Carol Dannhauser This is Me

Education

 Web References

1. 1. Fairfield Citizen - Living

   www.fairfieldcitizen-news.com/ - [Cached]

   Published on: 6/27/2003   Last Visited: 6/27/2003

   Carol Dannhauser always knew she wanted to be a writer. "I don't know what got me started, she said. "I worked for the high school newspaper and I don't know why. Growing up in the inner city in New Haven, Dannhauser said she came from a background where a woman's place was in the home. She didn't even know one professional woman growing up except for her teachers. "I thought [writing] would be a really fun job for a woman. What a great opportunity this would be to go out and see the world, she said.
   
   As a high school freshman, Dannhauser met the head of public relations at SNET through "Explorers, a scouting-mentoring program geared more toward professionalism. The woman drove a Porsche and Dannhauser was impressed. She also gave Dannhauser a bit of advice. "She told me that I write like I talk and that's a great thing, don't ever loose that. I thought... life beyond the inner city through writing.
   ...
   At the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Dannhauser worked as a sports reporter. "I got to ask people questions that were none of my business and I got paid for it, she said. "I was like, 'oh man, what a gig!'
   
   Life just kept getting better for Dannhauser, now a Fairfield resident. After receiving her Masters of Science degree from the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University in New York in 1989, Dannhauser began branching out.
   
   While working as a freelance producer at Prodigy Services Co., White Plains, N.Y., from 1992 to 1994, Dannhauser was given the opportunity to write and produce a documentary. It was the second time she had worked on a documentary.
   
   Funded by Prodigy and the Boston Women's Health Book Collective, the documentary titled Second Opinion was the first time Dannhauser was nominated for an Emmy award in writing. The documentary covered different women's health issues.
   
   The first documentary she had worked on, titled Sisters, was about the ties between New Haven and Amalfi, Italy. Shot on location in Italy and New Haven, Dannhauser said it was a lot of fun to do. Connecticut Public Television co-produced the film.
   
   Dannhauser began working on Sisters prior to Second Opinion but couldn't complete the film due to monetary setbacks. After literally begging for funding, Sisters was completed in 1997 and Dannhauser received another Emmy nomination. The idea for Sisters started when Dannhauser worked for the New Haven Register from 1984 to 1988.
   
   "A group of children came from Amalfi, Italy, to visit New Haven (the two cities are sister cities), she said. "I had no idea how a tiny town of 6,000 influenced New Haven on everything from language to food and holidays.
   
   While Dannhauser was covering the story, someone in the crowd suggested that she should go to Italy. Dannhauser then asked that person to provide her with 10 reasons why the newspaper should sent her to Italy and then Dannhauser came up with 10 of her own reasons as well. She presented the reasons to the
   
   publisher of the Register and, surprisingly, was sent to Italy to do a 16-page special for the newspaper.
   
   After her trip to Italy, Dannhauser pitched the idea for a documentary to Connecticut Public Television. She started research for the film when she was working at The Daily News in New York from 1990 to 1991. After getting more funding from different sources in the late 1990's, including Lender's Bagels, she completed the film.
   
   Because it is so difficult to raise money for documentaries, Dannhauser said that she hadn't done any since Sisters. She wrote books instead. After completing Sisters, Dannhauser received a call and was asked to write a book titled Your Official America Online to Personal Financing and Investing.
   
   "It worked to my advantage because I talked to many experts who had relationships with America Online, she said. Dannhauser said that America Online got her name from Working Woman magazine, where she wrote a column on business trends for a couple of years. In the book, Dannhauser said she presented the information to the reader so that he or she could make choices based on what worked for them, rather than just telling the reader what to do.
   
   While receiving her undergraduate degrees in Italian and journalism with Spanish and political science minors at the University of Connecticut, a journalism professor suggested that Dannhauser go to Italy. So she went to study in Italy for a year abroad. "It was the best thing I ever did my whole life. It opened my eyes to a whole new world.
   
   Dannhauser explained how her experiences abroad made her a better journalist.
   
   "Any time a person can see things in a different way or experience life in a different perspective, I think that makes the person a better journalist, she said. A year ago, Dannhauser held a workshop for homeless writers through the Fairfield Arts Council and Operation Hope.
   
