A conversation with Allison and Peggy Engel

On Mondays, over noon on Zoom, I converse with notable guests and subscribers of this Potluck column. Think of it as a virtual luncheon, without food, but with interesting people. Our participants are generally as interesting as our guest of honor and contribute mightily to the conversation. On Monday, August 28, our dining reviewer, Wini Moranville, will be our featured guest. We start at noon and end at 1 p.m. Join the call: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85434186927Allison and Peggy Engel had a milestone birthday. It is the kind of dot on a lifeline when most people think about retiring and getting around to leisure activities that have long been postponed. Not these twin sisters; they vowed to kick it up a notch.The long-time journalists and authors decided to write a play about columnist Molly. Ivans. The twins now live on opposite sides of the country, but their roots are in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. With zero experience in the genre, other than attending community theater classes as children, in 2010, they not only wrote the play Red, Hot, Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins, but landed Kathleen Turner to perform in the starring role (thanks to yet another Iowa connection, Jim Autry). Please listen to the podcast. There are Iowa angles to their success, but most of all, it’s an informative discussion about the business side of playwrighting and bringing a story to the fascinating stage. Which is more lucrative, writing books or plays? No more spoilers. Listen to Allison and Peggy Engel. It’s a rare opportunity to be a part of the conversation with such accomplished and successful writers. The Engels, in this act of their lives, are immortalizing women journalists such as Ivans and as of 2015, Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End. We caught them last week the day after their Bombeck play ran in the Cleveland Play House. Enjoy the podcast. Send it to your friends. Hey, let’s get these plays performed in Iowa!And for those of you coming to the Okoboji Writers’ Retreat, be sure to sign up for Allison’s workshops. Peggy will return next year, I hope, but a 50th-wedding anniversary trip conflicted with her appearance this year. MORE: KATHLEEN TURNER, ARENA STAGE, CLIP FROM KOJO NNAMDI.ERMA BOMBECK: AT WITS END. VIRGINIA REPERTORY THEATREA FUN FIND FROM THE 2012 ARCHIVES. GENEVA OVERHOLSER INTRODUCES THE ENGEL SISTERS FOR THE USC ANNENBERG JOURNALISM DIRECTOR’S FORUM. OVERHOLSER WAS THE PROGRAM DIRECTOR. MONDAY ZOOM LUNCH CALL WITH WINI MORANVILLE, AUGUST 28, NOON TO 1 P.M. JOIN THE CONVERSATION USING THIS ZOOM LINK: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85434186927Subscribe to Wini’s Food Stories: CLICK Her coverage of restaurants and food is expanding as others join her column with guest posts, including a most recent contribution from our own Fern and Joe, Iowa Writers’ Collaborative columnists, about dining out in Ames. THE IOWA WRITERS’ COLLABORATIVEIf you don’t already subscribe to the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, check out the columns posted in today’s roundup. In case you haven’t noticed, the GOP presidential caucus parade is taking place in the state (and on our airwaves), and some of our commentators have something to say about it.The eminent domain issue in Iowa is brought home in human detail by Cheryl Tevis. And, for some reason, many of our writers had opinions about food this week, from growing to frosting and consuming it. Jeff Morrison brings to light a controversy about an important piece of the Lincoln Highway in peril.There are a few laughs and tears to be had in this week’s story by Mary Swander about buying her tombstone. Iowa Writers’ Collaborative ColumnistsLaura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor HeightsDoug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, CarrollDave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des MoinesIowa Writers’ Collaborative, RoundupSteph Copley: It Was Never a Dress, JohnstonArt Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm LakeSuzanna de Baca: Dispatches from the Heartland, HuxleyDebra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison CountyJulie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and OkobojiJoe Geha: Fern and Joe, AmesJody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des MoinesRob Gray: Rob Gray’s Area, AnkenyNik Heftman: The Seven Times, Los Angeles and IowaBeth Hoffman: In the Dirt, LovillaDana James: New Black Iowa, Des MoinesPat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, WaterlooFern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, AmesRobert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, BusseyLetters from Iowans, IowaTar Macias: Hola Iowa, IowaAlison McGaughey, The Inquisitive Quad Citizen, Quad CitiesKurt Meyer: Showing Up, St. AnsgarWini Moranville: Wini’s Food Stories, Des MoinesJeff Morrison: Between Two Rivers, Cedar RapidsKyle Munson: Kyle Munson’s Main Street, Des MoinesJane Nguyen: The Asian Iowan, West Des MoinesJohn Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des MoinesChuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des MoinesBarry Piatt: Piatt on Politics Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.Dave Price: Dave Price’s Perspective, Des MoinesMacey Spensley: The Midwest Creative, IowaLarry Stone: Listening to the Land, ElkaderMary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, KalonaMary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, KalonaCheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone CountyEd Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, DavenportTeresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des MoinesThe Iowa Writers Collaborative is also proud to ally with Iowa Capital Dispatch.alls, Ohio, where they grew up reading the newspaper and have fond memories of their mother laughing uncontrollably over something Bombeck wrote. 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