Ellen F.

  • Directed by Women: A Brief History

        – posted by Ellen In the early years of motion pictures – from the 1890s to the 1930s – women were major players behind the scenes on movie sets in Hollywood and around the world. Here are a few who made their mark back in the day. Visionary French director Alice Guy-Blaché is credited as… Continue reading

  • Directed by Women, Northwest edition.

        – posted by Ellen F. This September, Seattle Public Library will be joining in a global celebration of women directors with a series of free film screenings around the city. A US News and World Reports study estimated that women made up only 7% of Hollywood directors in 2014, but in Seattle the industry is dominated by women who have… Continue reading

  • Novels tough as nails

    These are some of my favorite novels because they feature brave, foolish and lucky characters that know how to persevere in the face of adversity. Rain, wind and cold are facts of life for them. They lead a gritty life with adversity around every corner. Not surprisingly, the writing in these novels is often as… Continue reading

  • Let us now praise famous fish

    I commercial fished in Alaska for a few years in the late 1980s, and never really got over it. It was an exciting and humbling experience – at the mercy of tides and weather, floating islands of seaweed, rain by the foot, sleep deprivation, wet socks, constant gear repairs, other fishermen, bears. Here are a… Continue reading