   "These folks had so much more to bring to the table than most people have, just from their life experience, she said. "Unless you've been there, you can't make that kind of stuff up. The more open to different experiences you are, the better writer you can be. Dannhauser said she likes to write stories from the "inside out. I hang out with the people I write stories about. I like to try to understand what their motivations are as best as a person can.
   
   About two years ago, Dannhauser was back to doing documentaries. She worked on one in Hawaii about arctic submarines for National Geographic. She produced it, did interviews, and a ton of research. The film hasn't come out yet, but she said it was interesting work.
   
   Of all the topics she's written about, Dannhauser said her favorite subject is that of entrepreneurs and the risks they take. She currently is wrapping up a book she is writing about entrepreneurs from Russia. Because she was commissioned to write it privately, Dannhauser doesn't know if it will ever be published for the public.
   
   She also has written I Need to Get in Shape, Now What? in 2001 with another Fairfielder, Sandi Michaelson Warren, who edited her American Online book. At home, Dannhauser is a mother of two sons, Billy, 11, and Christopher, 7, and wife to Bill, her husband. She coaches Christopher's soccer team and runs the chess club at the elementary school where Christopher currently goes to and Billy previously attended.
   
   She also runs the angel tree at the Unitarian Church of Westport. The church adopted Beardsley School, an elementary school in Bridgeport that is in need of supplies. The church gets a list of what is needed from the school, and Dannhauser posts the items needed on the tree in the church. Church members purchase the items and give them to Dannhauser, who transports them to the school. Because of all her hard work at the school, she was just voted Volunteer of the Year there. Dannhauser is currently holding workshops for teenage writers, also through the Fairfield Arts Council. The workshops, held at the Connecticut Birdcraft Museum, will hopefully fill the needs of teens that don't really have a place to explore their writing, Dannhauser said.
   
   "Teens will have a chance to find their own voices and share their writing with others, she said. "It's helpful for the teens to be with other teens. Dannhauser and her friend, Ryan Odinak, executive director of the Fairfield Arts Council, thought a writing workshop for teens would be helpful.

2. 2. Fairfield Citizen - Living

   www.fairfieldcitizen-news.com/ - [Cached]

   Published on: 6/25/2003   Last Visited: 6/26/2003

   Carol Dannhauser always knew she wanted to be a writer. "I don't know what got me started, she said. "I worked for the high school newspaper and I don't know why. Growing up in the inner city in New Haven, Dannhauser said she came from a background where a woman's place was in the home. She didn't even know one professional woman growing up except for her teachers. "I thought [writing] would be a really fun job for a woman. What a great opportunity this would be to go out and see the world, she said.
   
   As a high school freshman, Dannhauser met the head of public relations at SNET through "Explorers, a scouting-mentoring program geared more toward professionalism. The woman drove a Porsche and Dannhauser was impressed. She also gave Dannhauser a bit of advice. "She told me that I write like I talk and that's a great thing, don't ever loose that. I thought... life beyond the inner city through writing.
   ...
   At the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Dannhauser worked as a sports reporter. "I got to ask people questions that were none of my business and I got paid for it, she said. "I was like, 'oh man, what a gig!'
   
   Life just kept getting better for Dannhauser, now a Fairfield resident. After receiving her Masters of Science degree from the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University in New York in 1989, Dannhauser began branching out.
   
   While working as a freelance producer at Prodigy Services Co., White Plains, N.Y., from 1992 to 1994, Dannhauser was given the opportunity to write and produce a documentary. It was the second time she had worked on a documentary.
   
   Funded by Prodigy and the Boston Women's Health Book Collective, the documentary titled Second Opinion was the first time Dannhauser was nominated for an Emmy award in writing. The documentary covered different women's health issues.
   
   The first documentary she had worked on, titled Sisters, was about the ties between New Haven and Amalfi, Italy. Shot on location in Italy and New Haven, Dannhauser said it was a lot of fun to do. Connecticut Public Television co-produced the film.
   
   Dannhauser began working on Sisters prior to Second Opinion but couldn't complete the film due to monetary setbacks. After literally begging for funding, Sisters was completed in 1997 and Dannhauser received another Emmy nomination. The idea for Sisters started when Dannhauser worked for the New Haven Register from 1984 to 1988.
   
