In 1996, Kathy Caskie saw the
potential within WRW, one of the largest RWA chapters in the
country, to offer a unique and worthwhile contest to unpublished
and published writers, alike. The contest was called Novel Beginnings.
Well publicized, this first contest brought in a record number
of entries. The awards ceremony was held at the WRW Retreat
in Columbia, Maryland in the spring of 1997.
It was at the Retreat in Columbia that most
of us learned of the tragic passing of one of our members, Marlene
Montano. A tall, attractive blonde, Marlene had only been a
member of WRW for a year or two, but had already proven herself
an enthusiastic volunteer. Binnie Syril Braunstein had the opportunity
to work with her on PR for the Get a Clue workshop. Says Binnie,
"(Marlene was) very nice, very bright, funny, and great to work
with. We had a lot of great conversations about "Clue" and I
was really looking forward to working with her." Marlene died
of an unsuspected aneurysm on a trip home to visit family.
After hearing of Marlene's passing, Kathy and
then-WRW president, Deborah Barnhart, made the decision to call
the contest's award the Marlene Medallion in honor and remembrance
of Marlene Montano. The announcement was made at the ceremony
that night. Kathy handed over the reins of the contest the next
year and, as often happens, few remembered the naming of the
award. One who did, having won one of those very first awards,
was Pam Poulsen. When we (Pam and Denise) took over the contest
two years ago, we not only reintroduced the name, the Marlene
Medallion, but we went a step further. We gave the name to the
contest. The Marlene Awards was born.
Binnie says, "I...think Marlene would be pleased
and honored that her interest in romance writing is perpetuated
in the contest that encourages other writers and nurtures their
careers -- and bears her name."
