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Elsie Singmaster Lewars
Elsie Singmaster was born in Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania. Her father was Reverend John Alden Singmaster, the founder of the United Lutheran Church and for many years president of the Lutheran Theological Seminary. Singmaster studied English for one year at nearby West Chester Normal School (now West Chester State College), and transferred for one year to Cornell. After taking a five-year break in her education, she entered Radcliffe, earning a B.A.

Education:
Elsie Singmaster graduated in High-school in the year of 1894, from Allentown High-school. Singmaster then graduated as a Phi Theta Kappa, from Radcliffe College.

Books Published:
The first book published by Elsie Singmaster, was Katy Gaumer(1915) other books published by Elsie Singmaster: Basil Everman, Bennett Malin (1922), Blackland Prairies of the Gulf Coastal Plain: Nature, Culture, and Sustainability, Ellen Levis: A Novel (1921), Emmeline (1916), Gettysburg: Stories of Memory, Grief, and Greatness, Gettysburg: Stories of the Red Harvest and the Aftermath, Heart Language: Elsie Singmaster and Her Pennsylvania German Writings,  I speak for Thaddeus Stevens, John Baring's House (1920), Katy Gaumer (1915), Martin Luther: The Story of His Life, Rifles for Washington,  Stories to Read at Christmas, Swords of Steel Published: 1933, The Long Journey, The Story of Lutheran Missions,  What Everybody Wanted, When Sarah Saved the Day,& When Sarah Went To School

Audrey Darnell Peyton Couloumbis
Audrey Couloumbis according to her book Getting Near to Baby, has a husband named Akila and have children named Nikki and Zac. Ms. Couloumbis, came to know the characters in her book "Getting Near to Baby," because of the experiences in her life that she had encountered. http://prabook.org/web/person-view.html?profileId=635162 Look for info

Education:
Audrey Couloumbis graduated from Forest Hills.

Books Published
Getting Near to Baby, War Games: A Novel Based on a True Story, The Misadventures of Maude March, Say Yes, Just Before Daybreak, Summers End, Maude March on the Run, Love me Tender, Jake, Lexie, Not Exactly a Love Story, Twice Told Getting Near to Baby Getting Near to Baby is categorized as a children's literature genre and was a Newbery Award winner, in 2000. The age range for this book is from the ages of 10 to 14. According to book stores like Barnes and Nobel there is a four star rating on the book, from those who have purchased the book. The Sales Rank of the book is approximately 1,020,017.

Akila Couloumbis
Couloumbis was born in Utica, New York to Fotty and Nicky Couloumbis, whom of which are now both deceased, and has a brother, Peter Couloumbis; a sister Aspasia Christopher; . He served in the United States Air Force. Couloumbis established the Theater for the Forgotten and was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, Actors Equity and the Democratic Party. He was also married to his wife of 41 years, Audrey Peyton. Their children are Nikki and Akila Couloumbis. A well-known actor and director, Couloumbis established the Theater for the Forgotten and was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, Actors Equity and the Democratic Party. Akila came together with his wife Audrey and wrote a book called War Games, which was based on a true story.

Plot Summary
In the novel, the characters Willa Jo and Little Sister are dealing with their grief after the death of their baby sister after she was given contaminated water. Their mother is unable to handle her own feelings of sadness while caring for the two girls, and sends them to stay with her sister, Patty. Aunt Patty has no children, and her household is full of rules.

When Willa Jo and Little Sister climb up on Aunt Patty's roof to watch the sun rise, then decide not to come down for a while, Patty realizes that she has not been fulfilling the girls' emotional needs. Willa Jo reflects on her memory during her time at her Aunt Patty's house, like meeting Liz, the Piggly-Wiggly pickle, and much more.

Getting Near to Baby Play
In order to create the play there are six woman and men needed in the production.

April 4, 2008 Review: Getting Near To Baby: A Heartwarming Story at People’s Light and Theater
The play takes place in a town in the south in the 1920s. The story focuses on two girls who live alone with their mother. Their life has recently been turned upside down after the death of their baby sister. Their mother, who paints pictures for greeting cards, has resorted to just painting wild pictures and pictures of baby. Their lifestyle has become unsanitary so the two girls Willa Jo and Little Sister go to live with their Uncle Hob and Aunt Patty.

