Writing While Masked: Reflections on 2020 and Beyond

Once a week, seven writers―all retired from professional careers―spend two hours together. The purpose of their gathering is to discuss what they wrote the previous week. For a number of years prior to 2020, the group met in their homes over coffee. The pandemic changed that. Members could not hug at Zoom meetings. Then on May 25th, a white policeman pressed his knee to a Black man’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Other officers looked on with chilling nonchalance as he pleaded, “I can’t breathe.” A seventeen-year-old girl captured it all on her cellphone, and the world exploded. The process of putting down their thoughts about the cascading events of the year helped the group weather the challenges of 2020 and beyond. Inside Writing While Masked are personal pieces―writings of the moment, essays that reflect, and poems that express raw emotion. They include thoughts about what the authors experienced and learned, and what they want for the future. Most of all, they are words of hope.

Mary Ann Gonzales has a long history of working with nonprofit social organizations, from the Seattle AIDS SUPPORT GROUP to the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Tyson Greer has undertaken a broad array of endeavors including directing documentaries, teaching screen writing at the University of Washington, and authoring a book on technology for Microsoft Press. She is now writing fiction.

Wanda Herndon has enjoyed a successful corporate career in marketing, retiring from Starbucks as senior vice president, Global Public Affairs, after which she founded W Communications.

Jane Spalding started out as a teacher, and then served as development director for several nonprofits, including Harborview Medical Center and Seattle University.