2012-2014 Elected Officers
Boca Raton Branch, NLAPW

PRESIDENT
Mary Twitty
Letters

Send E-Mail

Mary attended DePaul University before moving on to three other universities seeking a degree in education with a minor in drama. While attending night classes to earn her degree, she could not handle the pressure of the practicum with a baby and work. She was not deterred. Without the degree she moved up the professional ladder to become the special assistant to two United States House of Representatives. Upon retiring, she accepted a position as Special Assistant to the President of Aurora Associates, a private company that assisted students from the continent of Africa in obtaining scholarships to attend universities in the United States. This challenging position and her sharpness placed her in leadership positions of organizations.

Mary previously served the Boca Branch as Membership Vice President. She has presented a program on "docent" work at the Norton Museum of Art and has participated in several Book Talks at area libraries.

Mary is the author of seven published books; Hannah's Journey; Selective Discretion; I, Jude; Hannah, The Journey Continues; Hi, I'm Your Child; and Ashley Visits Urchin Village. Her eighth novel is at the publisher and she is presently working on her ninth.

1st VICE PRESIDENT
Programs
Cora Lee Palma-Hayden
Letters

Send E-Mail

Cora Lee Palma-Hayden is a writer, poet and artist of diversified interests. An accomplished China Painter, she currently works with watercolor and mixed media collage. She received several awards for her china painting, with works all over the United States and Canada. A most prestigious award was the acceptance of a large hand-painted pitcher with her signature roses on display at the World Organization of China Painter's Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She has presented several demonstrations of her porcelain art at the Norton Museum of Art and other local venues', taught workshops and classes.

A member of the Poets of the Palm Beaches, she served as treasurer for 8 years. She has received certificates of award for her poetry and essays, published in numerous chapbooks. She is founding member of the Artists of Palm Beach County, currently serving as secretary. Her interest in the craft of Astrology led ti the composition of a unique bridal guide. "A Touch of Venus - Wedding Planning with the Bridal Zodiac", published in 2009.

She combined her art and astrological knowledge with her personal experiences as a National Bridal Service Certified Bridal Consultant and owner-operator of the Red Palette Bridal Center. She has written wedding planning column, most recently on-line for Examiner.com.

Judging a poetry contest for the Boca Raton branch led to Cora Lee's becoming the first patron, then a qualified full-fledged member. She has served as Hospitality Chair, Yearbook Chair, Recording Secretary, now 1st Vice-President in charge of programs. She has assisted the Art Chairs in art exhibits and participated in numerous book talks.

2nd VICE PRESIDENT
Membership
Mary Unterbrink
Art

Send E-Mail

A Floridian since 1968, Mary Unterbrink has been a pen woman for 20 years. She is the author of three published books, and more than 100 articles and Haiku poetry. Her art membership came when she won awards for her watercolors and mixed-media collages. Mary has previously served as vice president and art co-chair and enjoys working with the art committee on exhibits. Two of her short plays were included in the Play Reading Festival at the Willow Theatre in 2007. She also received a 1st Place Award for her adult plays at the pen women’s 2007 Florida State Conference. She served two terms as corresponding secretary and assisted with the monthly raffles. Mary is the author of: Jazz Women at the Keyboard, Funny Women- American Comediennes 1860 - 1985, Manatees - Gentle Giants in Peril and a short play readings at the Studio Theatre of Wellington and the Writer's Network of South Florida at the Main Library in Fort Lauderdale.

TREASURER
Pat Wilson
Art/Letters

Send E-Mail

Pat Wilson has been a pen woman for 36 years, serving in various capacities, including bylaws chair, editor, and treasurer of the Florida State Association. In the Boca Branch, she is a two-time past president and has also served as editor, publicity and yearbook chairs, photographer, program vice president, and three prior terms as treasurer. A retired newspaper columnist and freelance writer, Pat is also an award-winning photographer, poet and lyricist, as well as a communications teacher. Her former students have twice seen to it that her name was included in Who’s Who Among America’s Outstanding Teachers. She proudly displays a Congressional Award for her work in Palm Beach County’s Private Sector Initiative. Pat was named Florida’s Pen Woman of the Year in 1993.

