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<p>Raymond is a great presenter and I highly recommend you pass this
opportunity on to your patrons, especially those who may be
hearing-impaired. Raymond's charisma appeals to readers of all
stripes. There is no cost, we just ask individuals to contact
Evelyn in advance to obtain the Zoom link and password (details
below).<br>
</p>
<h3
style="display: block;margin: 0;padding: 0;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 20px;font-style: normal;font-weight: bold;line-height: 125%;letter-spacing: normal;text-align: left;">For
Immediate Release…</h3>
<strong>Contact: Victor Volkman<br>
(734) 417-4266<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:President@UPPAA.org">President@UPPAA.org</a></strong><br>
<a
href="https://UPPAA.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b1016c5c910959a236f2ff48f&id=f9c5e556f4&e=fd2c186103"
target="_blank"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;">www.UPPAA.org</a>
<h3 class="null"
style="display: block;margin: 0;padding: 0;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 20px;font-style: normal;font-weight: bold;line-height: 125%;letter-spacing: normal;text-align: left;"><br>
UP Notable Book Club presents a Q&A session about Raymond
Luczak's <em>Animals out-There W-i-l-d: A Bestiary in English and
ASL Gloss <br>
</em></h3>
<strong><a
href="https://UPPAA.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b1016c5c910959a236f2ff48f&id=f417707a5b&e=fd2c186103"
target="_blank"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"><img
align="right" alt="Official Seal of the U.P. Notable Books"
data-file-id="5478685" height="209"
src="https://mcusercontent.com/b1016c5c910959a236f2ff48f/images/a820f93a-c8e9-4ac1-90d6-113beff7cce0.jpg"
style="border-image: none 100% / 1 / 0 stretch;margin: 0px;border: 0;height: auto !important;outline: none;text-decoration: none;-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;"
width="213"></a><br>
<span style="color:#006400">UP Notable Book Club</span>:</strong>
The Crystal Falls Community District Library in partnership with the
U.P. Publishers & Authors Association (UPPAA) has scheduled
author events for winners of the <em>UP Notable Book List</em>. The
45th event is with <strong>Raymond Luczak</strong>, author of <em>Animals
out-There W-i-l-d: A Bestiary in English and ASL Gloss. </em>In
this groundbreaking collection of sign language gloss poetry, the
first of its kind to be published, Raymond Luczak explores the
dynamics of written English poetry and ASL gloss by communing with
the animals living in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.<br>
<br>
<em><strong>When: </strong></em>Thursday, April 10th, 2025 at 7 pm
Eastern / 6 pm Central<br>
<em><strong>Where: </strong></em>on the Zoom platform -- please
contact Evelyn Gathu in advance at <a
href="mailto:egathu@crystalfallslibrary.org?subject=UPNotableBooks&body=Please-send-me-the-zoom-link"
target="_blank"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;">egathu@crystalfallslibrary.org</a>,
or by phone at (906) 875-3344. We recommend you borrow a copy of
these books from your local library or purchase from your local
bookseller in advance to get the most out of these events.<br>
<p><strong><a
href="https://UPPAA.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b1016c5c910959a236f2ff48f&id=4befa6cb0d&e=fd2c186103"
target="_blank"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"><img
align="right" alt="Portrait of Raymond Luczak"
data-file-id="7836272" height="200"
src="https://mcusercontent.com/b1016c5c910959a236f2ff48f/images/c5006f56-4326-7efd-aa8e-b9cffb7d18e1.jpg"
style="border: 1px dotted;width: 200px;height: 200px;margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;outline: none;text-decoration: none;-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;"
width="200"></a>RAYMOND LUCZAK</strong> (pronounced with a
silent "c") is perhaps best known for his books, films, and plays.
He was raised in Ironwood, a small mining town in Michigan’s Upper
Peninsula. Number seven in a family of nine children, he lost much
of his hearing due to double pneumonia at the age of eight months.
