Pamela Varkony

Pamela Varkony writes what she knows: Her non-fiction topics range from politics to women's empowerment, from small town and rural Americana to historical perspectives. Pamela's view of the world has appeared in newspaper editorials; magazine feature stories; and on-air commentaries.

An award-winning writer, recognized by the Pennsylvania Women's Press Association for "Excellence in Journalism", and a much requested speaker, Pamela is also an advocate for women's rights and empowerment. She has worked around the world, including two fact-finding missions to Afghanistan.

Born and raised in Haycock Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Pamela (nee Feist) Varkony often weaves the experiences and characters she encountered on those back country roads throughout her stories. Her early life, she says, added up to an "idyllic childhood" filled with peace, freedom and love of home and family.

Pamela believes it is her ancestral roots that make her feel so connected to the hundred acre farm and beautiful field stone home where she grew up. Her Irish mother named it "Bluledge" for the color of blue/grey stone that came from the quarry her father founded on the southern end of the property. Pamela is fond of quoting John O'Hara in "Gone with the Wind", "And to anyone with a drop of Irish blood in them why, the land they live on is like their mother".

That land was taken from the family by the State of Pennsylvania, through right of eminent domain, for the purpose of building a park. Decades later, Pamela and co-author, Marjorie Goldthorp Fulp, wrote "Our Lost Tohickon Valley", under commission by the Haycock Historical Society. A thoroughly researched history of the region before construction of the park, the book is now in its third printing. Shortly after finishing "Our Lost Tohickon Valley, Pamela wrote a piece for NPR based on her emotional journey home. "The Thinking Rock" recalls her favorite childhood place high above the Tohickon Creek. An audio file can be found at http://www.PamelaVarkony.com as can other pieces of Pamela's work.

Even though Bluledge now belongs to the State, Pamela's home is still nearby in Pennsylvania. It is from this "mother land" that she writes and lives with her husband and three very spoiled cats.