Marla Press, a 1979 graduate of Rock Island High School currently living in Houston, Texas, has recently published a book entitled "I'm a Dog, You're a Cat (Love Lessons From our Furry Friends)". She will be visiting the Quad Cities on April 5 to promote the book, which has been hailed as "a communications discovery that utilizes cat and dog analogies to shed light on -- and help improve -- personal relationships."

In a recent interview, Ms. Press explained the idea behind the book. "About 18 months ago, I stumbled upon the cosmic notion that people are inherently different at their very core; humans are hard-wired to be more like a feline or more like a canine," she said. "I wanted to share this idea with everyone I talked to and realized that the illustrations would be key to the book's success. I have long admired artist Jim Tweedy's work. In fact, I have three of his prints in my home. I approached Jim through his Houston gallery and he readily agreed to put his talent to work in my book. I was thrilled, to say the least!"

"Once people discover and define their inner dog or cat tendencies, they can learn many love lessons from their furry companions as they explore the intrinsic personality traits of cats and dogs," Ms. Press added. "I want to reach out to readers and have them share stories of the dogs and cats in their lives. Most people are in relationships or have dogs or cats. There are lessons to be learned by sharing our experiences with others." Although this is her first book, she hopes a series of others will follow based on reader-submitted stories.

According to Ms. Press, the book has taken on a life of its own. It has been featured in Houston Pet Talk Magazine, and Neiman Marcus department stores have been instrumental in promoting it in local markets throughout Texas. Ms. Press' "real job" is as a Regional Sales Director for Forward Management, LLC working with financial advisors throughout the mid-southern states.

The Quad City book signings will take place on Tuesday, April 5 from noon to 2 p.m. at Quad City Arts, 1715 - 2^nd Avenue in Rock Island, and from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Rock Island County Animal Care & Contol Shelter, 4001 78^th Avenue in Moline, where a portion of the proceeds will go to QC PAWS (in support of the shelter). The book retails for $24.99 and is available only through her book signings or at www.imadogyoureacat.com.

The Associated Press Managing Editors, in partnership with the American Society of News Editors, is accepting nominations for the 10th annual Robert G. McGruder Awards for Diversity Leadership.

Two awards are given annually: one for newspapers with a circulation up to 75,000; one for newspapers with more than 75,000 circulation.

The awards go to individuals, newsrooms or teams of journalists who embody the spirit of McGruder, a former executive editor of the Detroit Free Press, former managing editor of The Cleveland Plain Dealer, graduate of Kent State University and relentless diversity champion. McGruder died of cancer in April 2002.

This year, the awards are being sponsored by the Free Press, The Plain Dealer, Kent State University and the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute.

Jurors will be looking for nominees who have made a significant contribution during a given year or over a number of years toward furthering diversity in newspaper content and in recruiting, developing and retaining journalists of color. The deadline to make a nomination is Monday, May 16.

Announcement of the winners will be made at the annual APME conference, Sept. 14-16 in Denver. The recognized honorees each receive $2,500 and a leadership trophy.

Who is eligible? Individuals, newsrooms or teams of journalists from U.S. daily newspapers are eligible. A nominee's newspaper must participate in the American Society of News Editors' annual employment census.

The awards recognize achievement for the past 12 months or contributions over a number of years.

What are the criteria? The Diversity Leadership Awards honor an individual, a newsroom or a team of journalists for significant leadership in diversity through:

Recruitment: by providing opportunities for journalists of color to learn about news careers and to enter the newspaper industry in internships and full-time jobs.

Development: by offering opportunities for journalists of color to grow in their current roles and to receive mentoring and training to advance to positions of greater authority, responsibility or expertise.

Retention: by ensuring that journalists of color want to remain in the news industry by providing an inclusive work environment that offers opportunities to contribute and advance.

Content: by reflecting a diverse community accurately and in a way that demonstrates community and industry leadership. The definition of diversity in content includes ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, religious background, political bent and physical ability.

Nominations can be made by individuals, newspapers, professional organizations, schools of journalism and others.

Rules for entries: Send a letter (of no more than three pages) outlining specific information about the achievements and how they benefited the community, the industry and journalists of color. The letter should include the name of the person making the nomination and his/her signature and telephone number.

