Day: August 10, 2019

Erika Prosper Nirenberg to serve as Ambassador for Harlequin Feel Good Day

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Harlequin Feel Good Day San Antonio is scheduled for Saturday October 5. Courtesy photo, used with permission. .

Harlequin Feel Good Day San Antonio is set for 10:30a.m. to 6p.m., on Saturday, October 5 at the Omni La Mansion Del Rio. Harlequin, a leading publisher of romance and women-centric literature for nearly seven decades, is bringing its powerhouse community to San Antonio.  The day of Feel Good programing and community building celebrates and explores what makes women feel their best, do their best and be their best selves. (Harlequin Feel Good Day, 2019)

First Lady of San Antonio Erika Prosper Nirenberg has made it part of her life’s mission to find ways to empower women. So, when the Harlequin Feel Good Movement™ approached her about helping to launch a fun, one-day immersive celebration of women in the Alamo City, she eagerly joined the movement. Prosper Nirenberg, also former chair of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, will champion the Harlequin’s OutStander Awards.   The Feel Good Day message of positivity fits with Prosper Nirenberg’s ongoing efforts to promote women in leadership. As leader of the Hispanic Chamber, she helped establish the Latina Leadership Institute five years ago to help women learn more about how to be engaged civically and politically. Women who took part in Latina Leadership Institute have gone on to join non-profit boards, government commissions and two have been elected to local public office.

On October 5, Prosper Nirenberg will help present The OutStander Awards to put the spotlight on outstanding and upstanding citizens in San Antonio who champion the Feel Good mission every day. Nominations for The OutStander Awards are being accepted online through August 16 in five categories including:

  • Community Catalyst;
  • Person of Positivity;
  • Harlequin Hometown Hero;
  • Cultural Champion, and
  • Millennial Groundbreaker

Daytime Emmy nominee Melody Thomas Scott, best known for playing Nikki Newman on the daytime drama The Young and the Restless will moderate a panel discussion with The New York Times best-selling authors Robyn Carr, Brenda Jackson and Susan Mallery. The event also features a performance by Mariachi Las Coronelas, The OutStander Awards presentation, activity-based workshops that include gardening, Groove movement and meditation, vision boarding, gratitude practices and reflective exercises, and more.

Harlequin has committed to charitable event programming to further the Feel Good mission, partnering with Soldiers’ Angels, and each Share Gratitude workshop participant will create a Blessing Box for Soldiers’ Angels Women of Valor program, given as encouragement to women and caretakers of wounded, ill and injured service members.  Each attendee is encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item for Soldiers’ Angels as well.

“I believe that San Antonio residents deserve to have their passion, commitment and outstanding achievements be recognized not just in the city, but on a national and international scale. When Harlequin invited me to participate, I was excited to be a part of highlighting San Antonio and championing our residents to their international community.” – Erika Prosper Nirenberg

Movie adaptation: ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’ by Alvin Schwartz

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The movie adaptation of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark opened this weekend. Photo: google

Alvin Schwartz was an American author and journalist who wrote more than fifty books dedicated to and dealing with topics such as folklore and word play, many of which were intended for young readers. He is mostly known for Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, a series of short stories for children originally illustrated by Stephen Gammell. The series consists of “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” (1981) “More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” (1984) and “Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones” (1991). The film adaptation, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, opened this weekend and stars Zoe Colletti, Michael Garza, Gabriel Rush, Austin Abrams, Dean Norris, Gil Bellows and Lorraine Toussaint. It is directed by André Øvredal and the screenplay was adapted by Dan and Kevin Hageman, from a screen story by producer Guillermo del Toro, Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan.

According to Wikipedia, the author drew heavily from folklore and urban legends for his stories and each book features numerous short stories in the horror genre. Influences include Shakespeare, T.S. Eliot, Mark Twain, Joel Chandler Harris, Bennett Carl and Jan Harold Brunvand. The series has sold more than seven million copies with the books appearing on numerous children’s bestseller lists. While being considered a “cultural touchstone for a generation,” they have also been criticized by parents and social groups for being inappropriate for children.

In the movie, it is 1968 in America. Change is blowing in the wind but far removed from the unrest in the cities is the small town of Mill Valley where for generations, the shadow of the Bellows family has loomed large. In their mansion on the edge of town, Sarah, a young girl with horrible secrets, turned her tortured life into a series of scary stories, written in a book that has transcended time-stories that have a way of becoming all too real for a group of teenagers who discover Sarah’s terrifying home. – Lionsgate and CBS Films.