Sparrow Songs II (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781453818077)

Sr. Dolores Coleman, a member of the Daughters of Charity - a Catholic religious order - since 1941, was born Mary Dolores Coleman in 1921 in Meridian, Mississippi. On her maternal side, she is the descendant of an early French explorer, Denis Ladnier, of the Gulf Coast. Her mother, aunt and grandfather were the sole members of their immediate family to survive the 1906 Hurricane, which still ranks among the most devastating hurricanes to hit the Gulf. After joining the convent, Sr. Dolores earned a bachelor's degree in Education and French, then a master's in English. She taught both elementary and high school, teaching religion, English, Latin, biology, French and phys ed at various times and such diverse places as Chicago (IL), Keokuk (IA), Milwaukee (WI), St. Louis (MO) and Natchez (MS). But Sister spent a quarter century (1972 - 1997) ministering to the spiritual and social needs of the Mississippi deaf Catholic community at the request of a bishop and her religious order. In 1976, she founded the de l'Epee Deaf Center, named for the French priest who started the first school for the deaf in Paris. Sr. Dolores directed the Center until she suffered a broken neck in a car wreck. Not only did she use her skills as a certified interpreter for the deaf, but she also was a tireless advocate for the deaf and an effective fund raiser for the Center. Sr. Dolores has written poetry for many years, including since she arrived at her religious order's retirement home in Evansville, Indiana, in 2004. She hopes the profits from this volume of poetry will help underwrite the de l'Epee Deaf Center's work. Her original volume of Sparrow Songs was published in 2005. Sr. Dolores' nearly lifelong nickname of "Sparrow" was given to her by her kindergarten teacher, who felt the child "flitted" around like a sparrow, "chirping" (talking) all the while. Sister later learned that song sparrows are especially noted for the beauty of their songs. She hopes her poetry sings...and thus came about the Sparrow Songs title of her poetry collection. Although her failing health leads her to believe it is unlikely she will live long enough to see all of her approximate 800 poems published, Sr. Dolores hopes that any remaining unpublished at her death will be posthumously published - with the proceeds of those future volumes also donated to her beloved Deaf Center.