Woman says there is life after surgery

Carson City's Dianna N. Miller came by the office to extol the virtues of a handheld speech aid.

She had cancer surgery that took her voice nine years ago. The eight-year resident recently married Don Miller.

"I was married three months ago, so it proves there is life after surgery," she said.

Dianna is using her speech aid to spread the word about a laryngectomee conference Oct. 20-22 at Harrah's Club in Reno.

A laryngectomee is someone who has lost their larynx and can no longer speak.

Representatives of several companies that provide speech aids will be on hand.

The registration fee is $55. For information, check out www.larynxlink.com/main/cal2003_1.htm or call 1-415-456-7547. To register write Wayne Baker, 19 Tilden Circle, San Rafael, CA, 94901.

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Jean Roberts of the Jubilee Center called Monday and said she received 25 calls after an article about the center ran on Sept. 6.

"We had an attorney call and say he would be willing to make a monthly donation," Roberts said.

I also received a call from Gene Barrett, who serves on the center's board and is a volunteer.

"Thank you for the amazing results," he said. "We received 100 pairs of socks and other things, too.

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Bonnie Ryan wrote me a nice note about their visit with Pete and Joyce Cottrell, the couple who walked across America.

Bonnie and husband Dale are involved in the American Discovery Trail, and Bonnie says they've met some interesting people.

In the case of Pete and Joyce, the Ryans aided them in walking across one of the most difficult parts of the trail, the Nevada desert.

"The trail through Nevada is not well-used or well-known," Bonnie said. "People have a tendency to bypass western Utah and Nevada."

Previous hikers stayed for a few days, but the Cottrells stayed for five weeks.

According to Bonnie, the Ryans picked the hikers up in Preston, south of Ely, on April 6 when snow blocked their way.

Two days later, the Ryans dropped the Cottrells off in Ione and they walked to Virginia City.

"Pete and Joyce finished what they could do without hitting snow," she said. "They couldn't afford an apartment here, so they stayed with us. We had more fun with those people than we've had in years."

On May 30, the Cottrells got on a bus for Grand Junction, Colo., where they met the Colorado trail coordinator, who took them to Moab, Utah, to start again. On July 14, Bonnie and Dale picked the Cottrells up in Ione and then on July 19 took them to the trailhead at Lakeview and watched as they walked off to Point Reyes. They arrived in mid-August.

Dale Ryan, who is also involved in the Pony Express re-ride, won the job as trail coordinator by the luck, or lack thereof, of the draw.

He served as Carson City deputy director of public works for 16 years before retiring. The couple spent a year in Arizona and then returned to Carson City where he worked for the State Bureau of Public Health before retiring in the late 1990s.

Dale has been a member of the Pony Express Association since 1981 and participated in the 1983 Slide Ride, when Highway 50 was closed.

"The pony got the mail across," Bonnie said.

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Irwin M. Goldberg, former city reporter at the Appeal and editor at the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza, has been named city editor at the Tucson Citizen.

Irwin went to work in Tucson as the business editor about three years ago. He left the Appeal for the Bonanza in August 1996.

Kurt Hildebrand is city editor at the Nevada Appeal. Reach him at 881-1215 or e-mail him at hildebrand@nevadaappeal.com