Columnist Lisa Graff wins first-place honors in Delaware Press Association contest

Lisa Graff celebrated her 10-year anniversary as a columnist for the Cape Gazette with the news that two of her 2021 columns won first place in the 2022 Delaware Press Association Communications Contest.

This makes two years in a row that she has won first place.

“I am honored to win a second time,” said Graff. “In 2020, I submitted my essay titled ‘One daughter, one starfish.’ This past year, I submitted two columns: ‘Making choices about how to spend retirement funds’ and ‘The secret to a long marriage.’ When I first began writing this column in 2012, it was titled Retirement 101. I had just retired from a satisfying career as a teacher and was left wondering how to spend my own retirement.”

Graff said the most difficult part about writing a column has been coming up with new ideas. Another difficult task, she said, is sending pictures to accompany the written words, but she noted that help from Cape Gazette staff has facilitated the process.

Graff joined the Rehoboth Beach Writers’ Guild in 2011, taking classes in various genres, and she has also taught classes about writing personal essays. The guild supports many local writers. Graff said she knew she wanted to become a writer when she was 14.

“I quit teaching to pursue my skills a couple of times. In 1991, I was teaching ninth-graders how to write, and it dawned on me that they didn’t really care about the craft, but I did. So I quit to devote full time to my work.

“I was making lunch for my 4-year-old when Woman’s World Magazine called to say they accepted my piece about my father’s death from alcoholism. It was a sad story, but it launched my career. I then had the courage to submit to the Washington Post. My essay, ‘No teacher can compensate for neglect many kids suffer at home,’ was published in the Post Nov. 3, 1991, and won the Metropolitan Area AAUW Mass Communications Award in April 1992. I received calls and letters about it from all over the country, as it was picked up by the LA Times news service and published in many newspapers across the country.”

Graff said she now gets recognized for her column in the Cape Gazette by many loyal readers who tell her they read it every week. She also says she gets fan mail. Her novel, “Find Me Alone,” published by Amazon in 2017, is about a family struggling with the disease of alcoholism. The story is fictional, but she drew the plot from her real-life experiences.

In 2020, Graff published her second novel, “Up in the Sky So Blue,” about a young girl facing the problems of caring for her grandmother who has Alzheimer’s disease. “My grandmother didn’t recognize me when she got dementia. My books are intended to help children ages 10 to 15 who are coping with life’s trauma, but they are equally appropriate for adults,” said Graff.

Graff is working on a performance piece right now; she earned a master's degree in theatre from Northwestern University. “I miss the stage so much and am ready to audition for plays, please! Retirement is a gift that many people never experience, and I want to challenge myself and to enjoy what life has to offer,” she said.

Her column is published biweekly on Fridays in the Cape Gazette. To learn more, go to lisajgraff.com or find her on Facebook by searching Our Senior Yearbook: Cape Gazette. Her novels are available at Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach and at Biblion in Lewes, or on Amazon.com.