Myrna Denham Porter
Indian Wells (Palm Springs), CA
Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Registered Nurse and Author
BOOK COVER
BOOK DETAILS
Pub Date: January 13, 2022
Genre: Memoir / Parenting and Relationships
Page Count: 245
Format: Paperback, E-book
ISBN:979-8785915688
Price: Paperback: $18.95; E-Book: $5.99
ABOUT THE BOOK
This is the memoir of a woman born in 1940 to a family of sixteen children in a highly isolated area of Saskatchewan, Canada, at the edge of the Canadian Prairie. The opening chapters vividly portray the many contrasts in the life of its author, Myrna Denham Porter. The opening chapters vividly portray the many contrasts in Porter’s early life, from the piercing beauty of the Canadian emerald skies to the primal power of wild animals who roamed the property on which her family lived and struggled to survive. The serene natural beauty surrounding the Denham farm was a sharp contrast to her harsh father and the extreme poverty in which the family lived. The farm on which the family lived was at the edge of the Canadian Prairies where education was limited and basic material needs were unavailable.
Leaving the two-room blue house at the age of fourteen, Myrna traveled 100 miles only returning home twice in the years ahead to attend school. Deeply ashamed of the poverty she had left behind, Myrna was driven to forge a new life. Early childhood schooling in a one-room schoolhouse barely equipped her to pass the more rigorous standards at Wynyard High. Myrna entered the United States for her last year of high school. A loving aunt and uncle took her into their Chicago home, the first in a series of impactful mentoring relationships that helped her move towards inner strength and confidence.
Throughout the memoir, the panorama of Myrna’s life interlaces with an unfolding inquiry into meaning and purpose—a quest that endures even into her elder years. When Myrna fell deeply in love with financial genius Stu Porter in her late twenties, she was enjoying the glamorous life of a United Airlines stewardess. Together they raised two sons, while Myrna simultaneously gained an undergraduate and graduate degree in nursing and clinical social work. In the 50’s and 60’s few women went to college. During the couple's late to middle years both Myrna and her husband were diagnosed with cancer. Myrna and husband were determined to find purpose and meaning out of their difficult cancer experience. The couple worked together to create impressive not for profit organizations in an effort to help cancer survivors and their families. Myrna’s elder years brought deep sorrow, including the death of her husband, but there was also hope. A visit to The Holy Land conferred a spiritual epiphany revealing the archetypal pattern of her entire life, while a first-time visit to the graves of her parents unlocks deep forgiveness and compassion. In The Blue House, the author, Porter, a Registered Nurse and Licensed Clinical Social Worker and co-author Jacob Shefa, a Transpersonal Psychologist, deploy their educational and professional experience to illuminate the trials and triumphs Myrna experienced within her life. Throughout the memoir, Myrna’s life interlaces with an unfolding inquiry into meaning and purpose—a quest that endures even into her elder years.
TALKING POINTS
- How to find purpose throughout your life - Purpose is our reason for being steeped in Christian values and philanthropy.
- Elder advice on life - how to live a truly fulfilling life with meaning.
- How faith has played a role in Myrna’s life, from her religious upbringing to a late-life visit to The Holy Land of Israel.
- The power of forgiveness, and how a spiritual epiphany revealed to Myrna an archetypal pattern of her entire life - and how a first-time visit to the graves of her parents unlocks deep forgiveness and compassion.
- Mental aptitude and how it can be tied to empathic and radical curiosity - Myrna, and her co-author Dr. Jacob Shefa, PhD are available to discuss their expertise on these topics.
- How to fundraise and raise awareness for community impact programs, Myrna is actively involved with the Palm Desert Middle School KARE (kindness, attention, respect and excellence) Program.
TIMELY TIE-INS
National Social Workers Month: March
International Women's Day: March 8, 2023
National Working Mom’s Day: March 12, 2023
National Good Samaritan Day: March 13, 2023
National Write Down Your Own Story Day: March 14, 2023
National Certified Nurses Day: March 19, 2023
World Social Worker Day: March 21, 2023
Canada Day: July 1, 2023
PRAISE
“The Blue House is a fascinating book because it reveals the introspective process the author experiences as she examines her feelings and responses to events during her lifetime. It is a story interwoven with moral lessons. Meaning and purpose in life can be found by persevering after challenges. Lives beginning in hardship can end with success. Anyone who has enjoyed reading Oprah's books will appreciate the emotional depth of this author's story.” — Robert B. Gwyn, Amazon Review
BOOK DETAILS
Pub Date: May 17, 2022
Genre: Memoir / Christian Inspirational
Publisher: She Writes Press
Page Count: 304
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1647429003
Price: $15.99
ABOUT THE BOOK
In the age of social media, what does it mean to connect through a hand-written letter?
