University of New England

Hispanic community program director awarded 2007 Perdita Huston Purple Starfish Award

PORTLAND - The Maine Women Writers Collection at the University of New England awarded the 2007 Perdita Huston Purple Starfish Award to Anais Tomezsko of Milbridge, Maine at the 5th Annual NAACP Celebration of Excellence in Education Ceremony held on April 27, 2007.

The award honors the memory of Portland, Maine native, journalist and Peace Corps activist Perdita Huston. It is given annually to a young (under 30), emerging woman leader who strives for a more vibrant and culturally diverse society in the state of Maine.

Tomezsko received $1,500, funded by the Lillian M. Berliawsky Charitable Trust and Maine Women Writers Collection, to further her work in the community. In addition, she now has the opportunity to select three mentors from a roster of community leaders to work with during the next year.

Anais Tomezsko
Tomezsko currently serves as executive director at the Mano en Mano Hispanic Community Resource Center in Milbridge, which responds to the needs and concerns of the migrant worker communities in Milbridge. Some of Tomezsko's many accomplishments at the Center include developing an after school program, creating women's health workshops for Latina women, offering Spanish classes to the local community and the collaboration with the University of Maine, Orono to create an Intensive English Institute. This spring, she went to Washington, D.C. to advocate with the newly formed Maine Racial Justice Coalition. In 2006, she received the Spirit of Cesar Chavez award from the League of United Latin American Citizens for her work with Maine migrant worker communities.

Fluent in Spanish, Tomezsko began working for the Maine Migrant Health Program after college as a volunteer interpreter and assistant to Latino students. Soon after, her work expanded to include clinic work as an agent for the medical voucher program where she helped people navigate medical institutions and get access to local clinics. 

Mike Rowland, Medical Director of the Maine Migrant Health Program, nominated Tomezsko for the award, believing that her vision and ability to bridge cultural gaps is integral in helping a small and diverse community like Milbridge come to terms with its diversity as strength.

The Purple Starfish Award
The Purple Starfish Award, in its second year, honors the memory of Portland, Maine native Perdita Huston (1936-2001) who spent most of her adult life traveling the world, working for women's rights, sustainable development and families everywhere. A journalist, Peace Corps official and director of several international organizations, she wrote four books, including Third World Women Speak Out and Families as We Are: Conversations from Around the World.  Her papers are located at the Maine Women Writers Collection.

Candidates for the award are Mainers who, like Perdita Huston, are committed to multicultural values, and demonstrate strategic thinking and entrepreneurial spirit.  The purpose of the awardis to validate the recipients vision, celebrate her emerging leadership, develop her skills and make her life and work more broadly visible.

The Purple Starfish Award is named for a line from Perdita, a play written and performed throughout Maine and elsewhere by Huston's son, Pierre Marc Diennet. 

For more information, contact Cally Gurley at (207) 221-4324 or cgurley@une.edu.