The purpose of the Jack London Award is to honor a branch member whose service to the California Writers Club (CWC) and/or a branch has been exemplary. Each branch may select one award recipient biannually in odd-numbered years. The award is presented at the annual CWC meeting of statewide representatives.
2023 Recipient – Constance Hanstedt
On October 22, Constance Hanstedt received the California Writers Club Jack London Award in appreciation and gratitude for her many years of exemplary service to Tri-Valley Writers (TVW).
Constance ‘Connie’ Hanstedt began volunteering for Tri-Valley Writers early on, serving two terms as vice president (2016-2018), then branch treasurer for five terms (2018-present). In 2021, she accepted the position of Treasurer of the California Writers Club. Connie’s vast financial/accounting knowledge is well-earned—she was the co-owner and CFO of a general contracting firm in Pleasanton for 30 years. She ran TVW’s Member Spotlight program for three years. Connie also formed and leads the TVW Poetry Critique Group and enjoys judging poetry for the California Writers Club Literary Review as well as TVW’s Annual High School Writing Contest and the branch anthologies.
Connie is the author of Don’t Leave Yet, How My Mother’s Alzheimer’s Opened My Heart (She Writes Press, 2015), which was named a finalist in the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference in 2011 and a finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards in 2015. While continuing to write memoir, her primary focus turned to poetry. Her poetry chapbook, Treading Water (Finishing Line Press, 2022) explores the integral aspects of family, loss, redemption, and compassion. In addition, her poems have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including Calyx, The Comstock Review, Rattle, Naugatuck River Review, The Porter Gulch Review, Banyon Review, California Writers Club Literary Review, and Tri-Valley Writers anthologies.
2021 Recipient – Patricia Boyle
On November 20, Patricia Boyle received the California Writers Club Jack London Award in appreciation and gratitude for her many years of exemplary service to Tri-Valley Writers (TVW).
Patricia began volunteering for Tri-Valley Writers in 2014, serving two terms as vice president, then president from 2016-2018, and newsletter editor from 2018-2020. When the pandemic hit, Patricia stepped up to the challenge to be VP once again. While president, she initiated TVW’s Partners Program, teaming new members with volunteers who answer questions about the branch and welcome their partners at meetings. She also started Pull Up A Chair and Write sessions at The Corner Bakery in Pleasanton. A retired teacher, Patricia is a champion for TVW’s High School Writing Contest and an advocate for the branch’s youth members. She writes press releases for the Livermore-Amador Symphony concerts that appear in the Livermore Independent and the Pleasanton Weekly newspapers. Her fiction has been published in FoxandQuill.com, Women on Writing, and in Tri-Valley Writers and Las Positas College anthologies. Patricia also writes poetry and published her young adult fantasy, Traitor in the Realm, in 2021.
2019 Recipient – G. Karl Kumfert
On July 21, G. Karl Kumfert received the California Writers Club Jack London Award in appreciation and gratitude for his many years of exemplary service to Tri-Valley Writers (TVW).
Karl started volunteering as Tri-Valley Writers’ webmaster almost as soon as he joined in late 2012. A technology entrepreneur with a Ph.D. in Computer Science, he picked up WordPress quickly, and has kept the digital face of Tri-Valley Writers working smoothly, efficiently, and consistently ever since. When TVW members struggled with mounting expectations of social media, he started a social media critique group to help members find their voice on Facebook and Twitter. He also created a WordPress plugin for the branch to showcase the social media links of its members. When TVW wanted to start a biennial conference, he set up the registration and payment pages, including private pages for conference organizers to see registration statistics in real time. When the branch had issues with official email and asked how to archive information for when chairpersons rotate in and out of office, he found a solution for that too. Karl got the branch a non-profit subscription to Google’s G-Suite and set up policies and procedures for all the leaders to have official email addresses and ample network storage for branch archives. When Karl isn’t being a tech guru, he writes epic fantasy and young adult fiction.
2017 Recipient – Deborah ‘Jordan’ Bernal
On July 23 Deborah ‘Jordan’ Bernal received the California Writers Club Jack London Award in appreciation and gratitude for her many years of exemplary service to Tri-Valley Writers (TVW).
Jordan has served as TVW president (2014-2016), vice-president (2012-2014), NorCal rep, and membership chair. Her vision includes extensive outreach to the community. She was instrumental in TVW’s involvement with Open Mic nights, which she currently hosts, and chaired TVW’s second writers conference in 2017. She worked tirelessly on two successful Alameda County Arts Commission grants, has strongly supported NorCal, and increased TVW’s visibility at the San Francisco Writers Conference. Jordan assisted with the branch transition to MRMS, the CWC online member record-keeping system. She helps maintain the website, and creates training aids for others. Jordan supports other TVW members’ visions and writing efforts. Her organizational skills and generous donations of time and creativity have increased the professionalism of TVW.
Before taking on the challenge of novel and poetry writing, Jordan worked in the electronics industry as a technician, assistant engineer, and technical writer. She holds an A.A.S. in Electronic Engineering and a B.S. in Business Entrepreneurship from CSU East Bay.
In 2013, Jordan published her first novel, The Keepers of Éire, a dragon fantasy that encourages adult readers to let their imaginations take flight, through her independent press, Dragon Wing Publishing. The Keepers of Éire is a 2104 Global Ebook Gold Award Winner and a BellaOnline Ebook Gold Winner. In January 2017, Jordan released a YA edition of The Keepers of Éire. She has recently completed a middle-grade spin-off novel, Reluctant Paladin.
Jordan’s work has appeared in several anthologies. She also writes short stories, essays and poetry. When not writing, she enjoys reading, traveling, photography, and spending time with Roarke, her Pomeranian.
