DENVER, CO AND DANIA, FL – Outskirts Press, Inc. has published Recipes for Joyous Living: A Story of Inspiration by Julie Spencer Washington & Sulie Gooden Spencer. Mrs. Spencer is a 65-year resident of Dania and this is her first book publication. The 5” x 8” Color Paperback, Color Casebound and electronic versions in the RELIGION / Christian Living / Inspirational category are available worldwide on book retailer websites such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
The authors will be holding a book-signing event at Dania Pointe’s Friday Night Markets event from 5 p.m.to 8 p.m., on August 12, 2022. Come meet the authors and get your signed copy of this story about a woman of faith and her delicious food creations.
About the Book (Excerpts & Info)
Finding and seeing joy in life can be a challenge. Take a walk with a Black girl from Mississippi whose faith, passion and perspective have given her over 80 years of insights and life lessons that she freely shares. As a four-time cancer survivor, Sulie has experienced many of the highs and lows of life, and has found ways to be victorious in body, mind, and spirit. Filled with an indomitable spirit and unwavering faith, she shines her light on every path she crosses and serves mankind with counsel as well as wonderful cooking. There is a life and food recipe for you that will surely delight your senses and enhance how you live. Enjoy your seat at Sulie’s kitchen table.
“You will laugh out loud, cry and shout ‘Amen’ as you turn the pages of this intergenerational treasure. Recipes for Joyous Living serves up a menu of food for your soul and soul for your food. This mother-daughter duo has given us a best-seller in a bistro,” said Reverend Connie “CJ” Jackson, Houston, Texas.
“Sulie’s life is the best of humanity. She expresses love in all directions. My Bubbe, Lillian Swack, was blessed to be her friend having a special connection that defied convention between a young African American woman and an older white, Jewish woman in the 1960s. There is something so very sacred when we pull people in close, especially those that society sees as ‘the other,” said Daniel Kalman Epstein, Author & Photographer of Portraits in Faith, Cincinnati, Ohio.
“Sweet” demonstrates the teachings of our beloved parents. She is a loving person who gives and shows concern for others with the love of Christ. These stories capture recipes that are empowering and life-giving,” said Sadie Pearl Harrell, Sister, New Orleans, Louisiana
“What a great read and dose of inspiration! This story illustrates the mighty hand of God in the life of a special woman of faith. May you be uplifted and encouraged to trust God in every phase of your life as Mother Spencer has,” said Pastor T. T. Shellman, Deerfield Beach, Florida Recipes for Joyous Living can be ordered in quantities greater than 50 by emailing the author at joyousliving2022@gmail.com
For more media information, contact Julie Spencer Washington (513-578-5394).
About the Author
JULIE SPENCER WASHINGTON loves sharing stories and is a corporate marketing executive. She is the youngest daughter of SULIE GOODEN SPENCER. They both are women of faith and prayer who inspire others toward purpose and greatness.
About Outskirts Press, Inc.
Outskirts Press, Inc. offers full-service, custom self-publishing and book marketing services for authors seeking a cost-effective, fast, and flexible way to publish and distribute their books worldwide while retaining all their rights and full creative control. Available for authors globally at www.outskirtspress.com and located on the outskirts of Denver, Colorado, Outskirts Press represents the future of book publishing, today.
Recipes for Joyous Living Book
Introduction – By Julie Spencer Washington
Sulie “Sweet” Neil Gooden Spencer, is an AMAZING woman, who happens to also be my mother. It was not until I spent time with her capturing the content for this book that I realized how truly amazing she is. She has been my role model, shero, listening ear and prayer warrior. I am who I am today, to a large degree, because of my mother. The pages that follow introduce you to “momma” with highlights and lessons from her 83-year life journey. I captured her story as she has shared it. So welcome to our family, which means feel free to laugh, cry and add to the story, for we all have been seasoned by life and have more in common than we realize. The special treats included are recipes after each chapter so you can smell, taste, and feel what home and love look like in my momma’s kitchen. Be sure to turn on the radio to a gospel station or television to a sports channel while preparing the dishes, to have the full “Sweet” effect.
I hope you are inspired and encouraged to maximize experiences and encounters each day for there are blessings all around us, and so much to live for and share with others. Bon Appetit!!
Introduction – By Sulie “Sweet” Gooden Spencer
As I look back on my life, my passion has been to reach and develop young people. I have taught Sunday School for over five decades and it has helped me walk alongside children as they grew in the knowledge of God and established their own relationship with Him. My goal was for them to have the freedom to know why they believe what they believe versus religion being handed down or being an obligation. The impact of knowing and being a disciple of Christ and leading hundreds to a more enjoyable earthly life and eternal heavenly life, has been powerful and rewarding.
