Tag: South Miami Senior High Chorus (Singing Cobras)
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THE JIM GARRATY CHRONICLES — Official Release Announcement
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Books, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, South Miami High School in fiction, South Miami Senior High School, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Summer of Two MoviesTHE JIM GARRATY CHRONICLES — Official Release Announcement Some projects take years to find their final shape. Some take decades. The Jim Garraty Chronicles is a little of both. I’m very happy to announce that the Kindle edition of The Jim Garraty Chronicles will be released on July 15, with the paperback edition following on…
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All the Things She Taught Me
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, All the Things You Are, Creative Writing, Elizabeth Joan Owen, Elizabeth Joan Owen (Ms. Owen), Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Life in Miami (1972-2016), Melodies and Memories: Music, Songs, and Singers, Music, Music & Concert Specials, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, South Miami High School in fiction, South Miami Senior High SchoolAll the Things She Taught Me Tuesday, July 7, 2026, Orlando, Florida On this exquisitely hot July afternoon in Central Florida, I find myself thinking about the lasting impact truly great teachers have on our lives—and how even the smallest things can bring their memories back. That feels especially true as we grow older, and…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Why Jim and Marty Had to Meet in the Chorus Room (And Not in Journalism)
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Creative Writing, Elizabeth Joan Owen (Ms. Owen), Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Florida, Life in South Florida, Miami-Dade Community College, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, South Miami Senior High School, Student JournalistThursday, July 2, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Why Jim and Marty Had to Meet in the Chorus Room (And Not in Journalism) Every so often, a writer hits one of those crossroads where two parts of his own past tug at him like siblings fighting over the front seat. For me, the tug‑of‑war was between…
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(More) Songs Ms. Owen Taught Me (In Memoriam)
Wednesday, July 1, 2026 – Orlando, Florida “The best teacher is not the one who knows most but the one who is most capable of reducing knowledge to that simple compound of the obvious and wonderful.” — H.L. Mencken In loving memory of Ms. Elizabeth Joan Owen (September 8, 1929 – December 28, 2025), the…
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Songs Ms. Owen Taught Me (A Sunday Musicale)
Sunday, June 28, 2026, June 28, 2026 – Orlando, Florida In loving memory of Ms. Elizabeth Joan Owen (September 8, 1929 – December 28, 2025) If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die. That strain again! it had a dying…
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Summer Heat, a Mentor’s Passing, and a Memento Mori
Saturday, June 27, 2026 – Orlando, Florida It is brutally hot outside. According to my Microsoft Weather app, the temperature here in my corner of Orange County is already 91°F (33°C) under partly sunny skies. The humidity is 56%, the wind is barely stirring out of the east-southeast at 4 MPH (7 Km/H), and the…
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Remembrance: Elizabeth Joan Owen: September 8, 1929 – December 28, 2025
Friday, June 26, 2026 — Orlando, Florida “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” — William Arthur Ward Ms. Owen was my mentor. She was special — an amazing chorus director and someone I always wondered about long after graduation. I am saddened to hear of…
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The Duet That Never Was: Revisiting Jim and Marty’s Unfinished Song
Wednesday, June 10, 2026, Orlando, Florida When I wrote Reunion: A Story in the fall of 1998, I wanted to give my protagonist, Jim Garraty, a connection with Martina Elizabeth “Marty” Reynaud that reached beyond the unspoken love he feels for her in the novella. It could not, of course, be openly romantic; otherwise, Jim’s…
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On Writing and Storytelling: The Girl Who Wasn’t Real (But Felt Like She Was)
Writing stories that draw, even partially, from an author’s lived experience can be a bit of a double-edged sword: wonderfully useful on one side, faintly perilous on the other. Memory is generous that way. It offers texture, specificity, and the small, telling details writers spend ages trying to invent—but it also comes with baggage, assumptions,…
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On Writing and Storytelling: When Jim Garraty First Realizes What His Heart’s Been Trying to Tell Him (Reunion: Coda)
When Jim Garraty First Realizes What His Heart’s Been Trying to Tell Him Long before Jim Garraty ever found the words for what he was feeling, there were moments—small, ordinary, almost forgettable to anyone else—that rearranged something inside him. This is one of the earliest. Not a confession, not a dramatic turning point, just a…
A Certain Point of View, Too 