I had to shelter from an actual tornado on my USA trip and I'll never moan about the British weather again
Plus news, events and opportunities including free journalist resilience session, Schoolreaders charity, Lancashire book of the year, Manchester World relaunch, and Charles Dickens Journalist Charity
My dear wordsmiths,
First of all, apologies for missing a weekly newsletter but so much has happened since we last caught up. If you are new here - hello! And if you are reading without subscribing, please do - it’s free - and you will make my day. Now, a little story for you.. (if you’d rather skip straight to the opportunity section - scroll down!)
I mentioned I was off on a trip and I’d actually been lucky enough to secure a travel writing gig to the USA - Chicago to be precise - to talk about food with the increasing popularity of The Bear TV series shot in the city. It was pretty amazing, extremely hot and I travelled with an amazing all-female (by coincidence) group of journalists as guests of Choose Chicago. It was all going so well.. I even did some editing on the plane.
WATCH THE AIRPORT VIDEO VIA MY YOU TUBE CHANNEL
We had a fabulous time and when I’ve written the piece I’ll share but oh my, when I do drama, I do it properly. It all began on the last evening when we had been for a fabulous meal and walked home a few blocks to our hotel ( we were staying at the Athletic Association Hotel on Michigan Avenue). We actually walked past the CBS studio where two presenters were pointing at weather maps from their studio which is surrounded by glass and visible from the street. We probably should have paid attention.
I was back at the hotel and just getting into bed when my phone went off. Not a gentle ringtone but the screeching national alert (remember when they tested this type of thing in the UK?) accompanied by a tornado warning and instructions to shelter in the basement. Friends, I was on the 12th floor. So our WhatsApp group went mad but after taking advice that any tornado was unlikely to touch down in the city or so close to Lake Michigan, we all stayed tucked up in our beds in our solid brick hotel listening to the wailing of alerts from vans driving up and down the streets , thunder, lightning and driving rain. It was quite something but eventually it went quiet and we went to sleep. Drama over, or so we thought.
The next day, after making the most of the last few hours in the sunshine, we arrived at the airport and had a smooth transition to the gate. That’s where it all went wrong as our phones screeched again (imagine a whole gate full of screeching mobiles) followed up by urgent tornado warnings via tannoy at O’Hare itself. Air crews, passengers already on planes and even the control tower was evacuated with all shops closed. Everyone sheltered the best they could in what was essentially a glass house.
It was scary but also exciting so we huddled on the floor and listened to warnings while watching torrential rain, aided by high winds, battering the reinforced glass. Then the warnings started to change with additional severe storm warnings which sounds less bad but actually was code for the tornado touching ground. Things escalated. The tornado was literally outside on the tarmac as we sat on the floor next to some vending machines (also glass) and then we could hear it. A moaning sound, low and hard to pinpoint which gradually, over a period of an hour, went away.
There is no question that we, and everyone at the airport, were lucky as the storm created multiple tornadoes in the Chicago area - four have been confirmed by the . And next time you hear me complaining about the weather here in Lancashire you have permission to call me out. We don’t know we are born.
So I got home safely, eventually, and with a little gift that kept me both away from the newsletter and off the airwaves last week - a nice dose of US-brewed Covid.
“Among the tornadoes most recently confirmed by National Weather Service’s Chicago office is an EF-0 twister (July 15) that blew through O’Hare International Airport, reaching peak wind gusts of 80 miles per hour. Questions remain unanswered as to why passengers were allowed to board planes as the derecho (inland tornado) approached, and then were left stranded on the runway as tornado warning sirens sounded and airport staff took shelter. The O’Hare tornado brings the number of twisters to hit Chicago to four, along with tornadoes previously confirmed in Humboldt Park/West Town, the West Loop and Chicago Lawn/West Englewood.” WTTW News
The end. Feel free to use this story as a writing prompt!
You Tube channel
I’ve started a You Tube channel where I have 16 followers (got to start somewhere!), so if you feel you can like and subscribe, please do. I’ll initially be sharing largely travel and press trips but I have plans! I’m happiest when I have another project to over-commit myself to. I also filmed our situation at the airport - it’s not great as I wasn’t focused on production values ( it starts staring at my shoes as I was listening!) but it’s the audio that makes it..
WATCH THE VIDEO VIA MY YOU TUBE CHANNEL
News, events and opportunities for writers and journalists
BOOKS AND WRITING
Cynthia Murphy has won Lancashire's Book of the Year Award 2024, becoming the first person in the history of the competition to take the accolade three times. Organised by Lancashire County Council, Lancashire Book of the Year is the longest running young people's regional book award in the country. Now in its 38th year, the award remains one of the few book awards where young people themselves are entirely responsible for drawing up the shortlist and choosing the overall winner.
In this year's competition Cynthia Murphy won the 'Young adult thriller author' category for her book The Midnight Game, after a number of wins in a row, with Last One to Die and Win, Lose, Kill, Die.
Schoolreaders charity & Gyles Brandreth: child literacy charity, Schoolreaders announcing that the charity's Patron, Gyles Brandreth, will be presenting its upcoming Radio 4 appeal. This broadcast will bring much-needed attention to our mission of improving children's literacy across the UK.
JOURNALISM
Women in journalism free event: Join journalist turned life coach, Rosie Nixon as she guides you through our resilience series session on discovering your transferable skills. Against a backdrop of redundancy and rapid industry change Rosie will help you find the best solutions on: How to identify transferable skills, Looking for new paths/roles - understanding your values, Tips for navigating a changing path - within journalism or other complementary roles. This is a FREE 30-min virtual lunchtime session. Register via link in headline.
(Yes, I’m biased, this is a title on my watch..;-) Relaunch of Manchester World: Manchester World is relaunching and rebranding with a new purpose and ethos centred on the people of the city. Led by editor Adam Lord and his city centre based team, the relaunch includes a new tagline, as well as a striking logo that features the iconic skyline of the city in its symbolic colours. The news, sport and lifestyle website, based in City Tower overlooking Piccadilly Gardens, has carefully rethought its content and will focus on ‘Ordinary Mancs, Extraordinary Stories.’
Journalists' Charity campaign: The charity, founded by Charles Dickens in 1864 , has launched its latest campaign to support journalists & journalism, highlighting their vital role in a free & fair society. It said: “After the last few years, can you imagine life without journalists to uncover truth & report facts? At a time when journalism faces serious challenges, it’s more important than ever to recognise & value the contribution of journalists from local to global on all platforms & in all sectors. Journalism is most certainly under threat & there’s never been a better time to show your support.”
Thanks so much for your support as always. Be safe. Keep writing.
Nicola