Nancy Schick Obituary - Mattoon, IL | Journal Gazette & Times-Courier - Legacy.com
Nancy Schick Obituary - Mattoon, IL | Journal Gazette & Times-Courier - Legacy.com |
- Nancy Schick Obituary - Mattoon, IL | Journal Gazette & Times-Courier - Legacy.com
- Milford author uses humor to get kids to read - The Wilton Bulletin
- Best TV shows with the worst endings | Entertainment - McDowell News
| Nancy Schick Obituary - Mattoon, IL | Journal Gazette & Times-Courier - Legacy.com Posted: 28 Sep 2020 12:00 AM PDT Nancy Sue Easter Shick Aug. 26, 1940 - Sept. 28, 2020 CHARLESTON - She heard of tales of distant lands where dreamers were in demand. She packed her bags. Nancy Sue Easter Shick, local historian and author of Charleston, Coles County, Illinois left us for those distant lands of which she so often dreamed on Monday, September 28, 2020. She chose those words above from an unknown author to say her final goodbyes to family, friends and the community she loved and cherished so dearly. Nancy was born in Charleston on August 26, 1940 to Earl and Elma Easter. She left behind two loving children, her daughter April Dawn Marchuk and son Mitchell Kevin Shick and his wife Joda, all of Charleston, IL. One son, Lonnie Mathew Shick predeceased her. She is also survived by ten grandchildren, Kate, Brittany, Kirstin, Ryan, Andrew, Ali, Daniel, Alex, Jake and Emma, ten great-grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews, her sisters Joyce Drury and Connie Heaton, both of Charleston, and brothers Daniel Easter of Bloomington, Indiana and Michael Easter of Charleston. Two sisters, Sharon Marie Benningfield, and Clara Lou Easter and two brothers, Gerald "Jerry" Eugene Easter and Earl Edward "Bud" Easter predeceased her. A self-taught historian and author, she was proud to tell anyone who would listen that "she came from good stock" with deep roots to this community. On her mother's side, she shares a great grandfather with President Abraham Lincoln and, also, famed early American pioneer Daniel Boone. Her ancestors first settled in Coles County in the early 1830s and were among the first settlers of the County. A graduate of Charleston High School, she never completed college but was an avid reader and researcher and eventually became a valued resource to many in our community who had questions on local history or Coles County genealogy. If she did not know the answer, she would spend countless hours researching those questions for family, friends, neighbors or even strangers who had learned of her unique knowledge and passion for local history. She authored or contributed to numerous books on local history including Coles County History, 1876-1976; Pictorial Landscape History of Charleston, Illinois (1985); "Round the Square: Life in Downtown Charleston, Illinois 1830-1998"; and a collection of short stories, Long Story Short, published in 1991. In 1994, Nancy was named Outstanding Citizen of the Year in our community by the Charleston Chamber of Commerce for her lifelong dedication to preserving and promoting local history. She was a long-time member of the Coles County Historical Society, Five Mile House, the Lincoln-Douglas Debate Museum committee and Coles County Genealogy Society. In her lifetime, Nancy researched, organized and presented countless local history and genealogy programs and events in our community. While Nancy's roots were deeply planted in Coles County, she also considered herself a wanderer and traveled the world seeking new adventures and connections to people and cultures in distant lands. She spent 40 days exploring China and Alaska by herself and traveled to Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, Spain and other distant lands making new friends that would remain close to her all her life. She never met a stranger and never forgot a friend. Her travels gave her a greater appreciation for her beloved Country and community and each time she eagerly returned home to share those experiences. Nancy cherished those adventures and the friends she met along the way but never considered leaving the place she proudly called home. As she wrote in later years: "As a child growing up in Charleston, I always wondered how people came to live in, out of all the possible places on Earth, the town of Charleston, Illinois. I knew, from an early age, why I was living in Charleston because I peppered my parents, and any relative old enough to know, with questions about the past. I also knew, or so I thought, that the minute I got old enough I would make excursions out into the rest of this amazing world to find the perfect place for me to live, or maybe lots of perfect places to live. As you may or may not know, I did venture out into the rest of the world and as a result I'm still living in Charleston." Now that she has set sail on her final adventure to visit the distant lands of dreamers, her friends and family can rest assured that she will always remain with us in our loving hearts and fond memories. A memorial visitation will be held on Saturday, October 3, 2020 from 10:00 a.m. to noon at Kiwanis Park followed by a memorial service; face coverings and social distancing encouraged. Memorials in her name may be made to the Five Mile House Foundation and the Coles County Genealogical Society.  |
| Milford author uses humor to get kids to read - The Wilton Bulletin Posted: 29 Sep 2020 03:03 PM PDT 
