Sydney Merkel

About Sydney A. Merkel, donor to the ARC Jean Owen Giovannoni Scholarship For Fiction:

I’ve been retired for several years and am busy with all the things that needed time.
I knit hats that are distributed to the homeless by Mercy Pedalers; I make quilts that the fire department gives to fire and accident victims. I have lots of time for reading and I am writing historical romance-all fun. To keep my mind sharp, I’m still studying Italian and taking piano lessons-the Italian is going better than the music.

I miss teaching, the students and my colleagues, but retirement is truly a wonderful gift.

About the ARC Jean Owen Giovannoni Scholarship For Fiction:
Jean Z. Owen Giovanni was a local professional writer who achieved success published in the slicks," women’s magazines". One if her novellas was made into a movie. In addition, she wrote a handbook for writers which was in print for many years. In the last years of her life, she belonged to several writers’ groups, taught fiction writing in the ARC extension program and was instrumental in encouraging many local writers.