By: Summer Kelley, Staff Reporter

A Dade County resident has been approved for membership in the National League of American Pen Women, Inc.

Nancy Parker Lynch just recently received notification that she will be an active member of the National League of American Pen Women, Inc. The National League of American Pen Women, Inc. is one of the oldest women’s arts groups in the United States.  Marian Longfellow O’Donohue, Margaret Sullivan Burke and Anna Sanborne Hamilton started the League in 1897 to bring together women involved in three areas: letters, art and composition in music and dance.

Lynch’s membership will be in letters for two books she has published. To become a member of the League of American Pen Women, a woman must be invited by a current member, submit an application with credentials as defined by the League and pay the required fees.

Betty Eakin, a good friend of Lynch’s, introduced Lynch to her sponsor – freelance writer and Associate Editor of Pen Woman Magazine, Mary Norvell. Eakin sent a copy of Lynch’s book and information on Lynch to Norvell (who happens to be Eakin’s sister) and Norvell invited Lynch to join the League.

The first book Lynch published through Penman Publishers out of Cleveland, Tenn., was a non-fiction tribute to her late husband Johnny Lynch. The book was titled “More than Donuts”. Lynch said this first attempt at writing by her began as a historical account of her husband, and father of her children, for future generations.

“I knew there would be generations and generations of children who would never get to know my husband,” Lynch said. “I started writing the family history and it took on a life of its own. It became more of a memoir.”

Lynch’s personal history begins as the only, adopted child of loving parents who moved her to Dade County when she was fourteen. The land the family built on along Highway 11 toward Rising Fawn had belonged in the Parker family for generations. According to Lynch, a small cemetery on the property has a headstone that dates back to the 1800’s.

Lynch has lived in Dade County for most of her life and previously worked for many years in management at the Chattanooga Choo Choo when Hilton Hotels owned the hotel complex. Eventually Lynch worked as a medical assistant for two doctors in Dade County before her interest in writing began.

Lynch’s newest book has just been completed. In “Savannah Musing”, Lynch mixes reality with fiction using real characters from her life in real circumstances that have been embellished. Lynch said the idea for the story came out of her love for Savannah, GA and a trip she and four friends took to the city.

“The trip to Savannah was the most fun I’ve ever had,” Lynch said. “We had so much fun, I thought it would be great to write about it.”

While parts of the story are fabricated, Lynch provides just enough reality to make the entire story seem plausible and the book itself is a quick read, with just 90 pages from start to finish. Lynch plans on continuing the four friends’ adventures as a series and is already working on the next book.

A book signing for “Savannah Musing” will be held at Foxfire Realty on Highway 11 in Trenton across from Citizen’s Bank on Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. both days.