Milford author Alan Katz Milford author Alan Katz MILFORD — Bestselling author Alan Katz said one of his most rewarding experiences is when teachers say he has inspired children to have an interest in reading. "I've had teachers come up to me with their arms around a kid, saying, 'This is Bobby. He refuses to read but he will read your books, and we thank you.' That's what I love," said Katz, 63. Katz is the author of almost 50 books, and has been nominated six times for daytime Emmy Awards. Most of his writing is for children. Three of his most recent books, which are coming out on Oct. 15, are biographies in a series called "Lieographies." While the books, recommended for 7- to- 10-year-olds, consists of made-up life stories of famous people, they also contain facts. They're designed to get children intersted in reading, according to Katz. Recent booksKatz said the purpose of the Lieographies series is "not to fool, mislead or misinform them, but instead, to get them to read and be entertained by what they're reading," he said. "Hopefully, it'll peak their interest and they'll say 'I had a good time reading. Now, let me go learn about these people.'" The first three books in the Lieographies series are about Amelia Earhardt, Thomas Edison and Babe Ruth. Each of the books has pages at the end that include real facts about the subjects. He said if he can get the kids to read, that's step one. "If you can get them to laugh, that's step two. If you can get them to take their curiousity and go learn more, that's great," he added. "I'm hoping the kids who are reluctant readers will read the books and say, 'That's hilarious.' Let me find out what really happened." Also coming out this month is a short story collection called, "Really Stupid Stories for Really Smart Kids." It contains 20 short stories for children ages 7 to 11, and is publishing Oct. 6 by Running Press in Pennsylvania. One of the stories is about a "smelling bee" instead of a spelling bee. Another is about a day when it snowed snowmen, with "a blizzard of snowmen falling from the sky." Getting creativeWhen thinking up creative ideas for the subject matter, humor was the key factor, Katz said. The stories are designed to make kids laugh, he said. "They are really ridicuous, outrageous," he said. Katz has also written a bestseller — "Take Me Out of the Bathtub," which has about 3 million copies in print since it came out 20 years ago. He said he enjoys inspiring children to try writing. When he visits schools, "I say 'How many writers are in this room?' Sometimes people yell, 'One.' I say 'No, you're all writers,'" he said. "The kids really get into it,. By the end, they say 'I'm going to write a book.'" Katz has made author visits to schools in about 30 states, from Montana and California. Since he has written that his favorite food is cantaloupe, the schools often "have an array of cantaloupe for me," he quipped. He has also written two poetry books. After reading his poetry, kids send him their poems, saying, 'Look I can be a poet, too,'" he said. "'Of course, you can,' I tell them," he added. Writing at 16A native of Queens, N.Y., Katz lived in Weston for 26 years, and last year, moved to Milford. He and his wife Rose, who is a journalist, have four grown chldren. He began writing comedy when he was 16. At Francis Lewis High School in Fresh Meadows, N.Y., beginning at the age of 16, he wrote jokes for Henny Youngman, a comedian who was known for his Borscht Belt comedy and humor. "I would mail him 20 one liners. He would circle three and send me a check for 21 dollars. My parents would always say 'How do you know he's not using the others?' and I would say 'You got to trust him,' He kept buying the jokes from me all throughout my time in college." Katz is now a full-time author who writes for TV and advertsiging from home. Prior positions he has held include a writer for the Rosie O'Donnell Show. "I would read seven newspapers on the train ride between Westport and Manhattan every day," he said. "The show was live at 10 a.m. that day, with the material I'd written on the train." He's also written for the Tony Danza Show, as well as the Grammy and Tony awards. He has written for Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite Online, creating TV trivia games, and was a creator and writer of the Wheel of Fortune Live Show. He has written for theme parks, advertising, and animation. "Once I did one thing, everything lead to something else," he said. He has also delved into nonfiction. His nonfiction books, which he wrote last year, are on science and technology. "Each book has profiles of 12 people who invented things that kids definitely use or have access to every day — like the remote control, like the microwave, like windshield wipers. After you read the story about this person in an uplifting way, there are three or four pages of humor related to the invention." So, after you learn, you laugh," he added. Next stepsUpcoming projects include a six-book series for young readers about a superhero substitute teacher called S.O.S. (Society of Substitutes). The first two books in the series will be released in January of 2021. "Everybody likes funny stuff," said Katz, with regard to his interest in writing humor. "If you can make people laugh or share a joke or write something that makes people have a good time, that's very appealling to me." To read more about Katz, visit alankatzbooks.com. sfox@milfordmirror.com  |
| Best TV shows with the worst endings | Entertainment - McDowell News Posted: 29 Sep 2020 09:00 PM PDT  All good things must come to an end, even successful television shows, and sometimes the best shows have the worst endings. Whether it's a show that's gone on well past its prime, or a show whose original cast left and were replaced by actors who paled in comparison, or a reboot or revival with a promising start that stalled after a season or two, even great shows aren't perfect. To determine the 50 best TV shows with the worst endings, Stacker compiled data on the best TV shows on IMDb with more than 50,000 votes and ranked them according to the average IMDb user rating across the final season. User ratings are ranked according to full value, but only two decimals places are shown. Those listed as ties are exact ties down to the last decimal. Data is up to date as of Sept. 16. These shows represent every genre from sci-fi to drama and come from all over the world. They are about witches and horsemen and include a British sketch comedy. One is set in a fifth dimension not known to man, another is about a suburban mother who resorts to selling drugs, and there are three versions of a space show with a cult-like following that spans five decades. While it may seem many of these shows have little in common, the thread that ties them together is that somewhere along the line things went bad. In the end, they left a trail of disappointed or confused fans who wondered what exactly happened to that show they loved. Keep reading to see how many shows on the list ranked among your favorites with the very worst endings. You may also like: The most famous actress born the same year as you  |
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