2015 Recipient – Paula Chinick
On July 26 Paula Chinick received the Jack London Award for her outstanding dedication and service to Tri-Valley Writers.
Paula held the offices of CWC Tri-Valley Branch (TVW) president from 2012-2014 and vice-president from 2010-2012. In 2014, not only did she champion Tri-Valley Writers’ first conference, she also became its project coordinator. While serving on the board, Paula initiated the Tri-Valley Branch’s high school writing contest, now in its fourth year. In addition, she pushed for brand identification used on internal and external publicity campaigns, upgraded our monthly meeting venue to allow for more focused monthly meetings, and helped develop a five-year plan that governs TVW operations. She also assisted in applying for TVW’s first grant from the Alameda County Arts Commission. Paula was instrumental in bringing CWC together as a sponsor of San Francisco Writers Conference (SFWC), thus providing name recognition to over 1,500 SFWC attendees and presenters for the past three years.
Originally from the Pacific Northwest, Paula has lived in California for over 25 years. She spent the majority of her career in Information Technology as a project manager working for various Fortune 500 companies. She holds an MBA in international business from John F. Kennedy University.
In 2014, Paula published her first novel, RED ASSCHER~Living in Fear, which was a 2013 winner of “Scintillating Starts” from Writers Advice. In 2014 it won gold for best thriller from Global eBook Awards and took silver for mystery/thriller from BellaOnline. She has also contributed short stories for the Tri-Valley Branch anthologies, Voices of the Valley: First Press and Voices of the Valley: Encore as well as The California Writers Club Literary Review for the 2012 and 2013 issues. In 2014, she founded an independent publishing company, Russian Hill Press, and has published several CWC members’ manuscripts.
When Paula is not writing or publishing, she spends time hiking with her girls, twin brindle boxers, Brontë and Lula Mae.
2013 Recipient – Violet Carr Moore
On July 22 Violet Carr Moore received the 2013 Jack London Service Award for her outstanding service to CWC Tri-Valley Branch. She served two terms as vice president from 2008 to 2010 and two terms as president from 2010 to 2012.
Violet is the author of In the Right Place and Moments of Meditation. She has had many of her short stories and poems published in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Christmas Miracles, the annual Las Positas College Anthologies and affiliated Bay Area News Groups, printed and online editions. Violet has been a National Novel in a Month (NaNoWriMo) winner for five continuous years. Two creative nonfiction short stories have been published in Tapestries anthology and three in Voices of the Valley: First Press (December 2011), a CWC Tri-Valley Writers anthology.
Violet is a featured devotional, inspirational and Bible study writer for More to Life Ladies Ministries. She is a frequent speaker at churches and senior centers. She is co-creator of Carr Twins & Co., independent publisher, and past President of California Writers Club Tri-Valley Branch. She is a member of Voices of the Valley anthology 2013 committee. She has spent countless hours volunteering her time managing the Tri-Valley Writers website. Now she looks for other ways to volunteer.
2011 Recipient – Lani Longshore
It is with much appreciation and our sincere thanks that the CWC Tri-Valley Branch recognizes Lani Longshore for her outstanding service to the branch and presents her with the Jack London Award for exemplary service.
Lani, a founding member of the CWC Tri-Valley Branch, has been a vibrant and vital part of the branch since its charter in 2006. She has continuously been on the board, first serving as secretary and then as treasurer, even though she’s the first to admit that she hates to balance her checkbook. The following year she was a dynamic president who brought humor and snippets about writing to every meeting. Lani has chaired the anthology committee and maintained the website. Her endless enthusiasm for the branch and its members is like an everlasting beacon of light.
In her personal life, Lani has been a quilter for over twenty years. She writes quilting musical comedy, sings and dances as part of the two-person Broken Dishes Repertory Theater, and is writing a science fiction novel, Death by Chenille, about quilters saving the world. Her endless desire to share her quilting knowledge with others takes her to the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin twice a month to teach quilting to inmates. When she isn’t writing or quilting, you can find Lani practicing karate. Watch out, she’s a third-degree black belt!
2009 Recipient – Kathy Urban
On November 8, 2009, the CWC Tri-Valley Branch honored Kathy Urban with the Jack London Award. Kathy has been a pillar of the Tri-Valley Branch since its beginning. She was the first newsletter editor, second president, and first representative to the Central Board. After the untimely death of founding president Sue Tasker, Kathy not only shouldered the burden of leading the branch, but also of helping the club to grieve and recover. Kathy was the prime mover in establishing the Sue Tasker Memorial Service Award to recognize a member for significant service to the Tri-Valley Branch.
Kathy has also been instrumental in bringing structure and unity to the branch. She developed a survey to get feedback from branch members. She has been an ardent supporter of regular public readings of club members’ work writings, our Literary Evening. She co-chaired the anthology committee, one of her passions from the inception of the Tri-Valley branch. She was instrumental in the redesign of Tri-Valley Writers website. Kathy was editor of Write around the Valley, the branch newsletter, for two years and served three years as branch treasurer.
CWC Central Board has benefited by her organizational skills since 2008, when she was elected Central Board treasurer. In addition, as CWC NorCal representative, she helped to establish a speaker list shared with Northern California branches.
Kathy writes for a variety of markets but most enjoys writing for children. Her recent and forthcoming publications include articles, features, crafts, and poems in Highlights for Children, Humpty Dumpty’s Magazine, Spider, Babybug, and Fandangle Magazine. She has been a correspondent for two local newspapers, the Danville Times and the Pleasanton Times. She did extensive editorial work on the 2001 award-winning California Fresh Harvest cookbook and has written numerous articles about the Philippines for Inklings Magazine.