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| THE ART OF AGING WINS IPPY AWARD |
JUNE, 2010
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Ventura County Star
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ARTIST COUPLE’S UNIQUE ART/INSPIRATIONAL BOOK ON AGING HAS JUST WON 2 AWARDS
Ojai, California – June 28, 2010
Noted California artists, Alice and Richard Matzkin, whose quest to overcome their fear and judgments about their aging is documented in their art/inspirational book, The Art of Aging: Celebrating the Authentic Aging Self, are recent recipients of two book awards. This beautifully written and lavishly illustrated book has received the 2010 Independent Publishers bronze IPPY medal, and the Nautilus silver award for books that promote spiritual growth, conscious living and positive social change.
Fifteen years of the Matzkin’s artwork focused around the subject of aging is contained in the book. “It all started when we were in our fifties and confronting the reality that we were getting old”, says portrait painter, Alice Matzkin. “We used paint and clay rather than a psychiatrist’s couch to explore our fear and curiosity about aging”. Alice’s sculptor husband, Richard, adds, “As our art projects progressed over the years, we came to a greater acceptance about growing older, and a deeper appreciation of the sweetness and preciousness of our present moment”.
Some of the art projects in the book include: portraits of women aged 70 to 105 who are living their lives in meaningful and generous ways, sculptures depicting men in late old age, paintings of women 68 to 87 who pose without clothes and without shame, sculptures of mature couples in sensuous and loving embrace, sequential portraits of an aunt from age 89 to 97 showing the swift progression of age on face and body, paintings and sculpture of aging parents, and much more. “Each one of our art projects, our experience of growing older, and the influence of elders we have met, inspired the writing that accompanies the various sections of the book.
With 10,000 baby boomers a day turning 60 in America, it is important for people to explore the aging process rather than trying to hide, delay or deny it. Doing so can reveal that the passage of years bestows valuable gifts. The Matzkin’s personal and universal book helps uncover those gifts.
Alice Matzkin has two paintings in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution. Her commissioned portrait of Chelsea Clinton hung in the White House during the Clinton administration, an entire collection of her work was featured in the national magazine, Ms, a video about her work was shown at the United Nations during the 1999 International Year of Older Persons, and she appeared with her art and speaking about aging gracefully on the Oprah Winfrey Show.
Richard Matzkin has participated in numerous one man and group shows and has pieces in collections throughout the United States. He was key artist in a monumental equestrian piece in a train station in Ventura County. His sculpture appeared in an art/inspirational book – The Great Age – a UNESCO publication. He is a former therapist, men’s group leader, adjunct instructor in California Community College system, and program director of a psychiatric hospital. He holds a Masters Degree in Psychology. He is also an accomplished jazz drummer.
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| PORTRAITS OF PREGNANCY WINS PUBWEST AWARD |
APRIL, 2010
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Press Release
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PORTRAITS OF PREGNANCY WINS BRONZE AWARD IN PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK CATEGORY FROM PUBWEST
Lake Oswego, Oregon – April 14, 2010
Recognizing superior design and outstanding production quality of books in 20 different categories, as well as giving a special award for Judges’ Choice, Publishers Association of the West (PubWest) is pleased to announce this year’s winners of the prestigious PubWest Book Design Awards.
More than 140 book entries were judged on typography, jacket/cover design, interior design, format, selection of materials used, and printing and binding production quality.
Once again, we were pleased to see an increase in participation in the awards program, said program chair Julie T. Houk of the Boone and Crockett Club. The more entries we receive the better our competition is, which is key to its continued success.
PubWest’s 2010 awards program incorporated a few new changes. An additional category was added this year to recognize the cover design on different sizes of books, Houk said, and several other categories were better defined from the previous year.
Houk added, We want to thank the publishers who submitted their titles to the contest. Without their participation, we wouldn’t have this opportunity to recognize the excellent design and production quality of the many books that are being published today. If you take a look at the winning titles, I think you’ll agree that we were able to accomplish that. A special thank-you also needs to go out to all the industry professionals who volunteered their time to assist with judging all of these wonderful titles.
Winners will be recognized at PubWest’s National Publishing Conference, November 4–6, 2010, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, at the La Fonda Hotel. Contact the PubWest office for details about attending this event. A complete list of winners is attached.
Publishers Association of the West is a not-for-profit trade organization created to serve the needs of its members and as a forum for the discussion of publishing issues. The Association’s membership ranges from small independent presses to publishers with worldwide operations. Affiliate members include printers, designers, binderies, and publishing freelancers. Membership is based primarily in the western United States and Canada but is not limited to these regions.
Bronze Award Portraits of Pregnancy: The Birth of a Mother by Jennifer Loomis with Hugo Kugiya
Sentient Publications (Boulder, CO; tel: 303-443-2188)
ISBN: 978-1-59181-082-7, $24.95
Editor: Connie L. Shaw
Designer: Kim Johansen, Black Dog Design
Production Manager: Connie Shaw
Photographer: Jennifer Loomis
Printer: Vision Graphics
Bindery: Vision Graphics
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| SENTIENT
WINS "MAKING A DIFFERENCE AWARD |
DECEMBER, 2003
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Affinity
www.affinity.com
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AFFINITY
ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF "MAKING A DIFFERENCE"
AWARDS PROGRAM
Fort Lauderdale, FL – December 2, 2003
–Affinity Internet, a leading hosting services
provider, is pleased to announce the winners of its first
annual ‘Making a Difference’ awards program. The
company received an overwhelming response to the ‘Make
a Difference’ awards program.
