Only the Harlesses

Only the Harlesses would wait for a winter storm, then head out to drive across country just when gas prices approached $4 a gallon. We left Saturday morning and made it to Omaha where we enjoyed the company , or rather enjoyed BEING the company of an old friend, George, and a new friend, Michelle. Fantastic bacon wrapped scallops followed by steak grilled the old-fashioned way over live coals and, of course, lots and lots of good red wine. Wow! If this keeps up I'll be waddling into that last book event of the "Wild West Book Tour" at Aunties bookstore in Spokane on April 10th!

Last night we had hoped to go out to dinner with a friend, but instead we visited her in the hospital. Everyone please hold up 'Sally," so she gets through this rough patch. She's an amazing women - trekked Nepal after she turned 70, sea kayaks and bikes everywhere! She and I used to walk around Lake Geode near where I live in Iowa. It's about an 8-mile trek. I would be pooped by the end of once around, but not Sally - Sal wore a 20 pound pack, and went around the lake twice. She was training to climb a mountain. I just wanted to lose 10 pounds.

We're at Cedar City, Utah tonight after passing through some pretty spectacular country. The red rock around here is at least, if not even more, spectacular as that we saw in New Mexico a few years ago. Very interesting formations too - they look almost 'carved,' which, I guess, they are - carved by the wind! Amazing.

From Julien's Journal

Julien's Journal - Dubuque Area Magazine - New Book Connects Women Around the World -
"......Womankind: Connection & Wisdom Around the World .......From the Mayan mothers in the Belize rainforest to a race for the hospital with a laboring woman in the Kosovo countryside, the author tells the stories of the women she met, separated by land but united by the grace and strength of womankind."

Wever women to speak at civic center - MP NEWS.NET

byMira Cash-Davis
02/28/2008
Nancy Harless, a retired nurse practitioner from Wever, has authored a collection of 21 short stories titled "Womankind: Connection and Wisdom around the World"....Harless began traveling as a nurse. She has traveled "always on a shoestring" even in retirement, because she enjoys it. In her book "Womankind," Harless retains an innocent writer's voice. She reveals a facet of her own good will in the light of each story..... In another story, Harless asks about an end to the shootings in Serbo-Croatia. A Serbian woman replies, "Oh, Nancy, you are so ... what is the word for like a little girl ... innocence?" before explaining to Harless the code of retribution among the Muslim Albanians. ....... Even in dire circumstances, Harless finds her own hope at the bottom of the proverbial box of chaos. She provides readers with an orderly, digestible view of the world's differences through her lens of not only tolerance for now, but hope for later......

Woman who writes about women visits Albert Lea

Albert Lea Tribune - by Sarah Kirchner

Nancy Leigh Harless spent the last 10 years traveling the world and dedicating her time helping others in foreign countries. During her travels she met a lot of women, each with her own story to tell, which Harless captured in her journals. ....Harless was in Albert Lea Friday afternoon, outside of Book World in the Northbridge Mall, sharing her stories, signing books and reading some of her favorite passages. She brought many pictures of the women she met in her travels.
“Womankind” is a collection of short stories from Harless’ work across the world as a women’s health nurse practitioner.....Half the stories in the book are from Harless’ nursing experiences and half are taken from the women she met. ....Harless’ first trip, with her husband, was in 1997. A native of Iowa, she and four others went on a group study exchange to Guatemala and Belize. On that trip she saw both extremes of the countries, the poor and the very wealthy.
“That experience changed the way I want to travel,” she said, and exposed her to the need in the world.....Everywhere Harless went she said there were women with stories to tell and someone to tell it. “I have an ear for so many stories, so now it’s time for a voice,” she said....
The writing came after the travels. Harless and her husband didn’t know during their trips that a book would come out of it, even though she recorded all her experiences in her journals. However, those journals were kept for herself, with no intentions to publish a collection. Over the 10 years of travels, a few minor works had been published in nursing journals.....“Each of the women taught me something or retaught me,” Harless said....Harless toured Iowa and Nebraska with her book. Friday was her first time in Minnesota, and she chose to stop in Albert Lea.

WORDLY WOMAN

Theses are excerpts from the article written by MAry Stegmeir in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier on Saturday - 2-2-08.

