A Tribute To Grace Paley, Vermont Poet Laureate and NWU member

On Wednesday, August 22nd, Grace Paley died at her home in Thetford, Vermont
after a long battle with breast cancer. Grace, one of the country's outstanding short story writers and poets, was also a human rights activist and strong supporter of the labor movement and writers' rights. Small wonder that she happily served as an NWU Advisory Board member and spoke on several occasions at our Vermont chapter's annual meeting.

Last year, we asked if she would agree to our establishing a Grace Paley Fund for Vermont Writers. With the kindness, warmth and genuine enthusiasm she always showed to other writers, she graciously accepted -- even while admitting that she was somewhat embarrassed! She never let her designation as Vermont's poet laureate to go to her head. As she met with Vermonters all over the state -- in libraries, schools, and social gatherings, she was down to earth and modest to the end.

You can find more about the Grace Paley Fund here. Although the NWU administers the fund, it is open to applications from all low income Vermont writers who need some financial assistance for their writing projects.

Obituaries in The New York Times and The Washington Post are fitting tributes to Grace's creative skills. (Additional obituaries can be found, among others, at Democracy Now and maudnewton.com; Grace's last major interview was with the Los Angeles Times in June.)

We will miss Grace terribly, and offer the Union's sincerest condolences to her husband Bob Nichols and her family.