Author to speak on ‘Murder on Skid Row’

March 29, 2011 - PRLog -- Author Charlene Wexler will discuss her novel "Murder on Skid Row" at the West Central Association (WCA) networking luncheon on Wednesday, April 13, 2011.

The luncheon will be held at the Crowne Plaza Chicago Metro at 733 W. Madison St., Chicago. Networking begins at 11:15 a.m., lunch is at noon, and Wexler’s speech is after lunch. Cost is $35 for WCA members and guests, and $45 for all others.

"Murder on Skid Row" is set on Chicago’s Madison Street Skid Row of the 1960s home to hustlers, winos, addicts, bums, lost souls, ripoffs, and kickbacks. Everyone, it seemed, had a secret.

Into this shady society steps Dr. Mel Greenberg, who describes himself as “fresh out of dental school, very idealistic, and very poor.” He opens his new dental office “to help the downtrodden,” he says. Instead, he finds himself in a world for which his working-class upbringing never prepared him, where a day might bring anything from a philosophy-quoting patient to a knife held at his neck. Eventually, he finds himself a suspect in murder.

Based on a true story, "Murder on Skid Row" is the first novel by Wexler. Told from Dr. Greenberg’s point of view, "Murder on Skid Row" takes the reader back to a place that was an integral part of Chicago for decades.

The book recently won an Apex Award of Excellence from Communications Concepts, a writing and journalism think tank based outside Washington, DC.

For more information about the luncheon, contact the WCA at (312) 902-4922. The WCA is a civic, social, and business association for the West Loop community in Chicago, located at 625 W. Madison St.

About the author
Native Chicagoan Charlene Wexler is a graduate of the University of Illinois. She has worked as a teacher and dental office bookkeeper and as “a wife, mom, and grandmother,” she said. In recent years, Wexler’s lifelong passion for writing has led her to create numerous essays as well as fiction.

Her work has appeared in several publications, including North Shore Magazine, the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry’s Vision magazine, Alpha Omegan magazine, and the Gazette newspaper of Chicago.

“I have always used writing as therapy,” Wexler said. “Now I have the time and opportunity to pursue it as a career.”

Wexler has dedicated "Murder on Skid Row" to "the three dentists in my life,” she said—her husband, Sam; son Mike; and Sam’s business partner, Lew.

Wexler is active with the Alpha Omega Dental Fraternity, Children’s Memorial Hospital philanthropy, Lungevity (an organization that fights lung cancer), the McHenry Bicycle Club, the National Council of Jewish Women, the Jewish United Fund, and the University of Illinois Alumni Association.

Her advice for other aspiring writers—even grandmothers like herself—is to “follow your dream. You can do it, and it’s never too late.”

Wexler’s website is www.charlenewexler.com.

Note: Wexler is available for media interviews. Media copies of Murder on Skid Row are available upon request. E-mail billbike@anbcommunications

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