[stylist] St. Petersburg proclaimed as a "City of Writers"

[Amy Krout-Horn]

Hello Friends,
On May 14, I attended an awards and proclamations meeting of the St. Petersburg, Florida city council. For the past year, I have been involved in a project through the Poynter Institute of Media Studies. Our group is a collection of the city's journalists, writing instructors, novelists, and poets, that shared a common goal; to have the mayor officially proclaim St. Petersburg a "City of Writers" and to name Peter Meinke as the city's first-ever poet laureate. Last month we received the support of a council member and he brought the idea before  the mayor. 
It is my great pleasure to announce that, as writers, we did it! Yesterday, I went to city hall with the intent , as part of the audience only, to show support and appreciation for the official proclamation . However, when I arrived, Roy P. Clark, the senior scholar of the Poynter Institute, asked me, as well as my co-author, Gabriel Horn, to join him at the front of the chambers when the proclamation was read. As we stood to have our picture taken with the mayor, I realized that I not only was a representative for the writers of my city, I represented Native American writers, women writers(I was the only gal in the photo), and, last, but certainly not least, blind writers. It was a proud moment, and thoughts of the members on this list came to mind, and how often, when we share our triumphs with one another, it feels like a victory for us all. Although I didn't take the podium and pontificate, I felt that my presence said a great deal.
Amy