Meet the Hummingbird Team

Sandra Novick, Founder, Publisher

Somehow, the world cooperated as Sandra Novick steered and stumbled her career into a path that combined her interests and talents in the arts, writing, analytics and business.  She admits to mostly loving her 20 years in the CMO position in banking, and to being a closet data geek. Website development called out to her, as it allowed her to integrate these disciplines. Sandra directed the development, design, infrastructure and functionality of several corporate sites.  

Upon deciding to move on from banking to a new chapter, what better to do than merge professional and life challenges through founding and building a blog that would allow her to connect with and connect to each other, and you, many of the talented people she was able to surround herself with over the years?

On a personal note, Sandra is also known to be an excellent friend, a steady cook, and to enjoy fine wines, delicious food, a smart read, and good conversation.  She proudly dedicates everything positive about thehummingbirdpost to her crazy smart and funny brother Jeff.

Angela Rieck, Co-Founder, Contributor

I WAS an executive of a large insurance company, a Ph.D. in Mathematical Psychology (go Terps!), a mother, a wife, a community leader, a volunteer, an animal rescuer, a friend and a philosopher.  I used to be funny, smart, with a keen eye for the absurdities of life. But now I feel defined by what I have lost, my career, my husband (who died from cancer August 2015), my 35+ year life in Morristown, NJ, possessions (stolen), volunteer work, two of my beloved dogs, my parents, friends, but most of all, my purpose.  What remains is an amazing 25 year old daughter and the daunting task of creating a new life.  I am fortunate enough to spend time in Key West, FL and St. Michaels MD. While trying to understand these 2½ years of loss, I started to chronicle my feelings, thoughts and philosophies.  I wrote to communicate, to understand, to reflect, to find a direction.  People who read my posts said, “you are a writer,” so I am grasping onto this skill to find where it takes me.  I am grateful for what remains, my daughter, my family, my friends, my husband’s family…and I will keep my promise to my husband to build on what is left.  Thank you for allowing me to share this journey with you.

Alex Ferrone, Contributor

Based on the North Fork of Long Island, Alex Ferrone divides her time as a commercial and fine art photographer, gallery director, and exhibition curator.

Alex’s photographic works have been featured widely in regional, national, and international publications including Wine Spectator, Vanity Fair Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and Pinhole Journal, as well as in numerous online magazines. Alex has exhibited her works in galleries and museums nationally in New York, Texas, Florida, Colorado, and Minnesota, and internationally in Italy and Spain. Her works are held in private collections internationally.

As Owner, Director and Curator of her eponymous gallery in Cutchogue for the past ten years, Alex has successfully presented dozens of exhibitions featuring contemporary fine art photographic and mixed media works by regional and national mid-career and emerging artists, and has also participated as guest curator and juror for exhibitions at other regional galleries.

Alex is an active member of the community having served as a Board member for several non-profit organizations. These include the North Fork Chamber of Commerce, North Fork Promotion Council, and WPPB Peconic Public Broadcasting Advisory Board. She has also hosted numerous charitable events for these entities and others such as Community Action Southold Town (CAST), North Fork Parish Outreach, and Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Ann Pogue, Contributor

Ann V. Pogue is currently enjoying (in the tortured sense) writing personal narratives and researching her family history.  She is consistently inconsistent in both her meditation and Pilates practices, and also enjoys road cycling and traveling.

Ann served nine years on the Board of Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic (PPHP), which provides health care, education and advocacy for women’s health and rights in the Westchester, Suffolk, Rockland and Putnam counties of New York.  She was PPHP Board Chair for two years.  Ann has served both nonprofit and for-profit organizations as a marketing consultant, including Nickelodeon, Prime Access Advertising and American Express.  At J. Walter Thompson advertising agency, she created and implemented advertising strategies for her clients, and developed in-house recruiting and training initiatives. Ann has been a Trustee of the National Public Radio Foundation and of the United Nations International School. She received an A.B. degree in Economics and Communication from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Barry Novick, Contributor

