September at the Holly Creek Retirement Community was a celebration of books and the written word, with an event that featured 19 published authors who call Holly Creek home. The inaugural Author Open House event provided fellow residents and guests with the opportunity to meet one-on-one with all 19 authors, discuss their books, and explore the inspiration behind them.
The Inspiration Behind the Author Open House
The genesis of the Author Open House came from a conversation Jan Euley had with a fellow resident who had just published a book.
“That simple conversation sparked an idea with my fellow library volunteers Millie Van Wyke and Sue Cady, who agreed we need to celebrate our resident authors,” said Jan.
The library at Holly Creek holds thousands of books, including many written by residents. The Author Open House opened a chapter for a new event in the community, by showcasing resident authors, who sat by their displayed books and talked to the scores of folks in attendance.
Meet the Authors
The first author’s station was Jack Ballard, who served 27 years in the US Air Force and specializes in non-fiction, military-themed books. Jack proudly displayed his books “Colorado’s Daring Ivy Baldwin,” “Commander and Builder of Western Forts: The Life and Times of Major General Henry C. Merriam,” “Fort Logan,” “Gunships,” “Lowery Air Force Base,” “The Luckiest Man Alive: The Life of WWII Aviator Captain John H. Headley,” “The Shock of Peace,” and “The 147 Aero Squadron of WWI.”
“I’ve always been interested in innovators,” said Jack. “That’s why, for my most recent book, I chose to write about Ivy Baldwin. He was an aviation pioneer who flew hot-air balloons, then dirigibles and, finally, aircraft. In his later years in Colorado, he became famous for crossing canyons on a tightrope.”
Next to Jack was retired psychotherapist Dick Bollinger, showcasing his book “The Church in a Changing World.” When asked what inspired his book, Jack mused, “I’m not an author, I respond to requests.” Dick was a mental health therapist at the Menninger Foundation in Topeka, KS, and was asked by the foundation to write about a Catholic priest studying to be a psychotherapist. A New York Times book review of Jack’s book stated, “Psychiatry and religion find common ground.”
Just a few authors away from Dick sat Eve Glesne, whose book “Flourish” features beautiful illustrations of wildflowers by her granddaughter, Emerson Alexander. Each chapter of Eve’s book is dedicated to a particular flower and the memories each flower evokes for Eve from her family hikes in Colorado’s high country.
Next to Eve was author, artist, poet and bird-lover Sheila Kinsman, displaying her book “Rhyming with the Birds.” In this book, Sheila combines her love for birds, poetry and art by featuring the colorful lives and habits of 26 bird species, brought to life through her own pastel paintings and poems.
“This book is perfect for children and grandchildren who want to learn about the wonderful world of birds through rhyme and colorful pictures,” shared Sheila. After it was published, her book was awarded 1st place by the Colorado Independent Publishers Association. Like many of the books featured at the Author Open House, it’s available on Amazon.
Sheila was accompanied by her husband, Dick Kinsman, and his book, “Searching for Dot Lemon.” Dick retired from the Central Intelligence Agency after 35 years and met aviator Dot Lemon when he was assigned to the Venezuela Embassy in the early 1970s. Dick met Dot again, by complete accident, 30 years later, and it was after this meeting that Dick decided to write about “a person who deserves recognition as among the outstanding women characters and aviators of the 20th century.”
The next author’s station was staffed by another Colorado Independent Publishers Association winner, Shirley Meier, who loves to write historical fiction, fiction, and non-fiction. As a former English literature teacher who loves to travel, Shirley often combines her travel experiences and historical knowledge to create inspirational protagonists. The six books Shirley featured included “Beyond the Tangled Trail,” which was loosely based on her family’s experience of ranching in the American West. This series features the Baumann family and the hardships they faced from water development, natural disasters, the Korean War, and the COVID pandemic. This book earned Sheila a Colorado Independent Publishers Association award.
Also on display were the first Baumann family series book, “The Tangled Trail,” “Bittersweet Marigolds,” about a tour guide in India leading a quirky band of American tourists, “A River Journey, Deep and Dear,” about a grandfather and grandson on a post-WWII European river cruise, “Views from Jackass Hill,” and “Four Points in Time and Place.”
Next to Shirley was the husband-and-wife writers Ann Farver Norton and Dr. Larry Norton. Larry is a retired surgeon from the University of Colorado, who practiced in India for five years. That experience inspired him to write the book “Doctor Sahib,” a collection of true stories about his medical missionary adventure in Assam, India. In 1964, Larry and Ann took their three young daughters to northeast India, where he became known to the locals as Doctor Sahib. Larry’s book highlights the harsh realities of death, the threat of war, a rabies scare, and how he and his wife develop meaningful friendships with the people of Assam by bridging the very different cultures.
