Today we’d like to introduce you to Amelia Steward.
Hi Amelia, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My love for writing and creative pursuits developed when I was a young girl. During summer visits to my maternal grandmother’s house, I was encouraged to write short stories and learn all types of needlework. After attending a Summer Camp for Gifted and Talented in creative writing in middle school, I was encouraged to write more and decided then that writing would be my career. After completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in English/Communications at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, I gained writing and editing skills while working at the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, DC, the Maryland Historical Trust in Annapolis, MD, and Shore Health System in Easton, MD. After completing a leadership program in 2005, I was inspired to open my own public relations company, Steward Writing and Communications, in 2006. My goal was to elevate the visibility of local nonprofits through my company’s marketing, public relations, and fundraising services. As a regional storyteller, I have focused my writing on telling the stories of those who often are overlooked in our community – specializing in health care, human services, the arts, and the environment. My non-fiction articles have appeared in Shore Magazine, Attraction Magazine, Tidewater Times, Coastal Style, What’s Up Eastern Shore, the Talbot Spy, and numerous regional and local publications.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Being a woman in business in the 70s and 80s was challenging. I had many women mentors along the way who showed me how to be assertive, to uphold my ethics and morals, and to never give up. Interspersed throughout my years of growing my business. They looked out for me and made sure I got the wisdom I needed to raise my family, maintain integrity in my jobs, be successful in love, be a good friend, and contribute to my community. I have tried to mentor other women along the way as a way of giving back for all those who supported me. In 2024, I was awarded the Women and Girls Fund Award in Easton, MD, for my “riveting and compassionate writing that successfully shed light on the pressing needs of women and girls and their families in our community . . . making a necessary, dramatic, and long-lasting difference in the quality of life of Mid-Shore women and girls and their families.” This is one of the awards I am most proud of in my writing legacy.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Writing is a very personal journey. I think what I love most about the process is the interview. I have met the most amazing people along the way who continue to remind me that “everyone has a story to tell.” I interviewed a World War II veteran who built the Bailey Bridges in Germany and then was one of the Americans to retrieve the stolen artwork Hitler had hidden in the salt mines. When his story appeared on the front page of the local newspaper at the time that the movie “Monument Men” came out, he called me in tears to say that he didn’t think he had a story to tell. No one knew his story before I wrote it, and it meant the world to him and his family that it was finally told. Moments like these in my writing career help me to realize the importance of storytelling.
A newly developed passion I am pursuing is fiber art. I am doing fabric collage and quilting, which enables me to tell stories differently through fabric and threads. I am enjoying the challenge and the new connections I am making in our artist community, where I have served on several boards, including Talbot Arts. Helping local artists share their work has always been a part of my business and having two sons who are artists continues to remind me of the importance that art plays in our lives and in our communities as a form of expression.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I am a big fan of memoirs and am currently writing my own memoir. Being selected to write a memoir of a world-famous structural engineer in 2014 was a stroke of luck. I had written an article about his national mentoring program, A.C.E, and he contacted me one day asking if I would ghostwrite his memoir. I asked him how he selected me, and he said he trusted me with his story. That was a huge risk for him, as I had never written a book. We finished “Charles H. Thornton: A Life of Elegant Solutions” a year and a half later and went on to sell 8,000 copies, inspiring women and minorities to enter the fields of construction, engineering, and architecture. It is one of my proudest accomplishments.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://stewardwriting.com/
