AAUW Marin Was Out in the Community in September!

At the Marin Senior Fair

After a break for the last three years, the Marin Senior Fair returned to Marin Civic Center, on Thursday, September 7. For the first time, AAUW Marin had a booth at the Fair. Membership Chair Chris O'Neill and branch member volunteers were kept very busy promoting AAUW membership and name recognition. Assisting Chris were Amy Anderson, Katherine Brinnier, Nancy Lubamersky, Nancy Major, and Leslie Zimring.

At College of Marin Club Day

Nancy Major, branch College of Marin Liaison, "tables" at COM on September 11 aiming to recruit student members to form a COM AAUW club (student group).

Delyn Kies

Delyn is one of our AAUW Novato members who has joined us as a dual member. She has already attended several branch programs and is making friends in our Mah Jongg group. She is retired from a 40-plus years consulting career, working for cities and counties with a specialty in construction and construction debris recycling. She tracked the Hamilton Airfield redevelopment from deconstruction, through recycling and new construction. She still uses her expertise to practice environmentally preferable purchasing, keeping as much as she can out of landfills. She is a very busy lady in retirement – hiking, walking her dog, watercolor painting, tap dancing and perfecting her Mah Jongg skill. We hope to see more of you, Delyn, at upcoming events.

Kay Corcoran

Kay was referred to us by a woman at Planned Parenthood. After checking out our website, she was eager to join. Kay’s first career was as an eligibility welfare worker in the South Bay. Extensive travels to Japan, Asia and the Middle East prompted her to join the Peace Corps, working in Nepal in rural water systems. Switching gears again, a teacher’s aide position in Mendocino lead to her becoming a credentialed middle school teacher for thirty years, most recently teaching at Del Mar Middle School. She says her proudest achievement was organizing a visit to Japan for Mendocino middle schoolers to their sister city of Omachi, which has now become a bi-annual visit program. Now retired, Kay enjoys participating in a memoir writing group, visiting art museums, reading non-fiction, and grooming her Lhasa Apso. Kay, we hope you’ll join our groups that match your interests and get to know our members.

Susan Angel

Susan is a third generation Marinite. Her family, going back to her grandfather through her parents and brothers, were in the real estate business. Susan forged her own path and became an attorney, specializing in real estate and estate planning with her own Marin practice. Susan joined AAUW after prodding from her mother, Jean Marchant, who has been a member of AAUW since 1945 and is still active and going strong at 99. In retirement, Susan and her husband keep busy with all the activities of her four children and eight grandchildren, and extensive traveling – 75 countries and counting. Susan is very active in Rotary and loves skiing, camping, playing bridge – and cleaning out her garage! I need to invite her over to my house. Welcome, Susan.

Other Member News

Member Eva Long died on September 26. She was a longtime College of Marin trustee, an inductee into the Marin Women's Hall of Fame, and the initiator of the Mini-Medical School program at COM. You can read her obituary in the September 29 issue of the IJ. A memorial service is planned for November.

Hiking Group

Our next hike is scheduled on October 3. The plan is to head up to Kent Lake from the Leo Cronin fish viewing area. The distance is about 5 miles. Contact

Ann Vercoutere if interested in joining us.

LitWits Reading Group

LitWits continues its reading and discussion of novels by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Philip Roth at its meeting on Wednesday, October 18 at 10 AM. The October book is I Married a Communist, about the rise and fall of an American man whose life is destroyed in the McCarthy witch hunt of the 1950s. LitWits reads literary fiction by writers from any era or country, meets third Wednesday, via in-person and Zoom, and welcomes new members. For info contact Ann Thomas or at 415-924-9559.

What Are You Reading?

The What Are You Reading group will meet on Zoom on October 9 at 11:00 am. Members share what they are currently reading with others in the group. You always come away with some great recommendations! If you are interested in joining the group or attending this meeting, please email Cherie Sorokin.

Happy Hour Group

Our next Happy Hour is Thursday, October 12 at 4:30. Location TBD. If you would like to join the group email list, contact Dottie Burk.

Meet Me at the Movies!

The movie group meets on the second Tuesday of the month. Each month we look for an entertaining, thought-provoking movie. We attend the late-afternoon matinees followed by dinner and discussion at a nearby restaurant.

In September, eleven of us met to see and discuss Fremont, a black and white film at the Rafael about an Afghan woman interpreter refugee in the US. We rated it a 4/5 and found it was a great character study and discussion movie about loneliness and resilience.

Next month’s movie will be October 10, movie time and place TBD. Contact

Mary Mossteller or Freddie Greene if you have any questions.

Handcraft Circle

Handcraft Circle: Our next Crafts group meeting will be October 17th from about 12:30 to 3:30 in a member’s home. Contact Mary Mossteller if you have any questions or would like to join us.

Play Mah Jongg?

After a summer break the Mah Jongg interest group has resumed with weekly games on Wednesdays in members' homes. We've changed the time to 1:30 to 3:30. If interested in joining, email the group leader Chris O'Neill.

We play American Mah Jongg. You need the card to play and should have a basic knowledge of the game. Chris can also give you information on where to take lessons if you'd like to learn to play. Come join us!

Reading Arts Group

The Reading Arts group will gather on Thursday, October 19th at 1PM, to discuss Klara and the Sun  by Kazuo Ishiguro. Please contact group leader Ann Jessup for more information. 

I wonder who these Happy Hour gals are toasting! Pictured L to R are Pat Ernsberger, Nancy Van Horn, Becky Bingea, and Karen Carmody.

Experience Corps Needs YOU

It’s not too late to sign up with Experience Corps to help boost students’ literacy rates in grades K - 3. As a volunteer, you will be trained and scheduled with a teacher in a school that is agreeable to you. If you are 50 years and older, you qualify . . . no need to have teaching experience. If you want to consider and have questions, contact Laura Phipps at tdppsc@iCloud.com or call 415-456-2557.

Members Display Their Art at September Meeting

Talented branch artists were featured at the September 9 meeting at the Key Room at Homeward Bound. Members presented works in a variety of mediums (even a slightly racy short story by our own Nancy Finston). Following brunch prepared by the culinary students at Homeward Bound, art lecturer Avril Angevine profiled three little known California women modernist artists.

A History of the Female Body

The Behind the Headlines group met jointly with the full branch on September 13 via Zoom to hear Dr. Lizellen La Follette, a noted Marin gynecologist, interview Dr. Deena Emera, author of A Brief History of the Female Body, We learned about the challenges of combining an academic career with raising a family as well as many fascinating facts about the evolutionary history of the female form.

• November 18 at 11:00 am Our now annual program with Elaine Petrocelli at Book Passage
• December 2: Our annual holiday lunch. Always a fun gathering.

AAUW women make an impact on women and girls.

Word of mouth is the best way to recruit new members! 

Why Join? AAUW offers multiple ways to stay engaged with our mission of advancing equity for women and girls, as well as to develop friendship with others who understand that the fight for equality is still critical! Excellent national webinars! Engaging monthly branch programs! A wide variety of interest group meetings! Energetic, intellectually curious friends! A mission that is more important than ever! CONTACT Chris O'Neill for membership information.