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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION | ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives wish to congratulate Charlene Wexler of | ||||||
| 4 | Richmond on being presented with the 2025 Senior Illinoisan | ||||||
| 5 | Hall of Fame Award and on being inducted into the Senior | ||||||
| 6 | Illinoisans Hall of Fame; and | ||||||
| 7 | WHEREAS, Each year, the Department on Aging presents the | ||||||
| 8 | Senior Illinoisan Hall of Fame Award to, and thereby inducts | ||||||
| 9 | into the Senior Illinoisans Hall of Fame, four Illinois senior | ||||||
| 10 | citizens for their noteworthy contributions to the arts, | ||||||
| 11 | education, community service, or the labor force; and | ||||||
| 12 | WHEREAS, Charlene Wexler is a native Chicagoan, a graduate | ||||||
| 13 | of the University of Illinois, and the award-winning author of | ||||||
| 14 | several novels, poems, and collections of short fiction and | ||||||
| 15 | essays, including Lori, Elephants in the Room, Farewell to | ||||||
| 16 | South Shore, Milk and Oranges, Murder Across the Ocean, and | ||||||
| 17 | Murder on Skid Row; and | ||||||
| 18 | WHEREAS, Charlene Wexler's journey as a writer began when | ||||||
| 19 | her son Jeffrey was diagnosed with leukemia at age 8; and | ||||||
| 20 | WHEREAS, During her son's illness, Charlene Wexler kept a | ||||||
| 21 | journal as a form of therapy, and when her son died at age 12, | ||||||
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| 1 | she channeled her grief into her first novel, Lori; and | ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, Charlene Wexler's work has since appeared in a | ||||||
| 3 | variety of publications, including North Shore magazine, the | ||||||
| 4 | University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry's | ||||||
| 5 | Vision magazine, and the Gazette newspaper of Chicago; and | ||||||
| 6 | WHEREAS, Charlene Wexler has received many honors for her | ||||||
| 7 | writing, including a Global Book Award (Bronze) in the | ||||||
| 8 | Contemporary Fiction category, as well as a Four Seasons Book | ||||||
| 9 | Award (Fall Finalist), for Farewell to South Shore, an Award | ||||||
| 10 | of Excellence in the 2016 Apex Awards competition for | ||||||
| 11 | Elephants in the Room, an Award of Excellence in the 2015 Apex | ||||||
| 12 | Awards competition for Murder Across the Ocean, and a Grand | ||||||
| 13 | Award in the 2012 Apex Awards competition, as well as a Bronze | ||||||
| 14 | Award in the Women's Issues Category in the eLit Book Awards | ||||||
| 15 | competition, for Milk and Oranges; and | ||||||
| 16 | WHEREAS, Charlene Wexler currently lives in Richmond with | ||||||
| 17 | her husband, Dr. Sam Wexler, and enjoys the company of her 3 | ||||||
| 18 | grandchildren; and | ||||||
| 19 | WHEREAS, By writing books about strong women, the women's | ||||||
| 20 | movement, family relations, and the loss of a child in a manner | ||||||
| 21 | that weaves together both laughter and sorrow and by creating | ||||||
| 22 | historical fiction that draws from the experiences of her | ||||||
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| 1 | life, Charlene Wexler inspires her readers to adhere to her | ||||||
| 2 | life advice: "Follow your dream. You can do it, and it's never | ||||||
| 3 | too late."; therefore, be it | ||||||
| 4 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 5 | HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 6 | we congratulate Charlene Wexler on her induction into the | ||||||
| 7 | Senior Illinoisans Hall of Fame and acknowledge her hard work | ||||||
| 8 | and devotion to the art of writing; and be it further | ||||||
| 9 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 10 | presented to Charlene Wexler as an expression of our respect | ||||||
| 11 | and esteem for her illustrious and successful career as an | ||||||
| 12 | author. | ||||||