Writing the Next Chapter: An Evening with Author Eleanor Cooper McCallie

3912 Dayton Boulevard,Red Bank TN 37415

22 March, 2023

Description

Join Chattanooga Room in the Inn for an evening of fellowship and a presentation from local author Eleanor Cooper McCallie. You will hear about Eleanor's journey to becoming an author later in life and receive advice for how you can pursue a similar path or take the steps to chase your own dream. You will also hear more about Chattanooga Room in the Inn (CRITI), the event's beneficiary. Located in Highland Park, CRITI provides shelter and transitional housing and resources for women and children facing homelessness. Light hors d'oeuvres, wine, and other refreshments will be served. Grab your friends and join us for an empowering evening. About the author: Eleanor is drawn by her deep roots in the South to write stories that have been hidden or forgotten. She captures stories of family members on the edge of traumatic historical events that portend personal change and social turmoil. On her way to her first job after college in 1968—teaching English in Japan—Eleanor heard for the first time about her father’s cousin (Grace Divine Liu) who had married “a Chinaman” and gone to China in 1934. No one knew if she was still alive, but a seed was planted in Eleanor’s heart to one day find out. Eleanor lived in Japan for two years, taught English and served as guide in the US pavilion at the World’s Fair in Osaka, Expo ’70. When she left Japan, she went home the long way through India, traveling around the world by herself before she was 25. These early experiences changed her world view, and later she worked to make more international opportunities in her home town through Children’s International Summer Villages, Sister Cities International, and the Marshall Memorial Fellowship. Eleanor prepared to be a teacher at first, but she discovered she was an educator of a different sort—not in the classroom but in the community. She worked for non-profits, co-founded EARTHWORK: Center for Food and Land in the San Francisco Bay Area, and served as Executive Director of Chattanooga Venture where she learned the value of civic engagement and community-wide visioning. When Grace Divine Liu returned to the US with her son William in 1974, Eleanor immediately contacted her and eventually lived with Grace and William in Berkeley where Grace died of cancer in 1979. Later Eleanor and William co-authored the book about Grace’s life. Now Eleanor lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with her husband and family. She loves to arrange flowers, make quilts from fabric she has collected, and play games that make you laugh. Eleanor's publications include Dragonfly Dreams and Grace: An American Woman in China.