Local Author Spotlight: Diane Lane Chambers

Authors from the 'Foothills & Vicinity Writes Group' came to 'Read, Write & Brew' on September 11th for a meet and greet. For those of you who were not able to attend, this blog post is about those authors who attended and the books they have published. Read on to learn about the writers living in your neighbourhood.

"Words in My Hands
A Teacher, A Deaf-Blind, An Unforgettable Journey"
and
"Hearing the Stream A Survivor's Journey into the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer"

Diane at Read, Write & Brew in September.


Words in My Hands, A Teacher, A Deaf-Blind Man, An Unforgettable Journey
Award Winner!
National League of American Pen Women Letters Contest, Marjorie Davis Roller - Non-Fiction Award April 2002

Reviewed by Robert Hamilton , California Association of Resource Specialists and Special Education Teachers

When I agreed to read and review Ms. Chambers’ book, I expected something like Tuesdays With Morrie. A little volume of reminiscences, celebrating the precious frailty of life and the human spirit, blah blah blah. Mea Culpa, I know, but that’s what I expected.

What I got was, indeed, all that, and a whole lot more. Ms. Chambers has woven four stories together into one inspirational book. The first and foremost is, of course, the story of her teacher-student relationship with the 86-year-old deaf-blind Bert Riedel, and her quest to reconnect him to life through signing communication. Fleshing out that narrative is his personal history, gathered from friends and relatives, bringing him alive to us not as a subject but as a human being, surrounded by his own universe of memories and experiences, and with his own particular philosophy of life. The third story is the history of the author and how she came to be an interpreter for the deaf as well as their advocate. And through it all is interwoven the history of the Deaf community, American Sign Language, and the hearing world’s perception and treatment of the deaf.
Purchase book.



Hearing the Stream, A Survivor's Journey into the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer
New Arrival!

Review by Allan Burns, Editor, Colorado Springs, CO

Hearing the Stream, the fruit of all she has experienced and learned as a cancer survivor, is an inspiring book that weaves together her own story and those of five others, thereby providing multiple perspectives on a complex disease that can be a different as the individual people dealing with it. As Dr. Tim Byers of the University of Colorado Comprehensive Cancer Center says, "Accounts such as this of the human toll of breast cancer motivate me as a researcher--and should motivate us all--to redouble our many efforts to reduce further and someday eradicate this disease."
Purchase book.


About the Author
Diane Lane Chambers, a resident and native of Colorado, holds a B.S. degree in Therapeutic Recreation from the University of Colorado. Nationally certified as a sign language interpreter she has worked in the Denver Public School system as an educational interpreter and, for thirteen years, directed a summer program at Gove Community School, in Denver, into which deaf and physically disabled children were mainstreamed.
Over the last thirty years as a free-lance interpreter she has provided sign language interpretation for hundreds of consumers in a wide array of settings including health care, business, education, and government.
As a breast cancer survivor and advocate, Diane is an active member of the National Breast Cancer Coalition. She is a 2003 graduate of the Coalition’s Project LEAD, and since then has participated in a number of the NBCC’s Advocacy Trainings in Washington D.C., and Lobby Days on Capital Hill. In December 2005, she attended the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium and graduated from the Alamo Breast Cancer Patient Advocate Program. Locally she volunteers for the American Cancer Society giving presentations and meeting with newly diagnosed women as part of the Reach to Recovery Program. She lives with her husband in Conifer, Colorado.