In 1997, Nancy Harless and four other Iowa professionals spent a month living in Belize and Guatemala through a Rotary International exchange program. "I've seen poverty here in the United States, but even our poorest are rich by the standards in Guatemala and Belize," said Harless, who visited villages without running water and worked in hospitals where trash lined the hallways. "Nothing would ever be the same for me again."

The nurse immediately started planning a return trip to Belize with her husband, Norm. In 1999 the couple opened a women's clinic in Punta Gorda. And over the next nine years, she visited 15 countries, often using her trips to do service work and learn more about the world. .....

Her experiences off the beaten path are recorded in "Womankind: Connection & Wisdom Around the World." ...."If there is an overall theme to the book, I would say it is one of hope," said the retired 60-year-old. "I think the world can be changed one person at a time. That's the only way it's going to happen." .....

"I think the book appeals to people's curiosity about other cultures," said Emily Longseth, merchandising manager at Waterloo's Barnes & Noble store. "We all have challenges, and we all deal with them in different ways." .....

"One of our editors described it as an 'I am woman, hear me roar,' book," said Kyle Kent, a managing representative with Tate. "Through her stories, (Harless) talks about the connections that all women share, no matter where they live." ....

"We might speak different languages, we dress differently, we eat different foods, but at our basic core we are all alike," Harless said. "All the women in the book care about making a better life for themselves and their families."

We can read the entire article on-line at www.wcfcourier.com and search the archieves 2-2-08.

THUNDER - LIGHTENING - FLURRIES

Winter 2008 has been a long, cold hard one. I received an email from a friend last week. She said,"Isn't this this perfect weather for writing!" Somehow I just can't muster up her enthusisam, so I want to go on record right now as saying - THIS IS THE LAST WINTER I WILL STAY HOME IN THE MIDWEST! Next year I want to be doing something like in the picture to the right - swimming in the ocean with my sister!

Hope you are staying warm in your neck of the woods. We had a blizzard last night ocmplete with thunder and lightening. Something about that is just plain wrong.

From "The Daily Iowian" by Lauren Matovina

Nursing the world to hope
By: Lauren Matovina - The Daily Iowan
Posted: 1/29/08
Many think today's world is still a man's world, but there is still hope, according to Nancy Leigh Harless' book, Womankind: Connection & Wisdom Around the World. An Iowa City local, Harless fits in with the critically acclaimed authors who traipse through town. She will be at the UI Hospitals and Clinics Wild Rose Books today from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. reading from her début anthology.

Womankind is a collection of stories compiled by Harless while on international journeys as a nurse practitioner. She writes about the women she's met, often struggling for survival, and these narratives represent hope in the face of daunting odds.

The book began as a journal, which she kept daily when abroad. In 2003, Harless attended a three-week writing retreat in Norcroft, Minn., and the women's stories began to evolve from simple entries to full-fledged stories.

Womankind is truly a glimpse of women worldwide, linked by a certain sense of unity - sisterhood. Although not following in the witty tone of the Ya-Yas, the stories of these women, such as a Mayan woman who inquires how to stop the babies from coming or Agripina, an 8-year-old Peruvian who is called to be a midwife, are still compelling.

"I have been an ear for so many women, so many stories. It was time to be their voice. What I find most rewarding is sharing their stories and seeing how people respond to them," Harless said. "I hope that the message readers go away with from Womankind is a message of hope. Hope in a world where there almost is no hope. Hope with a capital 'H.' "

Her efforts in countries such as Belize and Guatemala originated as a professional study exchange through the Rotary of Iowa in 1997. The cultures that she and her retired husband, Norm, experienced moved them so greatly they decided to return to Belize in 1999 and build a women's clinic. After completion of the project, Harless retired from her job as nurse practitioner at the Planned Parenthood of Southeast Iowa to immerse herself in her newfound passion.

"At the Burlington Library, we had a book discussion about Womankind. One woman said it perfectly: 'We're really all alike, aren't we?' " Harless said. "There are a lot of underlying themes in Womankind, but the single truth is we are all the same, world round."