True Story: When Amy Daughters reconnected with her former friend from camp decades ago, Dana, via Facebook, she had no idea how it would change her life. Through social media, Amy learned Dana’s son Parker was at St. Jude battling cancer–devastating news, but what else do you do besides comment an “I’m so sorry,” nowadays?
But more than a comment happened, Amy woke up in the middle of the night and felt called in a way she couldn’t fully explain to write handwritten letters to Dana–someone who through time and distance, had become nothing more than several hundred other faces on her Facebook account.
When Parker died, Amy, not knowing what else to do, continued to write Dana. Eventually, Dana wrote back, and the two became pen pals, sharing things through the mail that they had never shared before. The richness of the experience left Amy wondering something: If my life could be so changed by someone I considered “just a Facebook friend,” what would happen if I wrote all my Facebook friends a letter?
A staggering 580 handwritten letters later Amy’s life would never be the same. As it turned out, there were actual individuals living very real lives behind each social media profile, and she was beautifully connected to each of those extraordinary, very real people.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A native Houstonian and a graduate of The Texas Tech University, Amy W. Daughters has been a freelance writer for more than a decade — mostly covering college football and sometimes talking about her feelings. Her debut novel, You Cannot Mess This Up: A True Story That Never Happened (She Writes Press, 2019), was selected as the Silver Winner for Humor in the 2019 Foreword INDIES and the Overall Winner for Humor/Comedy in the 2020 Next Generation Indie Awards. An amateur historian, hack golfer, charlatan fashion model, and regular on the ribbon dancing circuit, Amy — a proud former resident of Blackwell, England, and Dayton, Ohio currently lives in Tomball, Texas, a suburb of Houston. She is married to a foxy computer person, Willie, and is the lucky mother of two amazing sons, Will and Matthew.
TALKING POINTS
- Lost Art of Letter Writing – The deliberateness of a letter, honest, believable and genuine, more than Social Media could ever be. Bringing back the beautiful connection of a hand-written letter.
- How can we teach our younger generation to value a pen & stationery?
- The stages of grief and how to remain a constant and connected friend experiencing the grieving process.
- The power of prayer and finding purpose.
- The evolution of friendships and connections due to social media.
- Work from home and the disconnect it creates–how letter writing can bring back more meaningful relationships.
- Women in Sports – Amy is a decades long sportswriter–a position with its own trials and tribulations as a woman in a male-dominated field.
TIMELY TIE-INS
December
- Read a New Book Month
- National Letter Writing Day – December 7
- National Christmas Card Day – December 9
January
- Self-Love Month
- Universal Letter Writing Week – Jan 8-14
- Hunt for Happiness Week – Jan 15-21
February
- International Boost Self Esteem Month – February
April
- Month of Hope; Day of Hope – April 5
- World Health Day – April 7
- Tell a Story – April 27
- Trauma Awareness Month – May
PRAISE FOR DEAR DANA
“Dear Dana is an inspirational memoir about caring for friends near and far by reviving a lost art.” — Foreword Reviews
“. . . a captivating study regarding writing letters to friends and rethinking how people successfully bond in the modern world. An intriguing and inspiring exploration of different forms of communication.”— Kirkus Reviews
“This is a book for anyone who wonders about the differences between a Facebook friend and a Real-Life friend and who yearns to see a person’s real life behind their Facebook image. It is also about the power of prayer and the abundance of kindness in our world. But ultimately, it’s about connection and how we are all connected when we come from love.” — Rivvy Neshama, author of Recipes for a Sacred Life: True Stories and a Few Miracles
“Captivating . . . I laughed and I cried as I followed the pleasures of real mail, and the lesson hit home: Whether written or spoken, our words matter. They have the power to illuminate someone’s darkest day.” — Laurie Buchanan, PhD, author of Note to Self: A Seven-Step Path to Gratitude and Growth and The Business of Being: Soul Purpose In and Out of the Workplace