ARTS & CULTURE
editionap.ca
Author enjoying the freedom to pursue passion
that without the arts, a community has no soul.” Kennedy recognized that she had always been in awe of people who seemed to have a zeal and dedication about their creative outlets. She thought for sometime as to what activity had given her that feeling in her life. “It clearly was not my frenetic busy agen- da, running from one meeting to another over a span of 30 years, which is why I took an early retirement in 2003. No, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it was writing where I felt most joy and ac- complishment.” “I also believe that it is important to get important messages out to others, and I be- lieve I can do this through my writing.” When Kennedy was working she wrote speeches and reports, but since retiring, she has written poetry, short vignettes, short stories, and a column. However, Kennedy realized she needed something challeng- ing, and started working on her novel The Women Gather . “It was clear to me that in my career, most of my dealings involved women – whose voices were generally dismissed. Based on my experiences, and the experiences of other women, I was able to start weaving my story,” she said. In July 2012 she had an astounding book launch, with the book being sold through local businesses, and the huge Chapters book store chain. She also engaged the team of book marketing services to pro- mote her novel on a 10-day web book tour. Kennedy, now enthused and inspired, is embarking on her second novel, simply ti- tled Book Two . Now with a business license in hand she is slowly getting the gist of that responsibility. She now is more than a writer, but is in- volved to some degree in the production, marketing and selling of the novel she wrote and anticipates subsequent novels. She is also exploring e-book publications. Through the whole process Kennedy is quick to admit that it has placed her in a community of creative people whom she admires and supports. Tracy-Lynn Chisholm created the cover for her book The Women Gather . “She read my novel, designed and painted this glori- ous symbolic representation of the issues I discuss inside the pages,” Kennedy said. “David Rawnsley, who gave a kind review of my novel, also wrote:‘If ever a book could be judged by its cover then this is the one’.” Success means different things for vari- ous people but for Kennedy her real suc- cess story has been belonging in a com- munity. “Having family and friends who accept me regardless of my warts and foibles, and coming to terms with my fallibility. Success also means understanding and accepting who we are, and that it is alright to be who we are.”
LISA ETHERINGTON- RUNIONS
In 1956, on the heels of the Hungarian Revolution, 200,000 Hungarians fled their war torn homeland as refugees. Katalin Kennedy, then a child of only eight years old, fled Hungary with her par- ents and walked three hours through snow- covered fields and freezing temperatures, until they reached Austria on Christmas Eve. Prior to this, her father had been captured and imprisoned with thousands of others, without trial for nearly seven years as a po- litical prisoner. “For four years, my mother, who was only 23 years old when he was taken, didn’t know what had happened to him,” said Kennedy. “Then out of nowhere, my mother received a postcard that told he had been in a maximum security prison from which he was not permitted to write.” “In the next three years, he was released three times, whenever there was an up- heaval in the government. The third time he felt there was no alternative but to escape from Hungary.” Kennedy and her family remained in Aus- tria in refugee camps until her mother’s feet healed having frozen black from frost- bite from the harsh temperatures walking through the snow. Thanks to the Red Cross, they arrived to their new country and home here in Canada in 1957. The memory of this period in Kennedy’s life will stay with her always. Kennedy spent most of her adult life in Ottawa where she attended Carleton Uni- versity, obtaining a degree in English litera- ture with minors in religion and sociology. In 1972 she married Duncan Scott Kennedy, who was ordained as a Presbyterian minis- ter in 1982, and they moved to Maxville, his first charge being in Maxville and St. Elmo. During this time, Kennedy, working in social services with Health Canada, started commuting to Ottawa each day. Kennedy initially worked with the New Horizons Pro- gram and later as elder abuse consultant
Photo - Etherington-Runions
Katalin Kennedy is pictured with her first novel, The Women Gather, based on her ex- tensive involvement in women’s issues during her career in the federal civil service.
at the Family Violence Prevention Division. She was also the program manager of ma- jor national projects across Canada on is- sues relating to violence against women. Kennedy and her husband eventually moved back to Ottawa where she contin- ued in her career with the government, until she retired in 2003. Once more her husband assumed his Maxville charge, and they settled in Cornwall. “I worked hard at this time to reinvent myself. Duncan died three years later, and this changed every single day of my life. And yet again I had to reinvent myself, now as a woman living alone.” Following retirement, Kennedy first joined and volunteered with a number of community organizations, of which she
is still a member -- organizations such as the Probus Club of Cornwall, the Canadian Federation of University Women, the Corn- wall and Area Writers’ Society, the Encore- Seniors Education Centre at St. Lawrence College, and with St. John’s Presbyterian Church. She also volunteered through the church community visiting homes and facilities such as Glen Stor Dun Lodge. “I am of the belief that a community has many facets. Interest groups are being es- tablished all the time, those dealing with health and wellness issues, those with the environment matters etc. We can’t belong and actively participate in all of them, but again, based on interest we can support them. In addition, one must never forget
ASSEMBLÉE ANNUELLE de l’HÔPITAL COMMUNAUTAIRE DE CORNWALL le jeudi 20 juin 2013, 19 h
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of CORNWALL COMMUNITY HOSPITAL
Thursday, June 20, 2013, 7:00 p.m. NavCentre, Robert Thirsk Room 1950 Montreal Road, Cornwall The agenda will include reports from the Board Chair and Chief Executive Officer, the Chief of Staff, and the Auditors, as well as election of Directors, appointment of Auditors and By-law Amendments.
Centre Nav, Salle Robert Thirsk 1950, chemin Montréal, Cornwall
L’ordre du jour comprendra les rapports de la présidente du Conseil et de la directrice générale, du médecin-chef, et des vérificateurs, de même que l'élection des membres du conseil d’administration, la nomination des vérificateurs et la modification des règlements.
La secrétaire de la Société, Jeanette Despatie
Jeanette Despatie Secretary of the Corporation
Made with FlippingBook HTML5