Living on the shore of Lake Ontario can be “heaven” or “hell,” as author Elly Stevens describes her current life – “heaven” when it’s full of the beauty of nature; “hell” when weather changes everything. Elly penned her relatable stories in her memoir, Searching for Serenity in My Crazy Life, covering not only her life on the lake in Kendall, but also many years in Rochester, Greece, and three years in South Carolina.
Elly came from a family of story-tellers, and almost every conversation started, “Remember when…?” Elly’s grandmother, Mary Kujawa Littlebetter, often told her stories of growing up in Albion, but so many of those stories were lost over the years. Not wanting that to happen to her own stories, Elly started writing a detailed history of her own life. And when her granddaughter Amanda Stevens, of Chili, started asking her to tell her stories, Elly wanted to do something special for her – put them in a book for her 16th birthday.
In April 2018, Elly received a call from Joe Janowicz, with whom she had worked in the publications group at Kodak in the 1990s. He asked her to edit his horror novel, Bang-Bang You’re Dead, and she agreed. Joe encouraged Elly to do her own writing and, together, they began their journey to publishing.
In Searching for Serenity in My Crazy Life, readers travel through every significant stage of Elly’s life – early childhood, growing up in an ethnic neighborhood, her first kiss, her marriage, the birth of her son, her career at Kodak, learning how to face and embrace retirement, the delight of a granddaughter, the passing of friends and family members, the remodeling of their house, the joy of nature, and the beginning of new “life” at age 70. Become part of her life as she searches for serenity along the way.
Some stories will spark local readers’ own memories, such as the 1966 blizzard, the 1991 ice storm, and September 11, 2001. And she shares the story of the First Norwegian Settlement in the United States in Kendall at the dedication ceremony in 2004.
Elly Stevens is scheduled to have a book signing for Searching for Serenity in My Crazy Life at Lift Bridge Book Shop in Brockport on October 26 from noon to 2 p.m. Find out more about the author at www.AuthorEllyStevens.com or connect with her on Facebook.
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