Aunt Patty is a very strict person and likes things to go her way. She sets out lots of rules for the girls and instantly there is conflict. After the death of baby, Little Sister won’t talk anymore and this really ticks off Aunt Patty. Uncle Hob also is constantly trying to make the girls happy while preserving some sanity in his wife. Throughout all this Willa Jo is also trying to make Little Sister talk and to be a good example for Aunt Patty so that Lucy Wainwright and her daughter Cynthia will approve. In the midst off all of this pressure the two girls find two friends that happen to be Aunt Patty’s neighbors, the Finger’s children, Liz and Isaac.

Well, life goes on in the town and many characters undergo transformations as well as realizations, all leading up to the shocking ending where. ..

This story is one of mourning, happiness, as well as acceptance. It is a fantastic story for any family and I greatly suggest you go and see it.

The cast is phenomenal! Including Nathaniel Brastow who played Isaac Finger, Maggie Fitzgerald who played Little Sister, Clare Inie-Richards who played Willa Jo, Katie Johantgen who played Liz Finger, Susan McKey who was Lucy Wainwright, Christopher Patrick Mullen who was Uncle Hob, Meg Rose who played Cynthia Wainwright, and Mary Elizabeth Scallen who played Aunt Patty, well directed by Abigail Adams.

All of the characters were fantastic but there are four that really deserve special mention. First is Maggie Fitzgerald who is only in sixth grade! She displays a stunning control over her emotions and her facial expressions, combined with her confidence and actions seeming to give the play a more natural feel and make it more "well rounded."

Christopher Patrick Mullen as Uncle Hob displayed a fantastic stage presence as well as an amazing control over the situation changing the whole mood of the play from happy and easy going, to important and very serious in the blink of an eye.

Finally the two tenth graders, Katie Johantgen and Claire Inie-Richards, both seemed to be far beyond their years in acting and overall stage performance really adding to the experience.

Adaptation by Y York, based on the novel by Audrey Couloumbis. by Pat McGill

‘Getting Near to Baby’ deals compassionately with a family’s loss
Special to The Seattle Times, by Nancy Worssam, 2009

The Seattle Children’s Theatre production of "Getting Near to Baby" is a touching story about a family’s loss and a crotchety relative’s journey to compassion. Imagine that your baby sister has just died and you are immediately shipped off to an aunt who hasn’t the foggiest idea about how to console, show love to or please a child.

That’s the fate of Willa Jo (played by Sylvie Davidson) and Little Sister (Catherine McCool) in the poignant and heartwarming "Getting Near to Baby." And director Rita Giomi’s gifted cast gives full measure to former Seattle resident Y York’s fine stage adaptation of Audrey Couloumbis’ Newbery Honor book.

The girls’ snobby Aunt Patty seems not to have a clue. For her, rules and cleanliness are far more important than compassion.

She disdains the polite neighbor children, Liz (Amy Conant) and Isaac (Andrew Haggerty), because, with 14 people living in their house, they must be trash. Yet despite Aunt Patty, these kids manage to befriend the sisters and introduce them to the wonders of their playhouse/cave.

Aunt Patty would prefer the sisters to take charm lessons from the superficial, social-climbing Lucy Wainwright and her mean-spirited daughter Cynthia. Ellen McLain as Mrs. Wainwright is the embodiment of shallowness and priggishness. That she’s a phony is evident to everyone but Aunt Patty.

Of course, there are lessons in this play. True values are those that involve respect for other people, and revere good character rather than airs or social status. And much to the delight of the young people in the audience, the play makes it clear that children sometimes do indeed know more than the adults in their lives — and they have their own way of working through life’s tragedies.

Aunt Patty has a lot to learn about children and about values. In Anne Allgood’s highly competent hands, this unsympathetic woman finally undergoes the character change the audience longs to see. Buried under that exterior there is someone who is capable of love, someone who also mourns the baby; Allgood makes her transformation believable.

But it takes a long time to occur, and, were it not for the understanding Uncle Hob, life would be even harder for the two sisters. You can’t help loving Uncle Hob. Played with just-right down-home warmth by Todd Jefferson Moore, he offers a needed corrective to the social ineptness of his wife.

"Couloumbis deftly constructs an intricate montage of thoughts and memories from the perspective of 12-year-old Willa Jo Dean who, with Little Sister, mourns the death of their baby sister," said PW in a starred review. Ages 10–14. (Aug.)