You may supplement an entry with electronic clips, but please send no more than four. Send copies no larger than 11 by 17 inches.

Send material by e-mail to:

Sally Jacobsen, SJacobsen@ap.org
The Associated Press
450 West 33rd Street
New York, N.Y. 10001

Deadline: Material must be received by close of business on Monday, May 16.

Nominations will be judged by a committee that includes representatives of APME, ASNE and UNITY: Journalists of Color.

Past winners of the McGruder awards:

2010 Randy Lovely, editor and vice president of The Arizona Republic in Phoenix, and Bill Church, executive editor of the Statesman Journal in Salem, Ore.

2009
Troy Turner, editor of The Daily Times in Farmington, N.M.; and Karen Magnuson, editor of The Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle

2008
John Bodette, executive editor of the St. Cloud (Minn.) Times; and Charles Pittman, senior vice president for publishing at Schurz Communications

2007
Wanda Lloyd, executive editor, Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser; and Joe Grimm, recruiting and development editor, Detroit Free Press

2006
Sharon Rosenhause, managing editor, Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and the Pacific Daily News on Guam

2005
Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, S.D.; and The Honolulu (Hawaii) Advertiser

2004
Bennie Ivory, executive editor and vice president for news at The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky.; and Susan Ihne, then executive editor, St. Cloud (Minn.) Times

2003
Charlotte Hall, then vice president/planning, Newsday, Long Island, N.Y.; and the Greeley (Colo.) Tribune

2002
Don Flores, executive vice president and editor, El Paso (Texas) Times; and Jim Strauss, publisher, Great Falls (Mont.) Tribune

The event is sponsored by Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois and is funded through a grant by Mediacom.

The Women in the Arts program is open to girls in grades 3-5 and will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 5 at Washington Middle School, 51 N. Grandview Ave., Dubuque. Cost of the program is $8 for Girl Scouts and $15 for other girls, which includes a Girl Scout membership fee for the 2011 membership year. Adults may attend for $3. All fees include lunch.

During the session, girls will participate in hands-on activities using various forms of popular media, including photography and video, to learn positive self-esteem using activities from the Dove Real Beauty Workshop for Girls. Girls also will have the chance to discuss how media images of girls may not be like girls in real life.

Girls attending gIRLs In Real Life also will have the opportunity to express themselves through different media to create positive images and videos of girls that will be shared with others.

Register online at GirlScoutsToday.com, call Angela Grunder at 563-583-9169 or send e-mail to AngelaG@GSEIWI.org. The deadline for registration is Feb. 25, or once 100 girls have registered for the event.

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WHAT: Librarian of Congress James H. Billington will be presented with digitally preserved copies of 10 American silent movies considered lost for decades? from the Russian Federation, represented by Vladimir I. Kozhin, Head, Management and Administration of the President of the Russian Federation.

WHEN: 11:30 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010

WHERE: Members Room, first floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street S.E., Washington, D.C. Media should enter through the ground-floor carriage entrance under the marble stairs.

WHO: James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress

Vladimir I. Kozhin, Head, Management and Administration of the President of the Russian Federation

Nikolai M. Borodachev, Director General, Gosfilmofond, the Russian State Film Archive

Alexander Vershinin, Director General, Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library

Patrick Loughney, Chief, Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation

BACKGROUND:

Due to neglect and deterioration over time, America has lost more than half of the films produced before 1950. In addition, more than 80 percent of movies from the silent era (1893-1930) do not exist in the U.S. In the past 20 years, the Library of Congress and others have made great efforts to locate and repatriate missing U.S.-produced movies from foreign archives.

As part of its partnership with the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library, the Library of Congress will receive a gift of 10 movies that constitute the first installment of an ongoing series of "lost" films produced by U.S. movie studios that will be digitally preserved by Gosfilmofond and presented, via the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library, to the Library of Congress. Preliminary research conducted by the staff of the Library's Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation indicates that up to 200 movies produced by U.S. movie studios of the silent and sound eras may survive only in the Gosfilmofond archive. Digital copies of these films will eventually be sent to the Library of Congress.

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