Nancy Wright Beasley (born September 2, 1945) is a
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
author who primarily writes about the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
. Her most notable books are ''Izzy's Fire: Finding Humanity in the Holocaust'' (2005) and ''The Little Lion'' (2016).
Early life and education
Nancy Wright Beasley was born in
Radford, Virginia
Radford (formerly Lovely Mount, Central City, English Ferry and Ingle's Ferry) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of 2020, the population was 16,070 by the United States Census Bureau. For statistical purposes, the Bureau ...
, to Protestant parents, Posie H. Wright and Beulah Mae Sutphin. She grew up in
Christiansburg, Virginia
Christiansburg (formerly Hans Meadows) is a town in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States. The population was 21,041 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Montgomery County. Christiansburg, Blacksburg and the city of Radford are th ...
, and earned a bachelor's degree from
Virginia State University
Virginia State University (VSU or Virginia State) is a public historically Black land-grant university in Ettrick, Virginia. Founded on , Virginia State developed as the United States's first fully state-supported four-year institution of high ...
in 1981.
Her professional writing career began in 1979 when she was hired as a state correspondent for ''
The Richmond News Leader
''The Richmond News Leader'' was an afternoon daily newspaper published in Richmond, Virginia from 1888 to 1992. During much of its run, it was the largest newspaper source in Richmond, competing with the morning ''Richmond Times-Dispatch''. By ...
'' in Richmond, Virginia. As a correspondent based in South Hill, Virginia., Beasley covered news and features in
Mecklenburg County, Virginia
Mecklenburg County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,319. Its county seat is Boydton.
History
Mecklenburg County was organized on March 1, 1765, having split from Lunenburg County in 1 ...
,
and was one of the lead reporters covering the largest death row escape in U.S. history, (
Mecklenburg Correction Center, Boydton, Virginia, May 31, 1984), which gave Beasley her first copyrighted work. She resigned from the newspaper in 1986 to pursue corporate writing, and relocated to Richmond in 1994. There she became a columnist and contributing editor for ''Richmond magazine'', a position she held from 1998-2014.
Having earned a bachelor's degree from
Virginia State University
Virginia State University (VSU or Virginia State) is a public historically Black land-grant university in Ettrick, Virginia. Founded on , Virginia State developed as the United States's first fully state-supported four-year institution of high ...
in 1981, Beasley pursued higher education, earning a master's degree from the
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...
's School of Mass Communications in 2000 and a master of fine arts in Children's Literature from
Hollins University
Hollins University is a private university in Hollins, Virginia. Founded in 1842 as Valley Union Seminary in the historical settlement of Botetourt Springs, it is one of the oldest institutions of higher education for women in the United States ...
in 2011.
Career
She published her first book, ''Izzy's Fire: Finding Humanity in the Holocaust'', in 2005 after seven years of research and writing.
The story, which tells of how a Catholic farm family saved thirteen Jews from the Holocaust in Lithuania, is recreated at the
Virginia Holocaust Museum
The Virginia Holocaust Museum (VHM) is a public history museum located in Richmond, Virginia, United States. The museum is dedicated to depicting the Holocaust through the personal stories of its victims.
History
The VHM first opened in 1997, fou ...
,in Richmond, Virginia, where the book is sold. A revised edition containing new photographs, and new material, was published in 2015.
She subsequently wrote ''The'' ''Little Lion: A Hero in the Holocaust'' as her master's thesis at
Hollins University
Hollins University is a private university in Hollins, Virginia. Founded in 1842 as Valley Union Seminary in the historical settlement of Botetourt Springs, it is one of the oldest institutions of higher education for women in the United States ...
. The young adult historical novel, also set in Lithuania in
Kovno Ghetto
The Kovno Ghetto was a ghetto established by Nazi Germany to hold the Lithuanian Jews of Kaunas during the Holocaust. At its peak, the Ghetto held 29,000 people, most of whom were later sent to concentration and extermination camps, or were sho ...
, is based on the life of a teenage Jewish boy and tells how he helped some family members survive and escape the ghetto, where approximately 40,000 people lost their lives, the vast majority of them Jews. ''The Little Lion'' was adapted for the stage by Richmond, Va., playwright Irene Ziegler, and was performed at Swift Creek Mill Theatre in South Chesterfield, Virginia, under the direction of Tom Width, from January to March 2016. Mill Mountain Theatre in Roanoke, Virginia, also staged The Little Lion in 2017.
