My books
UNCLENCHING is a collection of poems dedicated "to all aging workers and retirees everywhere and to my husband Ira, forever young." This book traces my journey from stressed-out office worker to progressively more laidback, more "unclenched" retiree doing things she loves. Makes a great retirement gift.
Order this book from Finish Line Press or from Amazon or, better yet ask your local bookstore to order it.
Music, Lakes, and Blue Corduroy is a memoir about the two years I spent as a violin and viola student at the camp and school that is now known as the Interlochen Center for the Arts in northern Michigan during the Cold War years, summer and winter from 1964 to 1966. This is a book for anyone who would like to know what it feels like to play in a symphony; to survive bouts of performance anxiety, adolescent heartbreaks, and a ruthlessly competitive “challenge” system for orchestra chairs; to develop lifelong friendships and a love of Michigan lakes; and to fall under the spell of a magical place that continues to affect one’s life story long after one has moved on.
MAKING PEACE WITH THE THINGS IN YOUR LIFE, published by St. Martin's Press in 2002, grew out of my experiences as a social worker and professional organizer. The idea was to not simply tell people how to get organized but to help them understand why they struggled with clutter and disorganization. My book was later put on the recommended reading list by the National Association of Professional Organizers.
I wrote this book for those folks who say, “I don’t care why I have clutter problems—just tell me what to do.” It’s a book of 100 tips, some of which are concrete suggestions like “make a home for instructions and warrantees” or “get a great letter opener,” while others are abstract ideas simply put, as in “that was then, this is now” or “divide and subdivide.” The idea is that the more of these tips the reader applies, the better organized he or she is likely to become, one thing at a time.
I wrote this book partly to keep myself sane after lack of affordable health insurance forced me to scale down my practice and get an office “day job." I found the transition to sitting in front of a computer all day in a room with no windows difficult. In looking around me, I also saw quite a few depressed-looking, overweight office workers. This led to my doing some hard thinking about the mental health challenges of office work—as evidenced by the popularity of the TV series, The Office—and what we could all do to stay healthier and feel better about coming to work in the morning.
Nice Things People Said . . .
About UNCLENCHING:
“Cindy Glovinsky has an unmistakable presence and voice. The poems in Unclenching chronicle the responses of a fervent consciousness taking on whatever the quotidian has to throw at it in the form of boredom or frustration or craziness or injustice and giving back at least as good as it gets. But, in whatever mode, it remains the expression of a serious, thinking, feeling, and eminently relatable fellow human being as she entices us into accompanying her on this entertaining, engaging, and occasionally wild ride.”
–Bruce Bennett, Emeritus Professor of English, Wells College, author of Just Another Day in Just Our Town, Poems: New and Selected, 2000-2016 (Orchises Press, 2017).
“Her careful scrutiny of the day that’s in it brings to these poems an urgency and immediacy that repays the reader’s attentions. Good to have Cindy Glovinsky on the record.”
–Thomas Lynch – author of BONE ROSARY – New & Selected Poems
About MUSIC, LAKES & BLUE CORDUROY:
“This inspiring and unflinching memoir evokes in wonderful detail the joys and heartaches of a young woman hopelessly in love with music and life. It’s so evocative I could hear the notes of violins and cellos drifting through the pines.”
Jerry Dennis, Jerry Dennis, author of The Living Great Lakes and
winner of Michigan Author of the Year award
“Cindy Glovinsky’s story of going to Interlochen is also the story of many of us who went to the National Music Camp and Interlochen Arts Academy in the 1960s. We played concerts every week, met lifelong friends, and learned how hard you have to work to be successful. Cindy Glovinsky’s book is not just about memories but life lessons too.”
Ken Giles, NMC 63, 64, 65; IAA 64, 65, 66, 67
“In a voice as clear as longing in youth, Glovinsky retells the journey of her years at Interlochen Arts Academy during the sixties. She speaks candidly of her sense of yearning, discovery, wonder, dedication and the artistic discipline (and disappointments) she experienced at a time when the school was in its fledgling stages and the legends, including Dr. Joe Maddy, were leading the world in music education and beginning to seed the orchestras of the nation. Like so many students of the arts, she learns the lessons of life through her love of music. As much cultural as personal history, Music, Lakes, and Blue Corduroy is a memoir of great affection for a place and time that has shaped the lives and hearts of thousands.”
Anne-Marie Oomen, Author of Love, Sex and 4-H and winner of Next Generation Indie Award for Memoir