After high school graduation, Luczak went on to Gallaudet
University, in Washington, D.C., where he earned a B.A. in
English, graduating <em>magna cum laude</em>. He learned American
Sign Language (ASL) and became involved with the deaf community,
and won numerous scholarships in recognition of his writing,
including the Ritz-Paris Hemingway Scholarship.<br>
<br>
He took various writing courses at other schools in the area,
which culminated in winning a place in the Jenny McKean Moore
Fiction Workshop at the George Washington University. Recent
works include <em>Compassion, Michigan: The Ironwood
Stories, Chlorophyll: Poems About Michigan's Upper Peninsula</em> and
the anthology <em>Yooper Poetry</em> which has resulted in
launching the critically-acclaimed <a
href="https://UPPAA.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b1016c5c910959a236f2ff48f&id=79f109e26b&e=fd2c186103"
target="_blank"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;">Yooper
Poetry Series</a>, edited by Luczak </p>
<div class="AuthorBio__author-bio__author-biography__WeqwH">
<p><a
href="https://UPPAA.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b1016c5c910959a236f2ff48f&id=7b643a42bc&e=fd2c186103"
target="_blank"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"><img
align="left"
alt="Cover of Raymond Luczak's book ANIMALS OUT THERE"
data-file-id="8032143" height="270"
src="https://mcusercontent.com/b1016c5c910959a236f2ff48f/images/6ea7b371-6d90-55d0-ff38-a123df6bca15.jpg"
style="border: 0px;width: 180px;height: 270px;margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;outline: none;text-decoration: none;-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;"
width="180"></a>"The themes that made their appearance in
the book were nature’s rhythm and song; human cruelty and humans
lack of connection. Nature has a rhythm and song, the order of
life. A fox awaits quietly as a mouse scampers through the tall
grass. The hawk watches from above and the owl knows where to
hide. All dogs originated from wolves. Beavers engineer dams,
robins build nests and fly south during the fall months. Human
cruelty has occurred with leaps and bounds from cows lined up to
be slaughtered to chickens crowded in small cages. Luczak has a
point concerning human contact. Social media and cell phones
have caused more separation for many humans. I remember a story
about two teenagers not talking in the back seat when a parent
picked them up from an event and the teenagers told the parent
they were texting one another. Animals still continue to
communicate. Wolves howl, birds chirp and house cats hiss when
disturbed.</p>
<p>"I recommend <a
href="https://UPPAA.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b1016c5c910959a236f2ff48f&id=0a0fde1f21&e=fd2c186103"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;">Animals
Out-There W-i-l-d</a> for its bountiful depictions of various
animals, insects and birds, because of its description of the
word Yooper , its awareness of human ignorance and cruelty and
its reminder of the importance of connection. A Yooper is a
native or inhabitant of the U.P. Animals may outlive humans
because they have maintained a rhythm of living. Nature has
always held a sense of wonder, and we could learn a lot from the
animals who live in the forests. Luczak has captured in his
powerful use of poetry an understanding of nature’s song and the
conflicting ethos of human behavior," <br>
</p>
<p> Read Sharon Brunner's <a
href="https://UPPAA.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b1016c5c910959a236f2ff48f&id=1adb8f1ba8&e=fd2c186103"
target="_blank"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;">complete
review at U.P. Book Review</a><br>
</p>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong><a
href="https://UPPAA.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b1016c5c910959a236f2ff48f&id=cd10b6afa3&e=fd2c186103"
target="_blank"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"><img
align="right" data-file-id="4246885" height="150"
src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/b1016c5c910959a236f2ff48f/images/fdff6d7d-ca6e-4f62-80ad-49c5258d320e.png"
style="border-image: none 100% / 1 / 0 stretch;width: 225px;height: 150px;margin: 0px;border: 0;outline: none;text-decoration: none;-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;"
width="225"></a>About the Upper Peninsula Publishers and
Authors Association (UPPAA)</strong></div>
Established in 1998 to support authors and publishers who live in or
write about Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, UPPAA is a Michigan
nonprofit association with over 180 members, many of whose books are
featured on the organization’s website at <a
href="https://UPPAA.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b1016c5c910959a236f2ff48f&id=aaef9d7bf8&e=fd2c186103"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;">www.uppaa.org</a>.
UPPAA welcomes membership and participation from anyone with a UP
connection who is interested in writing.
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Regards,
Victor R. Volkman, President
L H Press Inc.
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.LHPress.com">www.LHPress.com</a></pre>
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