Work Challenge Winners #3: "The Best Boss I Ever Had"
As Challenge #4, "Biggest lesson I learned at work," continues through August 27, we're thrilled to announce three winners of Six Words About Work Challenge #3: The Best Boss I Ever Had.
U.S. Winner—George Sosa, "Promoted truth, justice and eventually, me."
George is a Brooklyn-bred, now Queens, NY-based video cameraperson and editor, primarily doing documentary work. He explains his memoir “is the result of thinking about the common qualities of my favorite employers. Straight-forwardness and fair play. They all had been open, secure and fair enough to recognize my talent and encourage its—and my—development. I've been the better for it, and hopefully so have their companies and productions."
Work Challenge Winners #2: "What Inspires My Very Best Work"
As Challenge #3, Bosses: The Best Boss I Ever Had, heads toward the finish line this weekend, SMITH Magazine and Mercer are thrilled to announce the three winners of Six Words About Work Challenge #2: Inspirations: What Inspires My Best Work.
U.S. Winner—Debra Kirkley, "The five patients I'll always remember." Debra is a 50-year-old nurse living in Seattle, where she's Director of Professional Practice & Development at Group Health Cooperative. Her memoir is about being inspired by those she's cared for. "I've practiced nursing for thirty years in five states," she says. "And every patient I’ve worked with has a story. But there are five I haven’t forgotten after all these years."
"Thirty years later, I began writing their stories, intending to write a book about the difference nurses make in patient's lives. But the theme quickly emerged: These families had shaped me far more than I had shaped them. The memoir I'm nearly finished writing, Only One of Us Has to Have Courage, won the 2010 Texas Writer's League Manuscript Contest for narrative nonfiction."
Debra first came to SMITH Mag after reading our first Six-Word Memoir book, Not Quite What I Was Planning. "These days, I'm addicted to the site," she says. "Six words inevitably start a new conversation."
Canada Winner—Geoff Saab, "Tell me I can't. I will." Geoff is a 37-year-old director of a small, family-run wealth management company in Ottawa, Ontario. About his Six-Word Memoir, he explains:
Six-Word Search: "Heat"
August rolls along, the summer heat intensifies, and the debates surrounding the upcoming election heat up. SMITH writers use heat to describe body heat, the outdoor climate, and ways to cook without too much effort. Heat is a powerful force, evoking memories and setting things “on fire.” Yet the Heat (both the weather and the sports team) is beatable. Those who like the warmth revel in the summer weather or pray for heat to melt fat. Heat is a force that trades hands and is constantly moving, often followed by heartbreak. First comes heat, then hurt, or something worthy of complaining about once the heat disappears.
Here are a few ways at looking at Heat in six words. Click on each author's name for more of his or her memoirs. And you can search the Six-Word Memoir site for any word and see what pops up.
Goodbye July, hello August, heat, heartbreak. —roaringsilence
Save energy: Create your own heat. —notyouraveragegrandma
Her hug; close, heat, shampoo aroma. —Rivernest