RECORDING SECRETARY
Carol White
Letters

Send E-Mail

Carol White, a native New Yorker, lives in Delray Beach, Florida. A longstanding Letters member of the Boca Raton Branch, she has served several terms as Recording Secretary and Letters Chair. Carol is a frequent fiction contributor to the East Hampton Star newspaper, and her articles have been published by the Sun Sentinel, Insight for Playwrights, Working Writers, The Florida Writer and Senior Scene. As the former Executive Producer for the Boca Raton Theatre Guild, Carol has worked in every facet of the theatre - from backstage dresser to producing full-scale musicals and moderated a playwright critique workshop during that time. She recently won second and third place for full length plays in the 2011 Royal Palm Literary Awards sponsored by the Florida Writers Association. Her short plays have been staged and produced nationwide, and she has received many awards for her short stories, plays, and poems. Her two novels "Hidden Choices" and "From One Place to Another" are on sale at Murder on the Beach Bookstore in Delray Beach, Amazon and other on-line booksellers. "Sitting Pretty", a book of short stories is Carol's next project.

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY
Mimi Paris
Letters

Send E-Mail

Mimi Paris, a Pen Woman for over a decade, is a world traveler and former New York advertising copywriter. She wrote human interest and travel stories publishing in Long Island newspapers and regional magazines. Her first writing award was for an essay on fire prevention, presented to her by the then Mayor of New York Fiorello LaGuardia. Mimi Paris was eleven years old. She's published two novels: ANNA'S TWO WARS and ONE MAN'S REVENGE. Her first book was cited by the National League of American Pen Women and optioned by Wait-A-Minute-Productions, a NYC film company.

Mimi has written for the Boca Branch's Pen & Palette Newsletter, worked with other members of the Girls Juvenile Detention Center in West Palm Beach and is often a speaker at Boca's Pen Women Book Talks. Her writing skills were honed at Brooklyn College, Hofstra (L.I.), the New School (NYC) and the University of Iowa. This is Mimi's first position as a Pen Women Officer (Corresponding Secretary) and she plans to make her debut term a successful one.

FSA/NLAPW LIASON
Prue Carrico
Art

Send E-Mail

Prue earned a Bachelor of Science degree in art education at Capital University in Columbus Ohio. Having lived and traveled extensively abroad, including two years in south eastern Turkey, Prue is able to tap an abundant variety of cultures and environments for subject matter based on personal experience. She and her husband and two sons went around the wold from 1983 to 1985; in 1994 they enjoyed two Christmas Days, because of crossing the International Dateline.

Her specialty is exquisite ink work, which makes her work quite distinctive; the detail achieved is exceptional. She strives to capture moments that will evoke special memories and feeling in people who enjoy the images.

The current focus of Prue's studio work, done often in sepia tomes, includes vintage Southern themes, tropical flora, and Art Deco structures.

Prue has been a member of four Branches: Phoenix, Honolulu; Huntsville AL, where she was Branch President, and Boca Raton. At present, in addition to her membership in Boca Raton Branch, Prue is first vice-president of the Florida Association and recording secretary of the NLAPW Board of Directors.

Diane Brenda Bryan received her bachelor’s degree from New York University and did post-graduate work in education at Post College and Hofstra University. She worked as a secretary for the N.Y. State Labor Department and was the first executive secretary of the War Labor Board. She also served as supply officer on an air base in Baltimore, Md. She taught English and was a drama coach for more than 20 years in N.Y. BOSCES published her English curriculum for all levels of eighth grade, and she presented a History of the Theatre on Educational TV. Diane was an actor in off Broadway productions, as well as in summer theatre in Long Island, where she was an actor in THEATERAMA, a regional touring company on L.I. For the past twenty-five years she has lived in Boca Raton where she served on the Board of Directors and president of her community. She has written many editorials for local newspapers and lectures on film and theatre. For many years she has chaired the Boca Raton Writers’ Roundtable. Her interest in historical events led her to write her first novel, based on fact, Soldier of God. Other books include Journeys, her second published novel, and Memoir of Manhattan, The Way We Were, a nonfiction book. Diane is an active member of the Cassell Network of Writers, the Florida Freelance Writers, and NLAPW. She served as Membership Vice President for the Boca Branch for four years, and also served as co-president with Myra Levick for the 2008-2010 term.

Diane is the author of: Soldier of God, Journeys, Memoir of Manhattan/The Way We Were and A Hollywood Tale of Love and Murder.