E-mail DI reporter Lauren Matovina at
lauren-matovina@uiowa.edu

Womankind: Connection & Wisdom Around the World, with author Nancy Leigh Harless
When: Today, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Where: UIHC Wild Rose Books

© Copyright 2008 Daily Iowan

At New Copperfields Book Service

A crowd gathered at New Copperfield's bookstore in Macomb on Saturday, January 26th to hear Cassandra's story and discuss women's lives around the world. It was an interesting group of women, and a few men too, enjoying Midwest's reprieve from the harsh cold we've been having. With the balmy 50 degrees weather outdoors, I was surprised so many came in for the Book Event!

IT MUST BE MADNESS

It's only 4 degrees outside and predicted to plunge even further tonight. I'm heading out for a roadtrip to Des Moines & Omaha in the morning. I must be mad! Norm's been suggesting all day that I cancel the trip, but i've got three Book Events scheduled so I'm setting the old alarm for 5:00AM and heading out. Besides, I get to see jordan, my 5-year-old grandaughter who lives in Omaha. and, she making gramma a 'Butterfly cake.' And just how could I say "NO" to that?!? Think warm thoughts!

THE HAWK EYE - Author Discusses Travel Experiences

Although I was misquoted a couple of times Willianm Smith did a nice job of covering the Discussion at the Burlington Library yesterday. Here's the article that appeared in today's Hawk Eye.

"When author and Wever resident Nancy Harless asked the packed reading room at the Burlington Public Library if they had read her book, every hand went up.

"Good. If you've all read it, I can tell some more behind-the-scenes stories," she said.

Harless was at the library Saturday morning to discuss her first published book, "Womankind: Connection and Wisdom Around the World," which is a compilation of her experiences as a nurse practitioner working around the world.

Specializing in women's health, Harless began traveling with her husband, Norm, in 1999 to Belize, Guatemala, Peru, southeast Asia, China and war-torn Yugoslavia.

"In 1997, I saw an ad in the Fort Madison paper by the Rotary International Club looking for professionals for a study exchange," she said. "It changed my life."

A couple of years later, she was in Guatemala City, just three months after the peace treaty was signed that ended the 30-year civil war. The peace accord called for the incorporation of the guerilla rebel forces into the mainstream, which caused a sharp increase in crime.

"Almost every family had someone who was kidnapped by the guerilla forces, and it was always women that were kidnapped," she said. "The family I stayed with had an aunt that was kidnapped, and they talked about it very casually. There were even negotiators in the yellow pages."

Harless became a nurse practitioner in her late 30s but never imagined the conditions she would be working in while in Belize.

"They call them the forgotten people. They are the poorest people in the world," Harless said.

She recalled visiting a hospital where trash lined the hallways, and the women were forced to sleep two to a bed after giving birth.

"There was a termite colony this big in the hospital," Harless said as she held her arms in a circle that reached her forehead.

But the book isn't about Harless. It's about the women she met, the struggles they endured and the hope they still held as Harless left for another country. The stories are told through her eyes, but she hardly considers herself the main character.

"I tried to write myself out of it as much as possible," Harless said.

Many of those in attendance were curious about how Harless was able to create such detailed stories.

"I keep a journal every day I'm in another country," Harless said. "I try to keep the stories as true as I can, but you never know how memory will work. Sometimes my husband will remember things a slightly different way than I do."

One of the most beloved stories in the book, titled "Joy in the Morning," is about a 7-year-old girl in Belize named Cassandra who loses her jump rope.

Or as Cassandra puts it so delicately in the book, "Me rope be t'eifed it. It da be gawn!" Translation -- "My rope has been stolen. It is gone."

"They speak English over there, but it is not the kind of English you're used to," Harless said. "It is more of a Pidgin version."

As Harless describes it in her book, Cassandra lived next door in a rumpled clapboard shack with three younger siblings, a teenage aunt and uncle and her grandmother. Jumping rope was the highlight of the girl's day, and she constantly challenged herself to make more jumps.

"She's a leader. That little girl will go far," Harless said.

The jump rope seemed to be the only toy Cassandra's family could afford, and it meant as much to her siblings as it did to her. Early in the story, Harless recounts how the little girl sobbed in her arms.

Despite Cassandra's heartbreak, she was up the next morning, singing into the sunshine as she bathed. Harless called the little girl "Sunshine," resilient to any tragedy, no matter how small, that befell her.

The one detail Harless didn't reveal in the story was whether Cassandra got her rope back. She was more than willing to tell her captive audience at the library, though.

