neshaminy

DONAHUE NAMED NESHAMINY MANAGING EDITOR

Neshaminy, the Bucks County Historical and Literary Journal, has elevated William J. Donahue to the post of Managing Editor, replacing David Updike, who will remain on the editorial staff. Executive Editor Don Swaim also announced that Melissa Sullivan is joining the staff as editor.
Donahue is a 10-year member of the Bucks County Writers Workshop with more than 20 years of experience as an editor, writer, and journalist. He is currently editor of the monthly lifestyle magazines Suburban Life and Philadelphia Life. Donahue’s print and on-camera reporting has earned him nearly a dozen regional and national awards for excellence in business journalism. His published works include the novel Burn, Beautiful Soul and three short-story collections: Too Much Poison, Filthy Beast, and Brain Cradle.
Sullivan is a writer, journalist, attorney, and a 2019 Pushcart Prize nominee. Her work has appeared in Hippocampus Magazine, Nightingale & Sparrow, Sum Journal and elsewhere<, and her short story “Last Run” placed second in the 2019 Bucks County Short-Fiction Contest. Most recently, her fiction was published in the locally-produced anthology Jersey Devil.
Also on the editorial team is Bill Stieg, former editor of Men’s Health magazine. David Updike, Director of Publications of the Barnes Foundation, is former publications editor of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Rounding out the staff is well-known Bucks County illustrator Pat Achilles, whose art has appeared in The New Yorker and in countless books and magazines, and veteran graphic designer John Errichetti of Tinhouse Design.

NESHAMINY. Vol 2, No. 1, Fall/Winter 2020

This issue was intended for publication in April 2020, but was pushed back because of the pandemic. It is now available from Amazon
HERE

EXCLUSIVES in the Fall/Winter 2020 issue:

• A recently discovered essay by JAMES A. MICHENER never published in full before. Michener, in the five-page typescript dated September 8, 1987, recounts his youthful years in Doylestown between 1907 (the year of his birth) and the early 1920s. It was found among the papers of the late Lester Trauch, a friend of Michener’s and a long-time reporter for the Doylestown Intelligencer. Apparently, the essay was intended for publication in the newspaper, but was somehow overlooked until now.

• The first photographs of the Dorothy Parker House in Tinicum Township, Bucks County, since the 1940s. After the famous wit, writer, and poet sold the house in 1946, it went through a series of owners. It is now beautifully restored and is the property of a private owner, who invited writer Don Swaim on a tour.

• “Knight of the Loyal Heart: The Strange Death of Ralcy Husted Bell”: Murder, suicide, or an accident? Once a prominent author, Bell in 1931 was found dead of a shotgun blast in his Centre Bridge, Bucks County, home where he had erected a booby-trap to thwart intruders.

• The story and future of the famed Bucks County Playhouse by Daniel Dorian.

BUCKS COUNTY BOOK FESTIVALBACK AS VIRTUAL EVENT FOR 2020

In 2018 and 2019, the Bucks County Book Festival was a successful event, running two years in a row, and both the Bucks County Writers Workshop and the Doylestown Historical Society had booths. But after the pandemic hit, in late September 2020 the fest went virtual, which did not allow the DHS and the BCWW any sort of presence.

BUCKS COUNTY HERALD REVIEW OF NESHAMINY'S INAUGURAL ISSUE

“The journal is the work of the Bucks County Writers Workshop and published by the Doylestown Historical Society. It’s named for the waterway that wends its way from north to south in the long county, ending at the Delaware River near Bristol.It’s history and fiction wrapped around history, tidbits that draw from legend and news, back to the Native American settlers, the Lenni Lenape, and into William Penn’s time through the Revolution and a recent war. It draws on the lives of artists and writers—there’s so much to be said.”
–by Bridget Wingert, publisher, Bucks County Herald.

Read the full review of Neshaminy’s inaugural issue in: the Bucks County Herald, Oct. 17, 2019 — HERE

YouTube Video Of Neshaminy’s Launch On Aug. 1, 2019.

Neshaminy was launched on August 1, 2019, with the announcement of the prize winners in the journal’s fist literary contest. The event was recorded by the DHS’s Tom Brunt and can be seen in full on
YouTube

PBS39

Reporter Hayden Mitman’s PBS39 News Report on Neshaminy’s Launch aired Aug. 2, 2019)

To see it in full, click HERE

Where To Buy Neshaminy

Neshaminy‘s second issue Fall/Winter 2020.  Available from: Amazon as well as at Bucks County, PA, area bookstores.

Neshaminy‘s inaugural issue published in October 2019. Available from: Amazon as well as at Bucks County, PA, area bookstores.

Pat Achilles

An artist’s view of the famed Neshaminy Creek — with a Lenape Indian by the water.

Check Pat’s home page at: Achilles Portfolio

Ron Moran, photographer extraordinaire

Ron Moran 1950-2020.
Ron, of Fairless Hills, PA, died March 1, 2020, at the age of 69. Born in Philadelphia, he was a veteran of the Army National Guard, a tour bus driver for Starr Tours, and a highly talented photographer who volunteered his talents to the Doylestown Historical Society as the staff photographer. His multitudes of photos of the Neshaminy Creek are expected to grace the journal’s cover for as long as there is a journal.
Check Ron’s page on Facebook

Ron was Neshaminy‘s staff photographer

2019 NESHAMINY LITERARY CONTEST WINNERS

The awards, totalling $500 in cash prizes, were announced on August 1, 2019, by Nathan Halter, a member of the journal’s nine-member advisory panel.

Winning Entries
1) World Famous Bucks County Casino — Bill O’Toole
2) Oscar Hammerstein, Highland Farm, and the Sound of Music — Natalie Dyen
3) Behind the Rebellion — David Jarret

Honorable Mentions
4) December Sunday 1941 — Don Swaim
5) (tie) The Battle of Paunacussing Creek — David Jarret
5) (tie) The Lenape Stone — Don Swaim
6) (tie) Cudjo’s Relegation — Wil Kirk
6) (tie) One April Day — Linda Wisniewski

Article in the Bucks County Herald. READ HERE