This is from the Writers at the Beach website:

Many of you know the story by now, the one about how “Writers at the
Beach: Pure Sea Glass” came into being. It started as a whim, a
half-formed longing on my part, to raise money for the United
Mitochondrial Disease Foundation (UMDF), the organization devoted to
research of this incurable and often terminal disease that severely
afflicted my then 7 and 12 year old nephews, Sam and Zachary. In
October 2004 when the idea for this “Writers at the Beach” first
occurred to me, I conceived of it as a one-time event, never never
imagining how the writers, participants and sponsors would forever
alter my life.

In that first year, our authors came from
Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. They now hail from these states as
well as from California, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,
Tennessee, and West Virginia. All of them come here on their own dime
for a cause many had never before heard of. Their generosity has
allowed us to donate to UMDF over $10.000 each year while still keeping
the cost of this event substantially lower than any comparable writers’
conference, especially one boasting a line up of authors such as ours.

At
this year’s “Writers at the Beach,” you will have a choice of twenty
workshops in four different genres—including, for the first time,
songwriting; you’ll have an opportunity to dine with an author of your
choice on Saturday evening, as well as an opportunity to have your work
evaluated ahead of time by an author, then discussed one on one. You’ll
hear readings throughout the weekend by some of our country’s best
writers; and you’ll have the chance to listen to Keynote speaker,
Marion Fontana, author of Widow’s Walk, a 9/11 memoir about
the loss of her firefighter husband, Dave Fontana, talk about why, more
than ever before, stories are essential. 

Enjoy looking
through the amazing choices of workshops and conversations that the
authors have made unique, compelling and challenging. I know it won’t
be easy to choose. Take a moment, too, to appreciate the sea glass
image, the use of which has been donated by artist and photographer
Celia Pearson, as well as the work of Franklin Parrish of Franklin
Parrish Design Systems, who has worked tirelessly these past two
months, at his own cost, to design this web site.

For
those of you returning, all of us–the authors, the volunteers, my
family and I–look forward to seeing you again. For those joining us
for the first time, we are eager to meet you, to welcome you to an
event that will remind you that your story is important, that it should
be told, that writing, in a world that increasingly seems to devalue
words, still matters to us all a great deal.