   "A group of children came from Amalfi, Italy, to visit New Haven (the two cities are sister cities), she said. "I had no idea how a tiny town of 6,000 influenced New Haven on everything from language to food and holidays.
   
   While Dannhauser was covering the story, someone in the crowd suggested that she should go to Italy. Dannhauser then asked that person to provide her with 10 reasons why the newspaper should sent her to Italy and then Dannhauser came up with 10 of her own reasons as well. She presented the reasons to the
   
   publisher of the Register and, surprisingly, was sent to Italy to do a 16-page special for the newspaper.
   
   After her trip to Italy, Dannhauser pitched the idea for a documentary to Connecticut Public Television. She started research for the film when she was working at The Daily News in New York from 1990 to 1991. After getting more funding from different sources in the late 1990's, including Lender's Bagels, she completed the film.
   
   Because it is so difficult to raise money for documentaries, Dannhauser said that she hadn't done any since Sisters. She wrote books instead. After completing Sisters, Dannhauser received a call and was asked to write a book titled Your Official America Online to Personal Financing and Investing.
   
   "It worked to my advantage because I talked to many experts who had relationships with America Online, she said. Dannhauser said that America Online got her name from Working Woman magazine, where she wrote a column on business trends for a couple of years. In the book, Dannhauser said she presented the information to the reader so that he or she could make choices based on what worked for them, rather than just telling the reader what to do.
   
   While receiving her undergraduate degrees in Italian and journalism with Spanish and political science minors at the University of Connecticut, a journalism professor suggested that Dannhauser go to Italy. So she went to study in Italy for a year abroad. "It was the best thing I ever did my whole life. It opened my eyes to a whole new world.
   
   Dannhauser explained how her experiences abroad made her a better journalist.
   
   "Any time a person can see things in a different way or experience life in a different perspective, I think that makes the person a better journalist, she said. A year ago, Dannhauser held a workshop for homeless writers through the Fairfield Arts Council and Operation Hope.
   
   "These folks had so much more to bring to the table than most people have, just from their life experience, she said. "Unless you've been there, you can't make that kind of stuff up. The more open to different experiences you are, the better writer you can be. Dannhauser said she likes to write stories from the "inside out. I hang out with the people I write stories about. I like to try to understand what their motivations are as best as a person can.
   
   About two years ago, Dannhauser was back to doing documentaries. She worked on one in Hawaii about arctic submarines for National Geographic. She produced it, did interviews, and a ton of research. The film hasn't come out yet, but she said it was interesting work.
   
   Of all the topics she's written about, Dannhauser said her favorite subject is that of entrepreneurs and the risks they take. She currently is wrapping up a book she is writing about entrepreneurs from Russia. Because she was commissioned to write it privately, Dannhauser doesn't know if it will ever be published for the public.
   
   She also has written I Need to Get in Shape, Now What? in 2001 with another Fairfielder, Sandi Michaelson Warren, who edited her American Online book. At home, Dannhauser is a mother of two sons, Billy, 11, and Christopher, 7, and wife to Bill, her husband. She coaches Christopher's soccer team and runs the chess club at the elementary school where Christopher currently goes to and Billy previously attended.
   
   She also runs the angel tree at the Unitarian Church of Westport. The church adopted Beardsley School, an elementary school in Bridgeport that is in need of supplies. The church gets a list of what is needed from the school, and Dannhauser posts the items needed on the tree in the church. Church members purchase the items and give them to Dannhauser, who transports them to the school. Because of all her hard work at the school, she was just voted Volunteer of the Year there. Dannhauser is currently holding workshops for teenage writers, also through the Fairfield Arts Council. The workshops, held at the Connecticut Birdcraft Museum, will hopefully fill the needs of teens that don't really have a place to explore their writing, Dannhauser said.
   
   "Teens will have a chance to find their own voices and share their writing with others, she said. "It's helpful for the teens to be with other teens. Dannhauser and her friend, Ryan Odinak, executive director of the Fairfield Arts Council, thought a writing workshop for teens would be helpful.