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Dr. Gary Berg-Cross (President) a cognitive psychologist (PhD, SUNY–Stony Brook, BS from Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute) is now semi-retired from a professional life that included R&D in applied data & knowledge engineering, collaboration, and AI planning research. He has been a Board & Trustee Member of the Friends of the Library Montgomery County and serves are several professional Boards.

 

Ari Brooks (Friends of the Library Liaison) is an experienced fundraiser and nonprofit manager. As Executive Director of Friends of the Library (FoL), Montgomery County, she handles fundraising, marketing, membership recruitment, board engagement, and financial oversight. She is a graduate of the 2004 class of Leadership Montgomery and was the first recipient of the County Executive's Emerging Leader award in 2009.

 

Dr. Jackson R. Bryer (Past President) is Professor of English (Emeritus) at the University of Maryland. He is co-founder and president of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society and author, editor, or co-editor of 17 books by or about F. Scott and/or Zelda Fitzgerald, among them The Critical Reputation of F. Scott Fitzgerald, New Essays on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Neglected Stories, F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Critical Reception, The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald: New Approaches in Criticism, Dear Scott/Dear Max: The Fitzgerald-Perkins Correspondence, and Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda: The Love Letters of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. He has been a member of the Committee since its inception in 1996.

 

Dino Caterini  (Committee Member) is a retired Foreign Service Officer who served for thirty-five years with the United States Information Agency, the organization that handled educational and cultural affairs overseas, including the Fulbright Scholarship program.  He helped foster American Studies and American Literature in universities in India, Ethiopia, Somalia, Pakistan, Burma, Germany and Italy. He organized exhibits on Fitzgerald and other American literary figures at American Centers overseas as well as at foreign universities.  His undergraduate BA degree is in International Relations from Miami University (Ohio), and his JD graduate degree is in law and political science from New York University. He studied overseas on a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Padua in Italy and has been associated with the Rockville Fitzgerald Festival/Conference since its beginning in1996. He is proud to have been to every annual conference since then and has been on the Fitzgerald Fest organizing committee for the past four years.

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Jaime Flores (Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL) representation) is a web desiger for  Montgomery County Public Libraries and has designed our new web site.

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Dr. Eleanor Heginbotham (Committee Member), Professor Emerita of English at Concordia University in St. Paul, co-chaired the first F. Scott Fitzgerald Society International Conference held in the author’s birthplace in St. Paul MN. Professor Heginbotham has helped with most of the conferences/ festivals in Rockville, site of the author’s grave. She has taught on five continents, most recently at American University's OLLI. She has co-chaired four major conferences; and has published two books and numerous articles, mainly on Emily Dickinson.

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Susan Hoffmann (Vice President), former mayor of Rockville, Biden delegate to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, political and community activist. During her tenure in office, Ms. Hoffmann established the Rockville Art in Private Development statute which requires private developers to provide art or a donation to the support of public art. Ms. Hoffmann serves on the Judicial Inquiry Board of the Maryland Commission on Judicial Disabilities, as well as Chair of the Spirit Club Foundation, and is Vice President of the Theatre Consortium of Silver Spring, is a member of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival Committee, and is on the Sunflower Bakery Board. She also is a former Rockville City Councilmember and a former member of the Rockville Planning Commission. During her employment with Montgomery County, MD, she headed up marketing and special events during and after the redevelopment of Downtown Silver Spring. Ms. Hoffmann is the founder of both the annual Montgomery County Thanksgiving Parade and the annual Silver Spring Jazz Festival.

Margaret Meleney (Committee Member, Writer’s Center Liaison) is senior executive of The Writer's Center with extensive experience in strategic planning, operations, investment, budgeting, annual auditing, and financial analysis. She has managed six entities with operating budgets of over $15 million and previously served as the Chief Financial Officer of Club Managers Association of America, where she has implemented cost-savings and reallocation strategies to improve overall financial health of the organization. She has also volunteered on a number of nonprofit committees

 

Mary Hopkins (Short Story Contest Coordinator) is an English teacher at The Steward School in Richmond, Virginia. She is currently the advisor to both the Middle School newspaper and Creative Writing Club. The former Assistant Head of School at Holy Child in Potomac, Maryland, Mary has worked in the field of English education as both an administrator and a classroom teacher for more than 25 years. 

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Joseph Monte (Committee Member) was an Einstein High School College Counselor for fifty-one years, has served on the F. Scott Fitzgerald Conference Committee for 10 years, and has been President of six different educational boards. He is also a writer for “American Teacher.”

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Nancy Pickard (Committee Member) is an historic preservation and community planning professional. In her current position as Executive Director at Peerless Rockville, Historic Preservation, Ltd., she works with concerned citizens, volunteers, property owners and local government agencies to identify, protect and safeguard the City’s heritage. Nancy holds Master’s Degrees in Community Planning and Historic Preservation from the University of Maryland, and a Bachelor’s Degree from Penn State.

