Marianne Murphy Zarzana
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"A Salty Sweet Nothing" in Notre Dame Magazine Online

4/24/2013

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One of my essays, "A Salty Sweet Nothing," was published in Notre Dame Magazine online yesterday. In the essay, I reveal how after 25 years of being married to Jim Zarzana, I finally gave him  what he really wanted all along.

Kerry Temple, editor of ND Magazine, and his staff do a terrific job covering not only the University but tackling the bigger issues around the globe. Check it out.
 
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Sister Jean Lenz - Leading with Her Heart

4/11/2012

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Our copy of Notre Dame Magazine arrived in the mail today, and here's the link to the piece I wrote for this issue about Sister Jean Lenz, OSF, my friend and beloved professor who went home to God on January 21, 2012:http://magazine.nd.edu/news/29426/ 
Kerry Temple, editor of ND Magazine, also wrote about Sister Jean in his blog and beautifully captured her spirit and impact on the ND community: http://magazine.nd.edu/news/28500-soundings-stories-with-sister-jean/ 

Sister Jean was a storyteller at heart, one of the best I've ever met. She loved to tell stories and knew the power of a well-told tale. One of my current writing projects I'm working on is a screenplay about Sister Jean's life at Notre Dame--the drama of being a pioneer when ND turned co-ed and admitted women after 130 years as an all-male bastion. As Jim Langford, former editor of Notre Dame Press, said to me recently when I shared the idea of my screenplay with him, "Yes! We need more stories about heroic women." Sister Jean was heroic but in an unaffected, humble way. This summer I'm carving out writing time to draft the screenplay, drawing on what I learned when I took a screenwriting class in grad school at Minnesota State University, Mankato. I'd love for more people to get to know Sister Jean's story.
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Sister Jean Lenz, OSF - A Farewell

2/20/2012

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One month ago, Sister Jean Lenz, OSF, a dear friend of mine and one of my greatest teachers at the University of Notre Dame, passed away. Fortunately, I was able to fly to Illinois for her funeral, which was a wonderful celebration of her amazing, blessed life. 

When I returned, Kerry Temple, the editor of Notre Dame Magazine, emailed to ask me to write a short piece on Sister Jean. I accepted. My freshman composition students had just turned in their first essay of the semester, writing on the topic of "My Everyday Hero." I gave them a word limit of 750 words. The ND Magazine editor gave me an 800-word limit to write about my hero. I took a creative approach, more prose poem than essay, he accepted it, and it will be published in the next issue.

Sister Jean was a theology professor, the rector of Farley Hall, and eventually the Vice President for Student Affairs at ND. She was also a terrific storyteller and writer. Her book, Loyal Sons and Daughters: A Notre Dame Memoir, vividly captures the early years when ND went coed after 130 years as an all-male university. When I first read her book in 2006 and when I re-read it over Christmas break, I laughed and cried. I'm grateful Jean got these stories down so they won't be lost. And other Jean stories will continue to be told as they were at her Franciscan motherhouse in Joliet, at her memorial service at Sacred Heart Basilica at Notre Dame, and online at the ND Division of Student Affairs. 

We love you and miss you, Jean, but you're alive in our hearts and stories. Farewell for now.
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    I love to play with words. To capture moments on the page. To explore the physical and spiritual geography of what I call "fly-over country." I write from imagination, observation and my own experience of wandering in fly-over country--the literal, physical spaces of my life on the Minnesota prairie and the inner territory of the soul. 

    I teach writing at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minnesota. I enjoy cooking and traveling with my husband Jim, reading, practicing yoga, playing tennis, biking, hiking and gardening.

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