With the support and encouragement from many who share my interest in Will Rogers and good writing,
I am in the process of seeing a dream come true. The following announcement was made today:
The workshop will be sponsored by the National Society of Newspaper
Columnists, in partnership with the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop, and hosted by The Oklahoman and NewsOK.com.
The event, at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City, will
be limited to 300 attendees – columnists, feature writers, editorialists, humor writers, authors, freelance and self-syndicated,
print media and online writers. The Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation is providing major funding for the program.
NSNC President Suzette Martinez Standring said the workshop represents
a major training initiative for the organization, which has members throughout the United States and parts of Canada.
"Training is a key element in our annual conferences, including this
year's meeting in Boston, June 30-July 2, where we will have sessions on 'Women and Editorial Writing', ‘Courting Controversy
and Effective Writing', and 'Writing for Hispanic Publications', among others," Standring said.
"The Will Rogers Writers' Workshop will be the most extensive training
program we have undertaken and it will produce valuable benefits for writers
of all types."
Robert Haught, NSNC secretary and workshop director, said the 2007 event
will feature a program of outstanding speakers and workshop leaders. Haught, who writes a column for The Oklahoman,
added: "Attendees also will enjoy the hospitality of Oklahomans celebrating the state’s centennial."
The workshop is named for Will Rogers, the multi-talented cowboy philosopher-humorist
"whose words are still as alive as when he kept America laughing, and thinking, in the 1920s and ‘30s," Haught said. Rogers
wrote more than 4,000 newspaper columns, authored six books and also reached the public through magazine articles, radio commentaries
and speeches.
