Sustaining a Writing Career and Sustainable Energy: A Talk by WC Alumna Susan Luster '72, February 20

Chestertown, MD, February 3, 2006 — Washington College's Sophie Kerr Committee and theOffice of Career Development presents "Careers in Writing Every Day," a lecture by Susan Luster '72, Monday, February 20, at 10:30 a.m., in the Rose O'Neill Literary House. The event is free and open to the public, and Washington College students are encouraged to attend.

While Luster always longed to be a poet or a novelist, she will address the realities of her writing career spent promoting renewable energy and environmentally sound buildings and lifestyles. From writing press releases and fundraising letters to editing technical reports and manuals, she will discuss the use of basic writing skills to support the field of sustainable energy.

"With a liberal arts degree, I found a topic with which I was passionate and applied my skills to advance that field," Luster says. "I created a career using my skills in writing and editing, with a purpose beyond just making a living: to spread the word about solar energy."

Currently a studio potter near Raleigh, North Carolina, Luster worked the field of environmentally-friendly, sustainable energy advocacy for more than twenty years. Former chair and past executive director of the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association, she also served as a senior project manager and communications specialist for the North Carolina Alternative Energy Corporation. She recently concluded 10 years of service on the board of the American Solar Energy Society and four years of service on the North Carolina Conservation Network Board of Directors. She opened her own business, Susisolar Clayworks, in 2001, creating hand-thrown pottery with botanical themes.

The presentation is co-sponsored by the Sophie Kerr Committee, which works to carry on the legacy of the late Sophie Kerr, a writer from Denton, Md., whose generosity has done so much to enrich Washington College's literary culture. When she died in 1965, Kerr left the bulk of her estate to the College, specifying that one half of the income from her bequest be awarded every year to the senior showing the most "ability and promise for future fulfillment in the field of literary endeavor" and the other half be used to bring visiting writers to campus, to fund scholarships, and to help defray the costs of student publications.