“We were thrilled and proud of the responses we
received from our members. Acknowledging these customers
and rewarding them for outstanding contributions to their
community is an honor” said Peter Chambers, CEO of
Affinity Internet. “ It was remarkable to see how our
customers are utilizing our solutions and services to
create a compelling online presence. This reinforces our
belief that our customers are the greatest in the
industry. ”
The annual awards program is in recognition of its
Members who are using websites to make a difference in
charitable, educational and business pursuits. In
addition, the company also rewarded its longest standing
Member. Affinity’s prize is a total of $25,000 divided
among the winners and one year free hosting for three
honorable mentions.
Best Small Business
Products – Grand
Prize Winner $2,500 – Sentient Publications; www.sentientpublications.com
“We publish the kind of books that have the potential
to change lives,” Ana Bergstrom, Sentient Publications
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| PUBLISHERS STICKING WITH WORDS DISTRIBUTING |
SEPTEMBER, 2003
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Publishers Weekly
publishersweekly.reviewsnews.com
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SENTIENT PUBLICATIONS, LLC
In the wake of Bookpeople's Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing on August 22, most of the 40 publishers that it distributes through its Words Distributing division have decided to stay. Only two houses asked to be released from their contracts early. Sentient Publications in Boulder, Colo., is switching to National Book Network effective September 15, while Moon Mountain Publishing in North Kingston, R.I., is going with NBN effective October 1. World Wisdom Publishing in Bloomington, Ind., announced that it will delay publication of its five fall releases until February and be represented to the trade by NBN starting January 1.
"We felt it was like having a lame duck distributor," said Connie Shaw, founder and publisher of two-year-old Sentient. "At the end of last year and the beginning of this year, sales were good. We saw slower sales and increased returns before they filed." Four-year-old children's book publisher Moon Mountain observed a similar tapering-off of sales. "We've been disappointed in sales since the beginning of the year," said v-p of marketing and sales Bob Holtzman. "With the Chapter 11 filing, we were dismayed by the prospects of sales for the second half of the year."
Despite the defections, Judy Wheeler, director of sales and marketing for Bookpeople and Words Distributing Company, is optimistic. "The fulfillment and distribution divisions are both exceeding expectations for the year both in profit and in dollars. We're actually in the process of signing up a new publishing client and possibly two more," she told PW. "We really are planning to regroup and emerge from bankruptcy. We're still here. We'll be at all five trade shows. We're taking a positive route here. If we build it, they will come." Ironically, it is Bookpeople's core business, wholesale, that continues to be problematic. "No one is really doing well in wholesale now," said Wheeler. "A lot of the major publishers want to ship themselves."
By January, Wheeler anticipates, it will be clear whether or not Bookpeople can emerge from bankruptcy. Even those who are leaving are hoping for the best. "I wish them well," said Barry McDonald, managing director of World Wisdom. "We have a lot of respect for them."
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| PUBLISHER PROFILE |
MAY/JUNE, 2002
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From the NAPRA ReView
www.napra.com
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SENTIENT PUBLICATIONS, LLC
Spirituality is a lifelong inner exploration, and there is no quick fix," says senior editor Connie Shaw. "We seek authors who have gone through their own personal transformations and awakenings, and have something important to contribute to our society."
The mission of this new Boulder, Colorado-based independent is to publish books on "cultural creativity, experimental education, transformative spirituality, holistic health, new science, and ecology-approached from an integral viewpoint."
Sentient released its first six books this spring, including two by Steven Harrison: Being One (new in paper; $11.95, 09710786-5-3) and The Questions to Life's Answers ($12.95, 09710786-0-2), a Socratic dialogue in which Harrison deconstructs our preoccupation with thought, suggesting that the way to transformation lies through the questions themselves rather than our attempts to answer them. Harrison is the best-selling author of Doing Nothing (Tarcher, 1998), and, in a noteworthy aside, he's donating his profits from both books to charitable nonprofits, including All Together Now International, an organization he founded to provide aid to destitute villagers in Nepal.
Other Sentient titles include the first U.S. edition of Krishnamurti's The Mystique of Enlightenment ($14.95, 0-9710786-1 -0) and two welcome reprints of books that explore and revel in humankind's relationship with the natural world. In The Man Who Talks to Whales ($14.95, 0-9710786-2-9; previously published as Dolphin Dreamtime), Jim Nollman offers up-close-and-personal accounts of communication with non-"person"al beings: from turkeys to buffaloes to grey whales. Through investigations into the existence of a "communication network" that potentially links all of creation, he conveys not only his respect for other species but also the sheer joy he finds in their presence, at the same time challenging us to examine the way we think about and relate to those who share this planet with us. Cass Adams' The Soul Unearthed ($16.95, 0-9710786-3-7) is an anthology of writings from poets, nature writers, wilderness advocates, teachers, and others "celebrating wildness and spiritual renewal through nature." Among the better known contributors are Robert Bly, Terry Tempest Williams, Gary Snyder, and Wendell Berry.
"Our goal is to build a solid backlist that lets us take risks on books we believe in," says Shaw, and they're off to a more than respectable start. Six more books are slated for fall release.
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