The Ethel N. Fortner Writer and Community Awards were instituted in 1986 to honor a friend of writers and frequent contributor to the St. Andrews Review. Fortner earned a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University in New York. After a career in teaching at the Oregon School of the Blind, she and her husband moved to Estacada, Ore. She committed herself to writing and became editor of Human Voice Quarterly. A frequent contributor to the St. Andrews Review, she was the earliest benefactor of the St. Andrews Press. She believed that a full community embraced and encouraged the craft of writing.

Lois was recently guest speaker at St. Andrews Presbyterian College, Laurinburg, North Carolina
where she showed her films and spoke at the Writers' Forum.

St. Andrews Presbyterian College is a four-year, church-related, co-educational liberal arts and sciences institution, serving traditional and non-traditional students from diverse national, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The College offers residential and nonresidential undergraduate degree programs, certification programs, and special training programs. One of the first campuses designed to be accessible, St. Andrews takes particular pride in its historical commitment to accommodating students with physical disabilities.

Fortner Writers' Forum
Every Thursday night for 40 years
Friday, February 22, 2008

Past presenters at the forum include such distinguished guests as
designer Buckminster Fuller, journalist Tom Wolfe, musician John Cage, poets Robert Creeley,
Robert Bly and James Dickey; novelist John Barth, literary critic Leslie Fiedler,
and Village Voice Poetry Editor Joel Oppenheimer.
The Writers' Forum is a group that has met every Thursday for 40 years.

Lois Siegel

"St. Andrews was pleased to welcome to its campus Lois Siegel, a veritable powerhouse in all things creative. Recognized internationally for her photography, film-making, and music-making, Ms. Siegel has been a tour de force on campus, trekking from Women's Studies classrooms to Advanced Video Production meetings to the theatre and beyond. Aside from making films, playing music and taking photographs, Siegel is a professor at the University of Ottawa."

At the Forum tonight, we were privileged to views clips from several of her films on topic ranging from the history of women in baseball to a Canadian family that made a name for itself in film by staging and participating in stunts to the plight of the albinos. In light of being unable to Podcast the actual Forum, please check out the interview with Lois Siegel instead--same bat time, same bat channel!

To order a copy of her award-winning documentary Baseball Girls, you can contact the Canadian National Film Board by calling 1-800-542-2164.

Interview
by Mason Tate

Writer's Forum
Thursday, September 24, 2009

Once again, Lois Siegel appeared at the Writer's Forum.
She talked about her work as a freelance photographer and showed her
feature documentary film "Lip Gloss"

Directed by Lois Siegel

LIP GLOSS is a documentary introducing a behind-the-scenes look at female impersonators.
There's something for everyone: long legs, swivel hips, stuffed girdles, and bouffant hairdos.
LIP GLOSS exposes the lives of transvestites, transsexuals, drag queens and female impersonators.
Shop with them for lingerie and high heels, meet them backstage as they transform from male to female, learn about their "extra curricular" occupation and family life.

Baseball Girls
Directed by Lois Siegel

List Price: $19.95

"Baseball Girls is a winner" Toronto Star
"Remember, Diamonds are a girls' best friend" Toronto Sun
"A zany, action -packed documentary" The Gazette
"A well-made, engaging documentary about women, both past and present, playing baseball." Hollywood reporter
"Penetrating and altogether entertaining.. focusing on women who live and breathe
the game of baseball." Take One

Forget everything you think you know about baseball.
From the early days of the Bloomer Girls to today's Colorado Silver Bullets,
"Baseball Girls" features something new and different about women who love the sport.

From 7-year-olds playing baseball, learning the rules of the game,
to 60-year-olds playing slo-pitch softball,
BASEBALL GIRLS explores the private and professional lives of women obsessed with the sport they love.
Using animation, archival stills and live-action footage, this zany and affectionate feature documentary
details the history of women's participation in the largely male-dominated world of baseball and softball.

"Smart, strong and snappy, much like its subjects." Eye Magazine

©Photo by Lois Siegel

Pelham Sportaculars
Fairfax, Virginia
National Capital Senior Softball Classic, Runner-Up, Women's Division
Representing Canada