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A review of The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids On 25 Words Or Less

by Terry Ryan

A heart-warming biography of the author's mother.

Reviewed by: April Chase
About April Chase

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids On 25 Words Or Less Terry Ryan's heartwarming biography of her mother, Evelyn Ryan, has to be one of the most entertaining books I have ever read. It is witty and touching, for one thing, but it is also guaranteed to raise the hopes of any devoted sweepstakes enterer through the roof! Terry's mother rose above her desperate situation - wife of a violent alcoholic, saddled with ten kids - by entering every contest she could find, and winning! Her way with words allowed her to compose the jingles, poems and short descriptions so popular in contests of the 1950's and 1960's ("Tell us in 25 words or less why you love our product...") and her contest wins kept her family afloat.

"By the age of five, I had grown used to seeing Mom, pencil behind her right ear, spend hours each day at the ironing board. She often said that she did her best work while ironing, her hands working on one chore, her head on another," writes, Ryan, recounting how her mother sent in myriad contest entries to advertising and poetry contests. She gleaned entry information from magazines, newspapers, the radio and a network of contesting buddies, churning out sophisticated rhymes to submit. "Our family was often surprised at Mom's uncanny knack for working complex political issues into something as simple as a Burma-Shave jingle."

After I read this book, I was so inspired that I spent two whole days entering just about every on-line contest I could find, and I actually did win some of them. A pair of pearl earrings, three books, and $40 in the lottery - not exactly enough to keep the wolf at bay, but nice. I still enter lots of contests, for I always have that picture of the lucky and plucky Evelyn Ryan in mind!

Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids On 25 Words Or Less

Copyright © by April Chase, 2003

Reviewed by April Chase:
-- Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life - by Karen Rauch Carter
-- The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids On 25 Words Or Less - by Terry Ryan
-- Seabiscuit: An American Legend - by Laura Hillenbrand









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