"She did get a rope from me, and then her rope came back the next week. Some of the other kids were borrowing it," Harless said.

Published by Tate Publishing, an Oklahoma-based Christian Publishing House, "Womankind: Connection and Wisdom Around the World" is available at B Dalton bookstore in Westland Mall. Harless is at work on a second book featuring women from her Asian travels, and versions of some of her essays have appeared in the "Chicken Soup For the Soul" series of inspirational books."

WOMANKIND GOES INTERNATIONAL

I recently returned from spending the holidays with my family in Washington state and while it's always wonderful to get together with family; it's equally as nice to come home again - especially since I came home to some exciting news!

I've been invited to give a presentation of WOMANKIND in Mexico! I have high hopes that Socorro, my Spanish teacher in San Miguel, will join us that evening and be recognized as the wonderful woman who "cured whatever ailed me with bouganvilla tea." If you don't know what I am talking about, read 'Socorro's Secret.'

So, I'm sending this invitation out into the universe, or at least out into cyberspace, for everyone to come on down to San Miguel de Allende mid September. You can read the details at www.sanmiguelauthers.com.

Meanwhile, on a less exciting, but very important note, I'll be leading a discussion at the Burlington Library on Saturday at 10:00AM. B.Dalton's will be there to sell books and a portion of the proceeds will go the the 'Friends of the Library.' Bring your own coffee. The muffins are on me. I hope to see you there!

WILD WASHINGTON WOMEN'S BOOK CLUB - The Sisterhood of Skagit County

Last Thursday I was at my sister's home in Mount Vernon, Washington to discuss WOMANKIND with her book club. What an AWESOME group of women! And, if they don't know how to do a book club up right...well, then no one does.

The perfect hostess, Pam greeted us with fresh-frozen margaritas to get everyone into the mood of "world-travel" and set the stage for the amazing plablano chili dinner she had prepared. In honor of Cecelia's story we had a tortilla making contest with Lara taking the prize for the smallest, and the most perfect. If you don't understand, then you haven't read the book yet, in which case you won't understand why the candied 'peaches' for desert either.

As the evening progressed I listened to the women discuss the women of WOMANKIND and even more important - their own lives. I felt a familiar "hug around my shoulders like a warm huipile" - that sense of commradie only women, and goddess, can understand.It was obvious to me that my sister's book club is far more than just of group of readers who gather every other month to talk about a book. They are members of a Sisterhood who respect,love, and support each other through all their good times and the gawd-awful ones too.

"Life can stretch your spirit, they read in WOMANKIND'S last story,"Choices," or tear your soul. You choose."

It was apparent to me these strong, beautiful women already had - long before they read my book.

A BIG THANKS to the Wild Washington Women's Book Club for choosing WOMANKIND for their December read. I look forward to returning in April. Hmmmm....I wonder what we will eat...er, I mean, read?

MIDWEST WRITERS CENTER HOLIDAY BAZAAR

I'm off to Davenport, Iowa this afternoon to take part in the Midwest Writing Center's Holiday Bazaar. There will be writers and artists from all over the Midwest there. Please join us if you're in the area and are interested in promoting 'local talent.' It should be a grand event! The Center is located at 225 Second Street in Davenport. Hope to see you there!

DES MOINES REGISTER - Wever Nurse's Journeys to Other Nations Build Respectful Connections -

Here's exerpts from the Des Moines Register Staff Writer, Mike Kilen's article in the Thanksgiving Day issue of The Des Moines Register -

Nancy Leigh Harless wears a necklace with a turtle medallion."It reminds me that only when you stick your neck out do you move forward. That's my motto," Harless said.She stuck her neck out in 1997. Living in a tiny southeast Iowa town of Wever, the nurse joined a group sponsored by the Rotary International that performed service work in Belize.

"That month in Belize changed my life," she said.It sparked several years of international travel to Mexico, the Kingdom of Tonga and the Balkans. Her experiences became her debut book, "Womankind: Connection & Wisdom Around the World" Courageous women are the focus.

