Cynthia Oliver will be the featured poet at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Door County’s Dickinson Poetry Series on Wednesday, June 12 at 7:00pm.

When Cynthia retired from her massage therapy practice in the Chicago area in 1999, she sold her condo and gave away what she could neither take in her car nor store in a small unit.   Then she happily journeyed to and lived in different regions of the United States.   These adventures included housesitting in Port Townsend, Washington for a year, living and working at the YMCA of the Rocky Mountains in Estes Park, Colorado, and living in a motor home in Apache Junction, Arizona. She also tent camped in National Parks and Forests in the Rocky and Appalachian Mountains as well as by the Pacific Ocean and various lakes, rivers, and streams.

While Cynthia worked at The Clearing in 2001 and 2002, she fell in love with Door County and with writing.  Since moving permanently to Sister Bay in 2006, Cynthia has had time to write poetry, prose, her memoirs, and to create and tell non-fictional and fictional stories with the Northern Door Storytelling Guild.

Recently, Cynthia co-published a book of poetry about the Charney family of Ellison Bay, A Life on Lakeview, with paintings, photos and commentaries by Marie Skrobot.   At Brew Coffeehouse in Ellison Bay, Cynthia participated in a poetry and art presentation called Ekphrasis – Joining Words and Art.   Last year her art exhibit, Observing Eclectic Art, was featured in the UU Gallery.

Cynthia says, “Writing poetry has been one the highlights of my retirement.  Because I write from my own life experiences and observations, I feel intimately connected with my poetry.   I am so fortunate to live in such a creative and accepting community.”