| While Marianne’s roots are in Joliet, her family was part of the Eastern European emigration that helped to build Joliet’s diverse community. |
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| Marianne Wolf was born and raised in Joliet. While her roots are in Joliet, her family was part of the Eastern European emigration that helped to build Joliet’s diverse community. Her grandfathers came to Joliet from Plešce and Mrkopalj, Croatia. “I remember them both as hard working, determined men who rarely complained. My parents and grandparents taught me life’s values: the importance of family, the neighborhood parish and its community, education, and my work ethic.” Following in family traditions, Marianne remains a member of the Joliet Croatian Cultural Club, Croatian Fraternal Union of America (Lodge 18), the Slovenian Women’ s Union of America (Branch 20), and a life- long member of Kranjsko Slovenska Katoliska Jednota (Lodge 20). Her grandfather proudly enrolled her in the latter when she was only a toddler! |
| photograph by:Chris Guillen |
Marianne writes from her heart and her short stories have reflected her
passion and humor, winning her public and professional acclaim. Her fiction
has appeared in numerous anthologies published by Outrider Press, Inc. She
continues to write for PenPoints the newsletter of the Illinois Woman’s Press
Association. Marianne is working on her next historical book. Among her
published short stories, Marianne is particularly proud of “The Voile Dress,”
“The Luncheon,” and most recently “Alpha Male” which received national
honors in the NFPW national communications contest.
Booklist Magazine called “The Voile Dress” heartrending, and this poignant
work of fiction was selected as a 2004 winner of the Illinois Woman’s Press
Association’s Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest.
Serving the community is important to Marianne. Having served as the
Director of Volunteers for the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs (1996 –
2008), she was responsible for the overall volunteer program development.
Asked about the diversity of the program she stated, “By involving citizens
from a variety of neighborhoods and communities that are Chicago –
extraordinary things happen…” Among her favorite personal volunteer
experiences, she includes representing Chicago as an Ambassador during
the 1994 World Cup.
Following her successful career, Marianne has spent the past six years
providing community outreach and leadership to a variety of organization
executive boards. She currently serves as President of the Illinois Woman’s
Press Association, Membership Chair of the National Federation of Press
Women, President of the Illinois Wesleyan University Chicago Alumni Board
and serves on the executive alumni board of Illinois Wesleyan University. She
is a member of the Union League Club of Chicago. She was named the 2008
Communicator of Achievement by the Illinois Woman’s Press Association,
which cited her philanthropic service, her achievements as a book author and
writer, and her devotion to recording history for future generations.
passion and humor, winning her public and professional acclaim. Her fiction
has appeared in numerous anthologies published by Outrider Press, Inc. She
continues to write for PenPoints the newsletter of the Illinois Woman’s Press
Association. Marianne is working on her next historical book. Among her
published short stories, Marianne is particularly proud of “The Voile Dress,”
“The Luncheon,” and most recently “Alpha Male” which received national
honors in the NFPW national communications contest.
Booklist Magazine called “The Voile Dress” heartrending, and this poignant
work of fiction was selected as a 2004 winner of the Illinois Woman’s Press
Association’s Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest.
Serving the community is important to Marianne. Having served as the
Director of Volunteers for the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs (1996 –
2008), she was responsible for the overall volunteer program development.
Asked about the diversity of the program she stated, “By involving citizens
from a variety of neighborhoods and communities that are Chicago –
extraordinary things happen…” Among her favorite personal volunteer
experiences, she includes representing Chicago as an Ambassador during
the 1994 World Cup.
Following her successful career, Marianne has spent the past six years
providing community outreach and leadership to a variety of organization
executive boards. She currently serves as President of the Illinois Woman’s
Press Association, Membership Chair of the National Federation of Press
Women, President of the Illinois Wesleyan University Chicago Alumni Board
and serves on the executive alumni board of Illinois Wesleyan University. She
is a member of the Union League Club of Chicago. She was named the 2008
Communicator of Achievement by the Illinois Woman’s Press Association,
which cited her philanthropic service, her achievements as a book author and
writer, and her devotion to recording history for future generations.