."Women are pretty amazing creatures. They have the ability to stay positive, even when there is nothing to be positive about," she said. Harless saw it often in women from every country she visited while volunteering to help with women's health issues in poor countries. The pride and nurturing of a Mayan woman who could make the perfect corn tortilla for her family. The determination of a nurse in Mexico facing long odds trying to help poverty-stricken women and their children. The mental toughness and grace of a Guatemalan woman with a philandering husband.

"If it sounds a little like the popular "Chicken Soup" series of inspirational books, it is. Harless has stories published in those collections, although not focused exclusively on women."Women are considered the weaker sex, but I continually saw strong women who did what needed to be done," she said. "That is worldwide. We are going to do what is necessary to take care of our children, like a mama bear."

The trips awakened her to the world beyond rural southeast Iowa, which she hopes to continue someday in Africa.The book was formed from journals.."It helps clarify. When I'm traveling the world and seeing so many things that are shocking and appalling, it's a way of processing it," she said. "Without the journal in Kosovo I might have had a breakdown." It also helped her clarify the bond of women everywhere."There is this connection that women have," Harless said. "We 'get' each other."

SIGNING at the BURLINGTON MALL

Nancy will be at B. Dalton's bookstore in the Mall in Burlington, Iowa on Friday, November 23 to sign your books and discuss WOMANKIND.

Martha Wolf of The Ivy Bake Shoppe will also be there to sign her cookbook. Martha will bring a tray of yummy 'goodies' from The Ivy.

Both books will make wonderful Christmas gifts for all the women on your lists. Stop by on Friday and visit with Martha and Nancy. Bring coffee. :-)

Revelation at REVELATIONS !

A small crowd gathered upstairs in a cozy corner of Revelations Bookstore & Cafe, in Fairfield, Iowa this afternoon to hear Cassandra's story - "Joy in the Morning," from Nancy's book, WOMANKIND: Connection & WIsdom Around the World. They loved little Cassrandra's grit, and asked many questions following the reading about life in southern Belize. They also loved "Norms Masterpiece" - the beautiful 5-panal frame made to hold pictures of the women of Womankind.

Laughing Together at the North Liberty Library

Last night a dozen strong, beautiful women and, two very brave men, gathered at the North Liberty to hear Nancy read from her book, WOMANKIND: Connection & Wisdom Around the World. Many of the group were from the University Women's Writers group which Nancy joined about one year go and lauds as 'the most positive, encouraging, talented group of writers I've ever had the privilege to work with."

There were plenty of laughs as some of the funnier excerpts were read. More importantly (is that a word?) there was thoughtful discussion regarding some of the challenges women face worldwide, as well as the perception of "our America" around the world.

Nancy's book event schedule is posted on her website www.womankindconnection.com. She'll be getting it up here on her blog soon. We hope you will join us for one, or for many of these celebrations of women and Womankind.

Local author Lauded at Arts for Living Center Book Launch

On Sunday, November 11th, The Society of Great River Poets lauded local author, Nancy Leigh Harless as they celebrated the launch of her first book, Womankind: Connection & Wisdom Around the World" at the Art for Living center in Burlington Iowa. In his introduction, Ron Kahl, president of the Iowa Poetry Association, remarked, "Nancy told me several years ago that she couldn't write poetry, but there is poetry throughout her allwriting."

A group of about 40 people gathered to listen to Harless read 'Over Coffee with Sister Filje," the story of two nurses from oppisite sides of the world sharing sharing nursing stories over coffee. In describing the Sister filje's work in post -war Kosovo, Harless writes "Her work is more than a job. Her work is her mission."

And that might now be said of Harless too with regard to promoting her book - WOMANKIND: Connection & Wisdom Around the World.

The Hawk Eye Canonizes Iowa Author

Oh course the headline is tongue-in-cheek, but truly this past week the Burlington, Iowa newspaper - The Hawk Eye - featured an article written by reporter Criss Roberts that made me sound like I can walk on water. More important though is that she loved the book - WOMANKIND! Here's a little of what she had to say -

"...In her travels Harless has seen shredded spirits. She's seem souls souring so high she was graced to have caught sight of them. As a nurse practitioner specializing in women's health, the Wever woman hadn't gone looking life lessons or inspiration. She began traveling....In each stop, in locations usually rural and poor, Harless found women and young girls thriving despite heartcrushing adversity. Burdened with an unending cycle of pregnancy, birth and nursing, these women created small pockets of humanity, tapping into a joy Harless found crossed languages and borders, living in the universal feminine heart.

