Author Description

Product Description RACCOON is more than a memoir. The true stories begin in the small Texas county of Gillespie and then for nine years moves from "piller to post" until in settles in the small unique town of Comfort, Texas. Two years in the writing, this story spans 77 years of the author's life lived in an era when women were expected to be autonomous and rise above difficult situations. Humor and honesty abound in this unique memoir. You could recognize yourself in this story. About the Author Alora (Mae) Durden-Nelson retired in 1997 after twenty-seven years as the Comfort School District s children s librarian where she authored and produced puppet, marionette, and/or stage plays twice a year, every year, with fifth and sixth grade students for her Elementary Library Children s Theater project. One puppet play, THE CASE OF THE EASTER VILLIANS, was published in Plays Inc. magazine in 1993. She has served on several community service boards including Comfort Chamber of Commerce (seven years); Comfort Public Education Foundation board writing public relations news articles and served on the scholarship committee; she served on the board of the Comfort Public Library, was elected president in 1995, and served until her retirement. Most recently, she was secretary of the board of the Comfort Area Youth Commission where she also served as a grant writer and editor of the CAYC newsletter. The Rising Star Masonic Lodge of Center Point, Texas honored her with their Community Builder Award in 1998. The Comfort Heritage Foundation recognized her with the 2007 award for recording history in the book WHEN SAINTS GO MARCHING, the 100-year anniversary of St. Boniface Episcopal Church in Comfort. Durden-Nelson has been a member of the Southwest Chapter of Book Writers and Illustrators since 1986, and is a member of the Texas Author s Speakers Bureau. Her earlier writing credits include being a stringer/freelance reporter and Society Editor for th