I was blessed to have a big family and one that has been devoted to service and helping others. In spite of turmoil and differences in America, I see the good in our country and have dedicated my life to being a committed citizen and proud American. Leading voter registration drives and working at the polls are ongoing demonstrations of how I honor the lives lost in the fight to ensure African-Americans have the right and opportunity to vote. Every voter and their voice should be heard in our system of democracy. Six of my seven brothers enlisted in the military. I too have done my part to support and enhance the lives of the men, women and families who serve our country.
Loyalty is a key trait of mine. For 57 years I have worked for the Biegelsen family. It started as a housekeeping job and has evolved into a relationship beyond race, occupation, religion and economic lines to one of inclusion and an extended family. There’s no job description for loving the grandmother through her fight with cancer and her grandson as he raised his three daughters. Being included in graduation celebrations, meeting prospective spouses, attending weddings and having family dinner as a family member, shows what happens when you genuinely care for those you are in relationship with. As the matriarch of my family, I learned how to be the bearer of burdens, lifeline in storms, listening ear, cheerleader and truth teller.
The seasons of life usher in some days you will cherish and others you would rather forget. Through it all, I have learned that each experience, person and opportunity we are given is a blessing. When life’s pressures were upon me, I prayed that joy would burst out of the situations. My spiritual strength and mental perseverance have shaped my story and allow me to stand victorious and loved.
Sulie Gooden Spencer Biography
Sulie was born 11th of 15 children in Gloster, Mississippi. She was given the nickname “Sweet” because her godmother, Clair Blake, always said that Sulie was “the sweetest thing” when they spent time together. As Sulie grew, she displayed compassion and an eagerness to help others. This trait has continued throughout her life, as her handprint of help and encouragement can be seen in her extended family, church, Dania Beach community and in Broward County, Florida. Her life partner of 52-years, James Edward Spencer, who she called Spencer, was a prayer warrior, silent force of strength and loving husband.
Sulie’s drive is rooted in a personal inner strength as a four-time cancer survivor. In 1976, at the age of 38, she was diagnosed with cancer in her right breast and had a full mastectomy. In 2002, she was diagnosed with breast cancer in her left breast and underwent radiation treatment. In 2015, The John Hopkins Hospital laboratory found well differentiated papillary mesothelioma in her stomach lining. Because mesothelioma is usually associated with the lungs, a thoracic surgeon assessed her lungs and delivered yet another cancer diagnosis, this time Non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma. In October 2016, Sulie’s oncologist shared that both cancers were gone after chemo treatment and today she remains cancer-free.
Sulie has never let either of her four cancer diagnoses alter her purpose or passion for living. She is a very engaged mother and grandmother. Although she didn’t attend college, education has been a priority for her. She was a community liaison in the Broward County School District for 22 years. She was the liaison to help families and students in need and to ensure that their disadvantages did not prevent a student from having the opportunity to receive a quality education. Her two daughters are college graduates, and her three grandchildren are either a college graduate, college student or college bound. The three Biegelsen grandchildren, the Jewish family she has been housekeeper for since 1964, are college graduates. Many of the thousands of kids that have been members of her church Sunday School class over the last 50 years, are also college graduates. She underscored that education was the key that unlocked doors of opportunity regardless of race, gender or economic status. We all are living proof of what happens when a visionary mother plants a seed of hope and possibility into your life, and you are encouraged to walk in faith and with purpose.
Although Sulie is the biological mother of two children, her mothering impact and legacy can be seen in her family as she is the matriarch of her fourteen siblings’ descendants and godmother to those in the church and community. Many people stop by her house to get advice, for her to pray with them, for financial support, for a hug or a slice of her famous pound cake. It is amazing to see what happens when one person believes in another and reminds them to pursue with diligence their dreams and hopes. Sulie helps each of us catch our dreams and live the unimaginable. She gives to all as though each belongs to her, and she calls each, son and daughter.
Not many people understand how to handle life after the segregated south or after multiple breast cancer diagnoses. Because of Sulie’s determination, faith, strength, and commitment to service, she has not only seen and experienced the world’s beauty, but she has ensured that she has left a little bit of inspiration with those she has met along the way. Her life motto is patterned after the song, “If I Can Help Somebody As I Travel Along . . . Then My Living Will Not Be In Vain”. Her charge to everyone each Sunday has been, “Let those who enter God’s house to worship, depart to serve.” We all have wonderful life memories because of an 83-year-old woman we are blessed to call “Momma.”
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