CHATTERBOX IS CELEBRATING
July is my birthday month. I celebrated with my sweetheart, Geoff, family and friends and at a bunch of wonderful Chatterbox: Stories from a Noisy Life events. Read on!
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My Heart
Geoffrey Peter Worton and I met on March 17, 1977—the best day of my life. He makes every one of my birthdays special—this year with dinner at a favorite restaurant and two fragrances I adore. (I love and collect perfumes from around the world.) All of the stuff I report on in every issue of this newsletter would never have happened if it weren’t for Geoff. His belief in me, support and patience are unwavering—as are his willingness to drive hundreds of miles for book events and to schlep box after box of books everywhere. I love you, Geoff. You are my greatest gift of all.
Let The Celebrations Begin
My amazing book club celebrated two July birthdays. Me and Maggie. With two birthday cakes, gifts for the birthday girls, white wine and rose, Megan R’s glorious charcuterie tray and other assorted munchies. We did also discuss the book, My Friends by Fredrik Backman, with a near equal number of thumbs up and down. I was a big thumbs up. I loved this book—thought it was wise, touching and read like a Nordic legend. Love my book club. Thank you so much, ladies, for the celebration and your spirit and wisdom.
Chatterbox Takes To The High Seas…
Well, at least to New York Harbor via the Governors Island Ferry. (You will never find me on an ocean liner.) July 12-13 was the 14th Annual NYC Poetry Festival, hosted by The Poetry Society of New York. Noon on the 12th, I was on The Brinkley Stage with three amazing writers from the Italian American Writers Association (IAWA). Left to right: Julia Lisella, Peter Marra, Kathy Curto and yours truly. Thank you all for including me in the program. It was the perfect way to celebrate my birthday, and like I’ve said a number of times, being part of IAWA has changed my life. If you’ve never been to the NYC Poetry Festival—you have a year to get ready—I highly recommend going in 2026. It’s a chance for celebrating writing and spending a sunny day with scores of poets, publishers and storytellers of every stripe.
Wisdom from Another July Baby
Okay, I’ve been blabbering about Kirkus Reviews a lot, but I promise I’ll give it a rest after this newsletter, so please bear with me. When Chatterbox earned a review in the print edition of Kirkus Reviews, I was offered a chance to buy some ad space. I wasn’t sure about it. Thought through the benefits and the downsides and mentioned to my friend Tony Amatullo (another July baby) that I wasn’t sure if I should buy ads or not. He offered some sage advice, “There’s nothing better you can do than to invest in yourself.” Yeah, I thought, sounds good. So I bought a mini-ad campaign. The first ad ran in the July 15th issue. Spielberg has not called asking to option my stories for a streamer yet, but I am getting attention and the review is another great marketing tool to open more doors. (Chatterbox ads will run in the 7/15 and 8/1 online and print magazines, on the website on 7/21- 8/23 and in Kirkus Reviews’ email on 8/5!)
Two Old Friends Sharing Stories
You might have heard this story from me before, but I like to share it again and again. Linda Dini Jenkins and I have been friends since we were seven years old. We met when a boy in our second-grade class blew his nose into a piece of loose-leaf paper, and it made me cry. Linda consoled me, and I moved to her group of four desks in the classroom. And so began many years of getting into all kinds of trouble. On July 18, we took our stories to Salem, Massachusetts and the Salem Athenaeum for an evening of “Salon: Pasta, Prose & Poetry.” What a blast! The setting made us smile. People sat on lawn chairs under the trees in the Athenaeum’s beautiful back garden. It was like a mini-Tanglewood. Linda and I opened and closed our readings with a few lines from the choreo-poem we wrote together, If I’m Talking, Why Aren’t You Listening? (Celebrating its 35th anniversary and getting ready for a reboot.) And filled the rest of our program with stories from Chatterbox, and her books, Becoming Italian: Chapter & Verse from an Italian American Girl and Up At The Villa: Travels with My Husband. Thank you, Jean Marie Procious and Carolyn McGuire for this amazing evening—and for including Chatterbox in your Summer Reading Selections list. Thank you to everyone who came on the 18th for listening, laughing and getting a little choked up with us a few times. You made our night!
Stories Bring People Together
July 21 was a sunny and very warm day that brought some of my favorite people together for a plein air reading at Toastique Ridgewood. Laura Trione hosted Late-Lunch Lit with the Key To The Castle Workshop (KTTCW) team—Kathy Curto, Angela Derecas Taylor and Patricia (T.M.) Dunn. Featured Readers (including me) and Open Mic Readers (including Isa Aydogan, Ed Baran, Gina Cirrilo, Jeanne-Marie Fleming, David Galef, Janis Hubschman, Rachel Galperin and Geoff Worton) shared a range of great work: essays, poetry, fiction, vignettes and flash pieces. A little beep of traffic here and there and the rumble of trains would not stop us—writers take to the streets when there are stories to tell. It was Key To The Castle Workshop’s first ever Late-Lunch Lit event at the fabulous Toastique Ridgewood and a jam session like no other. Books were sold, winning tickets were pulled and prizes were won! Shout-out to Laura Trione and her Toastique Ridgewood team for welcoming us and offering delicious and healthy snacks and smoothies. (Consider this a nudge: if you are in Ridgewood, New Jersey visit this corner spot!) Thanks to all who helped make it happen and our fab audience for applauding in the streets! For more information on KTTC Workshop’s upcoming events and programs, please visit https://www.keytothecastleworkshop.com
I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends
I have a lot of people to thank for so much throughout my life. Chatterbox is one lucky girl. In this issue, I have to give a huge shout-out to Paula Howard Meyer and Dee Meyer. These two—the other half of Laverne + Ralph with me and Geoff—have shown up at all but one Chatterbox event. Through rain, snow, sleet and sweltering sun. Paula was my roommate for so many years that when I met Geoff, our parents said they felt like she and I were getting divorced. She created marketing and web materials to support the book, and both she and Dee have provided enormous emotional support—and many fun opportunities for eating too much food and drinking too much wine. Love you both, globs and bunches. I couldn’t have better friends.
Time Off For Good Behavior
Shrinks take off for August and so does Chatterbox. My book event calendar is clear for the month. I’ll be back at the end of the month with a few stories to tell. Enjoy the rest of the summer!
Want To Bring Chatterbox To A Bookstore, Library, Italian Restaurant, Coffee Shop, School, Book Club, Etc., Near You? Please get in touch. Email me at barbara@barbaraworton.com. And let’s talk date, time and place. Thank you!
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It was a beautiful night in the garden at The Salem Athenaeum.
