Joanne DiMaggio
Writing—Media—Publishing
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Biography
"Talent alone cannot make a writer. There must be a man behind the book."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
My kindergarten teacher put a notation on my first report card that I showed a special interest in story telling and that is pretty much when my writing career began. By the third grade I was penning courtroom dramas enacted by my classmates and by my senior year in high school, I was editor of our monthly student newspaper.After college, I became an advertising copywriter and public relations specialist. In that career I sharpened my writing skills by producing everything from speeches and scripts, to ads, brochures, catalogs, journals, press releases, direct mail, radio and television commercials. I also have written, edited and produced corporate and non-profit organizational newsletters as well as a quarterly magazine featuring articles on transpersonal psychology.
I began my freelance writing career in 1982. Since then my feature articles have been published in national and regional magazines and newspapers. In addition, I have put my writing and public relations abilities to use in the service of non-profit organizations. While living in Chicago, I co-founded Women on the Move, an organization to empower women in transition and also served on the board of PACES, Parent and Childbirth Education Society.
After moving to Charlottesville in 1995, I started a communications consulting business and was the editor and co-publisher of It's A Good Life magazine. I continued working with non-profit organizations and served on the Board of Trustees of the Communication Disorders Foundation of Virginia for two years. I was a marketing consultant for SCORE, the Service Corps of Retired Executives, for many years and continue to write their quarterly newsletter and press releases.
I have a degree in history from the University of Illinois. My other passion is my interest in esoteric studies. To that end I am pursuing my Masters Degree in Transpersonal Studies from Atlantic University. My culminating project—and hopefully the topic of my next book—is on Inspirational Writing.
My writing has earned several honors, including an award for an inspirational greeting card I wrote and published under the name, Spirit Song. Cited for its creative excellence in the category of sympathy; my verse was chosen as one of six finalists in the world for the "Louie Awards,” the Third Annual Greeting Card Association Awards Competition.
My first book, Charlottesville: A Contemporary Portrait, was published in March 2002. Most recently I was senior editor and writer for Let'sGo! a guidebook of daytrips in central Virginia.