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2014-07-30/news/bs-ed-dumbarton-letter-20140730_1_trees-dumbarton-middle-school-baltimore-county-public-schools

And, a reply to her letter from another reader, “When nature is in your schoolyard,” was published in the Sun on August 3. You can read the letter here.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2014-08-03/news/bs-ed-dumbarton-trees-letter-20140803_1_schoolyard-bird-sanctuary-trees

 

The Michael Phelps of Books

Here in Rodgers Forge, we’re celebrating one of the most gold-medal heavy communities in the world. Michael Phelps grew up here and is an old neighbor.


If there is an Michael Phelps of books, the closest thing to it would be Atticus Books.

That’s because Atticus swept up the gold at this year’s Independent Publisher Book Awards in New York City. Not only did my own Tracks: A Novel in Stories win the Gold Medal for Best Fiction in the Mid-Atlantic region, but three other Atticus authors took gold for three other regions.

See the press release issued by Atticus Books to learn more about the Olympics of indie publishing.

http://atticusbooksonline.com/atticus-books-wins-four-ippy-awards

Towson Times Explores Tracks

The Towson Times featured the headline “Goodman on ‘Tracks’ with novel built on short stories.” Feature writer Sheila S. Peter wrote in this week’s edition (the online version showed up on Sunday):

“Many of us know this Rodgers Forge resident's wonderful first book, "Flightless Goose," for children. Well, now adults can thrill to Eric's work.”

She then went on to mention my NPR radio readings and upcoming Tracks events in the area.

“He'll be at Artscape this coming weekend, July 16 and 17; at Greetings and Readings on July 23; and at the Ivy Bookstore, July 27 at 6:30 p.m.”

Read the story at http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/baltimorecounty/publications/towson-times/ph-tt-neighbor-rodgers-peter-20110710,0,1634887.story

Learn more about these and other Tracks events at http://www.tracksnovel.com/appearances.html