Ann’s book, “Garden of Girls,” is also based on the same Indian adventure and features letters to her mother and mother-in-law describing the demands of adapting to a unique culture, diverse peoples, languages, and health concerns while teaching her daughters and hosting innumerable guests.
Another Holly Creek author inspired by the medical profession is Peggy Neville, who earned her Ph.D. in physiology and, along with her husband Hans, a neurologist, were both professors at the University of Colorado. Peggy’s authorial claim to fame was to write one of the first textbooks on human lactation. Her books, “Human Lactation, Milk Components and Methodologies,” and “Lactation, Physiology, Nutrition, and Breastfeeding,” became foundational books for medical professionals and are still used today.
“After taking a sabbatical to study lactation, I realized there was a void of current medical books on this subject, so I teamed up with Marianne Neifert, MD, a.k.a “Dr. Mom,” and our book was published in 1983,” said Peggy.
For guests wanting to know more about lupus and what it takes to live positively with this disease, their questions could be answered by author Anita Fricklas, whose book “Lupus, My Doctor, and Me” is an inspirational guidebook for living with lupus. In 2006, Anita received the Humanitarian Award from the Colorado Lupus Foundation for her extensive volunteer contributions, including serving on its executive board and as the newsletter editor.
Just across from Anita was author and environmental educator Dan Parker, showcasing his books “60 Years on the Short Prairie Grass,” “Disappearing Roads: a Memoir,” and “It Stopped Short, Never to Run Again.” In 2016, Dan received the Enos A. Mills Lifetime Achievement Award from the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education, which honors individuals for significant achievement within and contributions to the environmental education field. Dan has also been involved with the Plains Conservation Center in Aurora since 1975.
Dan’s book, “It Stopped Short, Never to Run Again,” is based on the famous clock that inspired the song, “My Grandfather’s Clock,” written by Henry Clay Work in 1876 and covered by many artists, including Johnny Cash.
“The clock was in my grandfather’s home in Massachusetts,” shared Dan. “We lived in the big old second floor of a farmhouse, and it was downstairs in my grandparents’ living room. As it happens, Work’s wife was my great, great aunt, and the clock has become an important family heirloom—‘part of the family lore.’”
Other authors featured at the event included Shirley Bowman and her book, “Grandma’s Good and Godly Guidelines,” Edwin Curley’s “A Spinoza Reader,” Jim Englehorn and his family biographies, “The Englehorn Family,” “The Loepp and Ortman Families,” and “Louis and Katie Englehorn.”
The book, “The Pigeons That Went to War,” written by Phyllis Holmes, is a must-read for understanding the crucial role pigeons played in delivering messages during WWI. Phyllis also wrote the autobiography, “From a Daughter’s Perspective, My Dad’s Cornish Connections.”
For technology aficionados, a visit to Bruce Johnson’s station featured the books “My Years in the Information Trenches,” “Flexible Software Design,” and “Information Systems for Quality Improvement.”
Other authors, happy to share their stories about their books, included Judy Stalnaker, who wrote a book on the founding of the community, “The Making of Holly Creek: A Retirement Community.” Judy is also editor of the community’s “Writers Journal,” which is published quarterly and features short stories and poems written by her fellow residents.
“I was a structural engineer in my past life, which inspired me to write ‘Structural Design in Wood,’” said Judy. “But now I’m into history and I felt it was important to write an account of how our amazing community came into existence.”
When you visit Holly Creek, you may be surprised by the large number of Dutch surnames, including Van Wyke, as in author Millie Van Wyke. “Holly Creek’s parent company, Christian Living Communities, was started by the Dutch Reform Church here in Denver, and that’s why you see Dutch surnames at all of CLC’s communities,” shared Millie.
The books Millie showcased were “A Dutch Romance,” “The Town South of Denver,” and “Simone and Engeltze Tamminga.”
Rounding out the authors at the event was children’s book writer Jeanne Wilde, who was displaying “Lavinia,” “Stories of My Life,” “Tell Me About…,” and “Two Dogs Long and Half a Dog High.” A graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder and former teacher, Jeanne tackles tough subject matters, including bullying.
When asked what her favorite book she wrote was, Jeanne laughingly replied, “That’s like asking me who my favorite child is.” She adds, “My book, ‘Lavinia,’ is a historical fiction based on my grandmother. As a teacher, I wanted to address bullying and help educate the child being bullied and their parents, which is why I wrote ‘Two Dogs Long and Half a Dog High.’”
According to organizers, the Holly Creek Authors Open House event will take place again in 2026. The event helped celebrate the community authors, their diverse works, and allowed book reading enthusiasts the chance to talk one-on-one with the authors.
“This event gives our guests a taste of Holly Creek’s culture and a crash course in meeting your new neighbors,” said Eve Glesne. “Our community is an open book for folks who love to write or just love to read.”
