News
Pulitzer Prize Winner Anna Quindlen to Headline
A Celebration of Women Event
Community Foundation Fundraiser Supports Programs
That Empower Women, Girls
Nashville, Tennessee, January 20, 2005– Anna Quindlen, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, best-selling author and Newsweek magazine columnist, will be the featured speaker at The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee’s eighth annual A Celebration of Women luncheon on February 15.
The luncheon, a fundraiser that benefits The Women’s Fund, is expected to draw hundreds of area philanthropists. The Women’s Fund is a charitable entity, overseen by The Community Foundation, which benefits women and girls across Middle Tennessee. The event will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel, 611 Commerce St. Tickets are $200 per person. For reservations call: (615) 321-4939 or register online at www.cfmt.org.
“We are thrilled that Anna Quindlen -- who champions women’s causes by writing about her experiences as a woman, author, and mother -- will be our honored guest this year,” said honorary event chair Jerry Williams. “Middle Tennesseans who attend the luncheon will not only have the singular opportunity to hear one of the country’s most celebrated writers, they also will be supporting programs vital to our community’s strength and health.”
For more than 30 years, Quindlen’s work has appeared in America’s most influential newspapers, its most widely read magazines, and on both fiction and nonfiction bestseller lists.
Her national bestseller, A Short Guide to a Happy Life, has sold over one million copies. Her first novel, the critically-acclaimed Object Lessons, was followed by the bestselling One True Thing (which was made into a major motion picture starring Meryl Streep and Renee Zellweger). Black and Blue, her third novel, was also a bestseller and a selection of the Oprah Winfrey Book Club.
A columnist for The New York Times from 1981 to1994, Quindlen also became only the third woman in the paper’s history to write a regular column – the nationally-syndicated “Public and Private” -- for its influential Op-Ed page. A collection of those columns, Thinking Out Loud, was a national bestseller.
In 1992 Quindlen was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. In 1995 she left The Times and journalism to pursue a career as a full-time novelist.
Quindlen is the author of the children’s books The Tree That Came to Stay and Happily Ever After; the coffee table pictorials Naked Babies and Siblings; and How Reading Changed My Life. Her latest book, Imagine London, takes readers on a tour of her favorite English literary places and characters.
Quindlen’s address to the Celebration of Women luncheon will be the highlight of the annual event, whose theme this year, as last, will be The Power of the Purse – a nod to a female accessory that is both a symbol of self-sufficiency and a philanthropic tool.
One-of-a-kind purses donated by several local retail outlets* will be up for bid at the event’s silent auction. Auction proceeds will help further support the Women’s Fund mission to help women and girls in need. The event co-chairs are Carolyn Hannon and Emily Tidwell.
Guests also will take home a Celebration of Women 2005 book filled with tributes from individuals, organizations and businesses honoring their colleagues, friends, mothers, sisters and other women in their lives. Money raised from the sale of tribute pages in the book also benefits The Women’s Fund.
The Women’s Fund provides grants to nonprofit-organizations that serve the interests of women and girls through the arts and cultural education, health and human services, victim’s support services, domestic violence intervention, drug rehabilitation and job training. Past recipient organizations include Renewal House, American Association of Refugee & Immigrant Women, and Domestic Violence Intervention Center, among others.
The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee oversees more than 490 charitable funds. In the past twelve years, The Community Foundation has distributed $220 million to community programs and institutions. Currently, The Community Foundation manages endowment, unrestricted and memorial funds totaling $331 million. It is located at 3833 Cleghorn Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee 37215. For more information, call 615-321-4939 or visit www.cfmt.org.
* A Celebration of Women Auction Donors
Judson Allen
American Artisan
Amy's Unique Gifts
Bella Carte
Betsy’s Boutique
Boutique Bella
Bradford’s
Cadeau Home and Paperie
Ted Clayton Interiors
E. J. Sain Jewelry
Fabu
Grace’s
Gus Mayer
Hartmann Luggage
Paiden Hite
Insignia Handbags
Jamie, Inc.
Jean Hastings
Katy's Hallmark
Levy’s Inc.
LTM Designs and Papers
Maria Morris
Mina’s
Nashville Trunk and Bag
Pangaea
Pastiche
Phillips Toy Mart
Scarlett Begonia
Melissa Shirey
Rebecca Smith
Stacey Rhodes Boutique
Richard & Cherann Sylvester
Talbots
The Children’s Shop
The Cotton Mill
The French Shoppe
The Paper Place
The Registry
