Vicky Lettmann, left, and Carol Roan, co-editors of "When Last On The Mountain: The View From Writers Over 50." Lettmann will make two appearances on Sanibel to discuss their recent book release.

Vicky Lettmann, co-editor — with Carol Roan — of “When Last On The Mountain: The View From Writers Over 50,” will discuss the subject of her book at two upcoming Sanibel events.

On Friday, Jan. 28, Lettmann will take part in a “Reading & Conversation” discussion at the Sanibel Island Bookshop, located at 1571 Periwinkle Way, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

On Monday, Feb. 7, she will conduct a Book Talk at the Sanibel Public Library, located at 770 Dunlop Road, from 2 to 3 p.m.

At both events, Lettmann will talk about how she and her friend (Roan) came up with the idea for the anthology and how they chose the essays, fiction and poetry included in the collection from the over 2,000 submissions they received.

“When Last On The Mountain: The View From Writers Over 50” is an anthology disproving the cliché of being “over the hill” at 50. Instead, writers in their fifties to early nineties depict life in all its vibrancy, poignancy, and even hilarity.

The readings in the anthology offer unique views on all aspects of aging, including:

• A Las Vegas wedding at age 60.

• A recently widowed man discarding his wife’s red sweater she wore when they met 22 years ago.

• A Social Security worker telling a newly cut-off — but quite alive — recipient, “You are recently deceased.”

• A cancer patient contemplating an eighth gray hair.

• An 83-year-old woman finding compassion for a tattooed girl and her own mother.

• A Bad Mothers Club member winning “Worst Mother of the Month.”

• A daughter recalling the very good, bad and ugly about her parents who died seven days and seven years apart in May.

The many contributors in the anthology include a civil rights worker for Native Americans; an avalanche safety handbook author; Saskatchewan’s first poet laureate; a food historian; a former Franciscan monk, a performance artist; a gerontologist; an art therapist; a lawyer; and a professor who teaches in Qatar.

Lettmann, who is currently teaching a writing workshop at BIG Arts entitled “A Note In A Bottle: Writing For Beginners,” grew up in southeastern North Carolina near the Atlantic Ocean where she learned to love the smell of saltwater tides. She created Turtlehouse Ink and published “The Beach,” a collection of poems with artwork by her mother, to capture some of those ocean smells and sounds of her childhood.

For more than 30 years, she taught writing and literature at a community college in Minneapolis, Minn., where she founded and edited the literary arts magazine Under Construction. She also served as an editor for Speakeasy, a literary magazine published by the Loft Literary Center. She writes poetry, stories and short essays and teaches writing workshops in Minneapolis and in Sanibel, where she and her husband, John, spend the winters.

Lettmann met Roan, her co-editor, at a writing workshop in St. Petersburg, Russia. A professional singer, Roan has published two non-fiction books, “Clues To American Dance” and “Speak Up: The Public Speaking Primer.” She now teaches voice and stage presence in Winston-Salem, N.C., where she also edits and leads workshops in readings by writers.

For additional details regarding the Jan. 28 event, contact the Sanibel Island Bookshop at 472-5223; for the Feb. 7 discussion, contact the Sanibel Public Library at 472-2483. For more information, visit www.turtlehouseink.com.