 

Zach Powers (Committee Member) is The Writer’s Center’s Communications Manager is a seasoned media specialist with 15 years of experience, including many years working with nonprofits. He’s also an accomplished author of literary fiction, including an award-winning short story collection Gravity Changes, BOA Editions, 2017) and a novel, First Cosmic Velocity,

 

Elizabeth Redisch (Festival Coordinator) is a jack of all trades.  Trained as an attorney, she has not practiced since she moved to the DC area.  She currently works as a Weight Watchers coach, a substitute teacher in the Montgomery County Schools, and as the Coordinator for the Festival.

 

Carol Rubin (Committee Member) recently retired from the Maryland-National Capital Planning Commission where she worked in various senior management and leadership roles. As an attorney, she held positions in both the private and public sectors, but her passion has always been public service. Throughout her career, Ms. Rubin served on various government appointed and non-profit boards to further give back to the Montgomery County community where she lives, and during her retirement hopes to continue with those activities. As a member of the FSF Committee, she can continue to serve her community by advancing her love of literature.

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Taryn Trazkovich (MCPS liaison) .Taryn Trazkovich is the festival liaison to Montgomery County Public Schools. Currently, she teaches English and journalism at Rockville High School where she is also the staff advisor of the student newspaper, The Rampage. 

 

Betty Wisda (Rockville City Liaison) has been the Arts Programs Supervisor for the City of Rockville, Maryland since 1979. She is responsible for the coordination, planning and development of citywide visual, performing and literary arts for all ages. She has received numerous awards from the National Recreation and Parks Association and Maryland Recreation and Parks Association for her innovation, creativity, and dedication to the arts.

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Naomi Goldsten (Student Representative) is a high school studentwho enjoys writing short stories. Naomi was one the finalists in  the 2023 F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival Short Story Contest for Students.

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Jeremie Amoroso (Committee Member) is an international development strategist from Trinidad & Tobago who currently lives in Washington, DC. He was a finalist of the 2023 F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival Short Story Contest for Adults. His work has been published in The Plentitudes and he was longlisted twice for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. His published research focuses on education policy.

 

Nicolas Leininger (Secretary) is originally from West Chester, Pennsylvania. He has been living and working in DC since the summer of 2018. Nick graduated from American University in 2017 with a bachelor's degree in Public Relations and Strategic Communications. Nick’s professional background is in sales, fundraising, and account management. During his days as a student, Nick had his poem “The Sin of Omission” published in the 2017 edition of Bleakhouse Publishing’s Tacenda magazine. Nick has his poems “Breathe” and “Enough” featured in Burgeon Online. His poem “Broken” is featured in the 2021 Day Eight Poetry Anthology The Great World of Days. His poems “Passing”, “Equilibrist”, “The First Time I Felt Black” and “Thanksgiving” are included within the Diaspora Café poetry collection. His poem “Friend Ships” was accepted by Wingless Dreamer and is featured within their Sea or Seashore anthology. His poems “Kin” and “Miles Away” are included within the Mid Atlantic Review 2023 magazine. Nick has been using poetry as a tool of self-reflection throughout the 2020-2023 COVID19 pandemic.

He’s been a huge fan of F Scott Fitzgerald ever since high school. Nick is currently finishing his 9th draft of a screenplay he began writing in 2021 called “Gatsby’s Ghost”, a new screen adaptation of The Great Gatsby emphasizing the racial reckoning of the roaring 20’s. He’s also working on a documentary series where he interviews millennials that were living in DC during the summer of George Floyd

Nicole Metas (Committee Member) has written business plans for 5Ks, led communications on in-house "Twitters" such as Yammer & Viva Engage and some business Instagram pages, as well as authored monthly newsletters, assisted with grant writing & donor management, secured sponsorships, and most of all managed volunteers and day of operations for a variety of events in fitness and the arts. Nicole is a graduate of Point Park University and has built a career in fitness and the arts that spans 10+ years. She was featured on CBS Philly for her work in motivating kids to find the joy in being active, and spends her time with her bunny-child, when not working/volunteering/traveling/reading.

 

Emily Leayman (Committee Member) has been a local editor for Patch.com since 2017. Before joining Patch, she reported on local and national news in Washington, DC and Pennsylvania. She has a bachelor's degree in English/Professional Writing with Public Relations and Spanish minors from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. A native of Allentown, Pennsylvania, she lives in Loudoun County, Virginia. 

 

Lydia Tyburski (Committee Member)  is a fine artist from Maryland. She graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in 2010. She enjoys all types of creative pursuits, including crafts. She has worked as a museum technician at madame tussaud's, a tutor and a freelance graphic artist. 

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Hiba Altaher (Committee Member) graduated from the University of Maryland in 2021, and is currently working as a bilingual, full-time banker and a part-time Math instructor. In her free time, she likes to take walks in nature and write prose and poetry about her past personal experiences. She considers writing to a be therapeutical coping mechanism and has always appreciated art in all its forms, especially poetry. Being a committee member of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival is an honor. She finds it very inspiring that the festival not only made it its mission to keep the works and the legacy of Scott Fitzgerald alive for so many years, but also provided a nurturing and supporting environment for many writers and poets from different backgrounds to share their work with their community.