Meet Lynn Mackle
I am fortunate in having a lifelong interest in other people’s stories. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than listening to and recording the histories and experiences of people from a variety of backgrounds.
I was a Spanish major in college, and I spent my senior year as a student in Madrid. The art and architecture of that city inspired me later in life to receive a master’s degree in art history from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. The subject of my published thesis was a painting by Velasquez titled Lady with a Fan. Prior to that time, I earned a master’s degree in the Professional Writing Program at the same university. I also spent several summers at the University of Cambridge in England, where I studied English art and literature, subjects that remain dear to my heart.
For some years I was the prose editor of Veterans Voices, a national nonprofit organization that encourages hospitalized veterans to write their stories. I also wrote on assignment for a Kansas City-based publication and freelanced for a variety of local magazines. My subjects ranged from profiles of interesting people and places to memoirs of some of my travels. One of my articles received a press award from the Kansas City Press Association.
Several years ago, I was encouraged by an art history professor to curate a loan exhibition on a talented and long-forgotten Missouri artist named George Van Millett. I presented a solo exhibition at a local museum, a project that took approximately five years to complete. I collected and catalogued paintings from numerous owners, and I wrote and published an illustrated book about that painter’s life (Rediscovering George Van Millett). My article about the artist also appeared in American Art Review.
Following that experience, I concentrated on serving as a contributing writer to several books about the Kansas City area, and I edited and rewrote pieces by other authors on the same subjects. One of the books, Kansas City: Stories of Service Above Self, was named “book of the year” by the area’s historical association.
A move back to Florida, where my family and I resided some years ago, has given me an exciting new opportunity: to contribute as a writer and interviewer for Chart Magazine. I am drawn to Casey Tennyson’s objectives of writing about creative and engaged Palm Beach residents who lend their time and talents to local charities. An interesting new chapter of my life has begun!