Beasley also wrote a third book, ''Reflections of a Purple Zebra: Essays of a Different Stripe,'' a collection of 60 of Beasley's columns originally published in ''Richmond magazine''. The book was published in 2007.
In 2018, Beasley began a new project, ''Saving Sara','' a second play based on ''The Little Lion'' that depicts the true story of how Sara Gillman was saved from almost certain death in Kovno Ghetto by her teenage uncle. A trailer promoting ''Saving Sara'' debuted in June 2018 in Toronto, Canada, at the Rotary International conference. The 25-minute video of the play, which was co-written by Nancy Wright Beasley and Una Harrison, can be optioned for use by schools and colleges, as a support for Holocaust education. It can also be optioned by Rotary clubs to raise funds for PolioPlus, an international program run by Rotary International to provide free polio inoculations throughout the world. Beasley herself is a polio survivor.
Beasley is frequently invited to make author appearances and presentations on her books at schools, colleges, and universities in Virginia and elsewhere. Her author appearances include an author's panel discussion at the Conference on Baltic & Scandinavian Studies at
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
in March 2014, and one at Eliezer: The Jewish Society at Yale University, in 2014.
She has also traveled to Lithuania, Israel and Germany to lecture on her book and her research. In September 2010, she toured Israel as the guest of Gad Moshe Shalom, son of Emmanuel Shlom, one of the Holocaust survivors depicted in ''Izzy's Fire''. In 2010 she also toured Lithuania, speaking at the U.S. Embassy library, several schools and colleges, and at the residence of
Anne E. Derse, who was then the U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania. In 2014 she was the keynote speaker for a program sponsored by the
, which was held in the British Embassy. In 2019, Beasley was again invited to be a guest speaker at the U.S. Embassy in Lithuania, where she presented a PowerPoint program, showcasing photos she has taken in Lithuania, as well as showing ''Saving Sara'' to invited students and teachers.
Also in 2019, Beasley establishe
Chutzpah and Courage a 501(c)(3) organization whose purpose is to help make the world a safer place through education and efforts to discourage bullying, discrimination, and anti-Semitism, using programming built upon the foundation laid out in Beasley’s books, plays, and videos.
Awards
*Beasley was cited as one of the Ten Outstanding Women in Central Virginia by the Richmond YWCA in 2006, and the
Virginia Press Women Inc named her its Communicator of Achievement the same year.
*In 2006, ''Izzy's Fire'' was nominated for a People's Choice Award by the
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, is the library agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It serves as the archival agency and the reference library for Virginia's seat of government. The Library moved into a new building in 1997 and i ...
.
*In 2015,
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...
named Beasley a Monroe Scholar.
*In 2016, Beasley was named the Rotarian of the Year b
Brandermill Rotary
Books
*Beasley, Nancy Wright (2004). ''Izzy's Fire: Finding Humanity In The Holocaust''. Posie Press. p. 308. ; 978-0-9861828-1-5.
*Beasley, Nancy Wright (2007). ''Reflections of a Purple Zebra: Essays of a Different Stripe'' (1st ed. ed.). Richmond, Va.: Tandem. p. 350. .
*Beasley, Nancy Wright (2015). ''The Little Lion: A Hero in the Holocaust.'' Posie Press. p. 194. ; 978-0-9861828-3-9.
Plays
* Saving Sara
References
External links
Official WebsiteIzzy's Fire: Finding Humanity in The HolocaustC-SPAN
Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...
Richmond Times-Dispatch, Making a Difference: Richmond Author Nancy Wright Beasley*[https://richmond.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor-for-oct-22-2021-amid-rising-hate-a-timely-call-for/article_a830bfa3-3abd-54bd-bd5d-a574bea6f38e.html Richmond Times-Dispatch Letter to the Editor: Amid Rising Hate, a Timely Call for More 'Upstanders']
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beasley, Nancy Wright
1945 births
Living people
Novelists from Virginia
Virginia State University alumni
People from Radford, Virginia
People from Christiansburg, Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth University alumni
Hollins University alumni
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American women writers
21st-century American novelists
American women non-fiction writers
American women novelists
Polio survivors
American writers with disabilities