It’s been quite a journey, from Phoenix to New Jersey to Seattle and thence back to Brisbane. I had a wonderful time with my family, getting to know the grandchildren all over again, meeting up with colleagues in New York, Seattle and LA.

Now, it’s back to the beautiful sunshine of soon to be wintry Brisbane. Private lessons begin again next week, and I’ll be offering some workshops very soon for those of you who appreciate the opportunity to work in a group.

Meantime, I’ve just set a discussion topic on my Facebook page, sparked off by an article by Christopher Hitchens here. Perhaps you’d prefer to add your comments right here, so here’s what I said:

“He speaks openly and very movingly about his experience of losing his speaking voice through throat cancer, and how he discovered its connection to his writing voice.

“When I began writing my thesis on the performing voice several years ago, one of the first observations I made was that we needed to make a distinction between the various ways we use the word “voice”, in order to promote discussion about the speaking voice. Hitchens makes the distinction, but also demonstrates the connection between the ‘actual’ (as in speaking aloud) and the ‘metaphorical’ voice.

“How do you feel about this distinction/connection?”

On another note, I’ve entered the CARE Australia challenge “Walk In Her Shoes”, to raise funds for a major initiative to help women and young girls living in poverty throughout the world to reach their potential.  If you’d like to support my small efforts, please visit THIS PAGE where you can follow my progress and make a donation to the cause.