by Terry Ryan
A heart-warming biography of the author's mother.
Reviewed by: April Chase
About April Chase
Terry Ryan's heartwarming biography of her mother, Evelyn Ryan, has to be
one of the most entertaining books I have ever read. It is witty and
touching, for one thing, but it is also guaranteed to raise the hopes of any
devoted sweepstakes enterer through the roof! Terry's mother rose above her
desperate situation - wife of a violent alcoholic, saddled with ten kids -
by entering every contest she could find, and winning! Her way with words
allowed her to compose the jingles, poems and short descriptions so popular
in contests of the 1950's and 1960's ("Tell us in 25 words or less why you
love our product...") and her contest wins kept her family afloat.
"By the age of five, I had grown used to seeing Mom, pencil behind her right
ear, spend hours each day at the ironing board. She often said that she did
her best work while ironing, her hands working on one chore, her head on
another," writes, Ryan, recounting how her mother sent in myriad contest
entries to advertising and poetry contests. She gleaned entry information
from magazines, newspapers, the radio and a network of contesting buddies,
churning out sophisticated rhymes to submit. "Our family was often surprised
at Mom's uncanny knack for working complex political issues into something
as simple as a Burma-Shave jingle."
After I read this book, I was so inspired that I spent two whole days
entering just about every on-line contest I could find, and I actually did
win some of them. A pair of pearl earrings, three books, and $40 in the
lottery - not exactly enough to keep the wolf at bay, but nice. I still
enter lots of contests, for I always have that picture of the lucky and
plucky Evelyn Ryan in mind!
Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids On 25 Words Or Less
Copyright © by April Chase, 2003
Reviewed by April Chase:
-- Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life - by Karen Rauch Carter
-- The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids On 25 Words Or Less
- by Terry Ryan
-- Seabiscuit: An American Legend - by Laura Hillenbrand
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