Harless brought these stories home like souvenirs, polishing them into a series of written gems in "WOMANKIND: Connection & Wisdom Around the World.....She's hoping to weave the threads of wisdom she's brought back from her travels through the lives she touches.

Life can stretch the soul, Harless learned from a woman in Belize street market. Or it can tear the spirit. "You choose," the woman told Harless.

And she has."

Nurse Practitioner Authors Book on Women around the World

Here's the Press Release that went out to the newspapers this week. Look Mom - I'm 'almost famous!"

Women’s healthcare nurse practitioner Nancy Leigh Harless, of Wever, Iowa, has released her first book, a collection of stories entitled “WOMANKIND: Connection & Wisdom Around the World.”
Published by Tate Publishing and Enterprises, “Womankind” is a compilation of stories from real women across the world that Harless has encountered in her travels and experience as a women’s health nurse practitioner. From the Mayan mothers in the Belize rainforest to a race for the hospital with a laboring woman in the Kosovo countryside, the author tells the stories of the women she met, separated by land but united by the grace and strength of womankind.
The book is available at any bookstore nationwide or can be ordered through barnesandnoble.com, amazon.com or walmart.com. Audio versions of the book are also available.
Originally from Washington state, Harless is a graduate of the Intercollegiate Center for Nursing Education through Eastern Washington University. After working several years as a nurse, she returned to school at the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center to become a women’s healthcare nurse practitioner. Now retired, she divides her time between her home in Wever, Iowa, and traveling the world with her husband, Norm. A second volume of “Womankind” is currently in production.

A Hit at Zanzibar's !

Nancy's first WOMANKIND reading was at Zanzibar's Coffee Adventure on Friday. A small, friendly crowd of about 25 people gathered together to drink coffee and hear stories of "wisdom and connection from around the world." Both Cassandra and Sister Filje were a hit with the crowd, who asked many thought-provoking questions following the reading. We closed up Zanzibar's at 10PM after selling every book we had taken. We'll take more the next time. It was a wonderful first experience and now Nancy is less nervous about holding more Readings.As for 'Signings' where the author sits at a table like a hungry puppy and hopes someone will stop by and ask for her signature,...well that might be another story.

DES MOINES

Norm and I are in the Des Moines for the weekend and having a blast. Yesterday we visited eight bookstores and everyone was so friendly that it made marketing WOMANKIND a breeze. So far we've got 14 Reading/Signing events lined up between the first one tonight(Zanzibar's Coffee Adventure) and Christmas. Whew! This ole gray mare better pick up some speed.

I hope you've already gotten your copy and are at least half-way through WOMANKIND. Please respond on my blog and tell us your reactions to the stories. Do you have a favorite? A question? For example....DID Cassandra get a new rope? DID landmine explode? :-) Happy reading!

Nancy

READING AT ZANZIBAR'S COFFEE ADVENTURE

Nancy will do her first reading of WOMANKIND at Zanibar's Coffee Adventure in Des Moines, Iowa on October 26 at 8:00PM. Her husband,Norm,finished the photo display just in time. At Zanzibar's, Nancy will be reading, "Joy in the Morning" - Cassandra's story, the little girl pictured in the top center of the photo display; and "I Am a Curandera," - Agripina's story - the Peruvian midwife in the top row to Cassandra's left. We hope tht you will join us for this first celebration of WOMANKIND.

Womankind Acolades From Chicken Soup

Nancy Leigh Harless is fresh new writer who braids narrative threads of true stories about ordinary women from all over the world, living in extra-ordinary circumstances. These stories show us not only who these women are, but who we are and the universality of our lives and lessons. This remarkable collection of legacies will make readers cry, and laugh, and celebrate the community of women worldwide.” -- LeAnn Thieman, Co-author of Chicken Soup for the Nurse’s Soul

Colleen Sell, Editor of the Best Selling Cup of Comfort Anthologies Says....

If you've ever wondered what the expression "heart of a woman" means, read this book and you will understand exactly what makes a woman's heart tick. Through these powerful stories of fascinating women and girls from around the globe, Nancy Harless reveals and celebrates the integrity, ingenuity, strength, and sheer beauty of the feminine spirit.