http://www.reinventingherself.com <em>After Working almost 10 years for the Oakland Tribune, </em><strong><font color="black"><a href="http://www.francinebrevetti.com">Francine Brevetti</a></font></strong> <em>was laid off with 27 other journalists on July 11th, 2008. She and her colleagues were among thousands of journalists nationwide who've lost their jobs in 2008 as newspapers were downsized. This is what she has been doing about it. Francine's articles can be found on her Website at </em><strong><font color="black"><a href="http://www.francinebrevetti.com">www.FrancineBrevetti.com</a></font></strong> Sun, 20 Dec 2009 07:44:03 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en November 29 2009, Manhattan In line to board the ferry to Ellis Island, I reflect on how frightened my grandparents must have been when they made the crossing to this country 100 years ago. My paternal grandparents also had my father, Francesco, six months old, in arms. Who knows ... http://www.reinventingherself.com/?p=288 Saturday night September 26 I had the pleasure of attending the world premiere of Carla De Luca Worfolk's documentary, "America's Wines -- The Legacy of Prohibition" at the Napa Sonoma Wine Country Film Festival. Carla is John De Luca's eldest daughter and a filmmaker. The De Luca family had invited ... http://www.reinventingherself.com/?p=285 I am thrilled to have won the assignment to write the memoirs of John De Luca, 30-year head of The Wine Institute. Not only has he awarded me this project but also his trust. John's life is a complex "mosaic", in his words, of public and private efforts to bring people ... http://www.reinventingherself.com/?p=282 August 8 My memoir client Pat Mahoney had been a guard on Alcatraz during the late 50s until the federal penitentiary closed in '63. I met Pat and his family for breakfast at Marines Memorial Center. I expected we would be passengers on the regular Alcatraz ferry on our way ... http://www.reinventingherself.com/?p=276 August 7 On Friday night August 7 I was treated to a special gala -- one of my clients who was a guard on Alcatraz Island hosted a great feast for members of the Alcatraz Alumni Association to celebrate the penitentiary's 75th anniversary. At this event I met my client ... http://www.reinventingherself.com/?p=273 On Thursday morning March 14, I went to a local meeting of Business Network International, BNI.  Came the moment when it was my time to pitch my service, I really focused.  I stood, I leaned forward, my knuckles on the table, and I looked at my audience and asked:   "How many ... http://www.reinventingherself.com/?p=269 I just got a call from a Matthew Hendrickson, Columbia College student in Chicago, doing a paper for his journalism class on laid-off journalists who are blogging. "How did you get my name," I queried, "because I don't disseminate or publicize my blog?" "I just googled laid-off journalists ... http://www.reinventingherself.com/?p=264 If you want to know how I almost got arrested in Bologna and again in Florence in the same two days, you have to understand the public transportation system in Milan. My pal Diane Keaton joined me recently to visit my father's cousins in Milan and my maternal relatives in ... http://www.reinventingherself.com/?p=261 After a month of elation having secured, I thought, two great clients, they each dumped me within two days of each other. Is "dumped" the right word? Am I not being somewhat judgmental? Hard on myself? Harsh even? Well, that's what it felt like. In fact it felt more ... http://www.reinventingherself.com/?p=253 I held my first Writing My Life class at the Meals on Wheels Dorrwin Jones Senior Center Tuesday October 7. I was extremely satisfied with the way it turned out. I thought maybe three or four people would show but in fact there were seven of us: Grace, ... http://www.reinventingherself.com/?p=246