The Adirondack Center for Writing in Saranac Lake is pleased to host another BarkReaders session, this time featuring Adirondack feminist historian, Lorraine Duvall, who will perform a reading of Finding a Woman’s Place on Wednesday, November 9 at 7 p.m. An open mic will follow the reading. Admission to the event is free, with a suggested donation at the door. The reading and open mic will run for a total of 60 minutes, and registration is required.
After retiring to the Adirondack Mountains in 2000, Lorraine Duvall became active in helping to protect the Adirondack lakes, ponds, and rivers from exploitation. She explored these waters in her solo canoe, writing of her journeys with other paddling enthusiasts, culminating in the memoir, In Praise of Quiet Waters: Finding Solitude and Adventure in the Wild Adirondacks, which won the 2016 Literary Award from the Adirondack Center for Writing (ACW) for Best Memoir.
Her first memoir, And I Know Too Much to Pretend, won the ACW Literary Award in 2014, where she writes of her experiences growing up in the formative years of the 2nd Wave of the Feminist Movement.
Duvall became immersed in the story of a rural commune of women not far from her home in Keene, NY., which resulted in the publication in 2020 of the book, Finding A Woman’s Place: The Story of a 1970s Feminist Collective in the Adirondacks. In 1974, seven women with their eight children left jobs, friends, and families to live together communally in Athol, NY, a remote area of the Adirondack Mountains.
Duvall holds a B.S. degree in Mathematics, an M.S. in Operations Research, and a Ph.D. from Syracuse University in Information Studies. Her first job after graduating from college in 1960, with a major in mathematics, was as a computer programmer with an engineering group for General Electric Company. She proceeded to advance in her career in technology firms taking-on positions as a systems analyst, manager, and research director.
More information and register HERE.
The Adirondack Center for Writing is located at 15 Broadway in Saranac Lake, NY.
Photo at top courtesy of the Adirondack Center for Writing.
When I first acquired Ms. Duvall’s book “Finding a Woman’s Place”, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I was fascinated and intrigued at the same time. Anyone who is interested in this topic needs to read this book!
I agree! It’s a great read 🙂