Barry Novick became a real estate broker on the North Fork, after moving here from Manhattan with his family 25+ years ago. Barry is well-known in the community as an all-around great guy, and as the ultimate real estate professional. He has brokered land, residential and commercial properties, including brokering the most vineyards on the East End over the industry’s history. After growing up just outside of Washington, D.C., Barry earned his B.S. in Anthropology at the University of Maryland, which prepared him well for his business career in NYC. In recounting his youth in Washington, Barry notes riding the “Congressional subway” between the House and Senate along with Representatives, Senators, and a Vice President or two. He and his friends often sat in on open sessions, when they weren’t catapulting ravines at Great Falls, and other great things kids did then. Due to surviving all of the above, Barry wanes philosophical and is known for his somewhat hysterical sense of humor.  He is probably the best friend a person could have. He lives in Sag Harbor and Brooklyn Heights and is always nearby his amazing daughter and son-in-law, and their extraordinary children.

Carol Lichtenbaum, Contributor

Carol grew up on the South Shore of Long Island, NY. After the NY State College tour, there was a short stint in Speech Pathology and a brief visit in theatre (strictly a techie). Carol found her professional “place” in Special Education and worked with the “Future of Tomorrow” for over 35 years, excelling in and loving her professional calling. She earned both an MA in Special Education and an MA in Counseling during her tenure.

Carol and her husband retired to Maine, where she is currently thrilled to kayak, cook, knit, read, travel, and volunteer at a local library and various committees in town.

They enjoy spending time with their wonderful family—siblings, cousins, children, and their three beautiful grandsons, who keep them very busy, and young!

Donna Wetjen, Contributor

Donna grew up on Long Island, the youngest child of two deaf parents. Her childhood was somewhat of a role reversal as she was the person who communicated with the outside world and made sure her parents were okay and not being taken advantage of. Donna believes that witnessing and experiencing the cruelty and discrimination toward people who are “different” shaped her into the compassionate person she is today.

Starting in banking at 16, Donna worked her way up the corporate ladder from Bank Teller to Director of Branch Operations for an East End bank. This position allowed her to feed one of her passions - writing - as she managed many of the Bank’s policies and procedures. Banking did not however, do much for Donna’s other great passions – rescuing animals and cooking. 

Feeling lost and alone after her mother passed away from breast and ovarian cancer, on a whim and in the throes of grief, she and her husband sold their LI home and moved to a little house on 17 acres in the rural mountains of North Carolina.  Here Donna was able to begin to feed her other passions, as they started a small hobby farm with mostly rescued animals of every variety including sheep, mini-horses, chickens, dogs, cats and a blind chicken named Winky. Shortly after moving there, Donna was diagnosed with breast cancer. After a grueling year-long regimen of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, Donna is happily cancer-free, but forever changed. She now spends her time nourishing all of the things that make her soul happy. She has a small organic garden and has learned the fine art of canning. She spends a good deal of time making up, changing or combining recipes to test on her husband, with considerable success. Donna is currently in the process of writing 2 books based upon her experiences with both cancer and rescuing animals. Donna loves her volunteer work at the county shelter and rescue organization, and is proud of her lifetime of advocacy that began as a child in support of her parents and continues today through her rescue and volunteer work.

Helene Munson, Contributor

Helene Munson, born in Germany, raised in Brazil and Liberia, British educated, has always traveled the world and loves writing about all the wonderful and not so great people and places she has encountered. She considers the North Fork, Long Island her home and she is a member of the North Fork Writers Group.

Helene Munson's nonfiction book, Hitler’s Boy Soldiers, part memoir and part WWII  and Third Reich history was published by The History Press in the UK  in October of 2021 and by The Experiment in the USA in May 2022.

Helene reports that her family's surviving documents, photos and heirlooms in addition to her own travel mementos feature prominently in her writing which additionally includes published short stories. Helene Munson has been a guest contributor on thehummingbirdpost and has recently joined HB as a regular contributor.

Janet Greenfield, Contributor

Janet Greenfield, native Brooklynite, is proud to say she has lived there long before it became fashionable.  Trained as a clinical psychologist, Janet threw in the professional towel after discovering she preferred sewing small pieces of fabric together to make modern quilts over listening to her patients.  The result has been a long and fruitful relationship with her beloved Swiss sewing machine.  In her spare time, Janet enjoys baking pies, reading long plotless novels, and compulsively completing the New York Times crossword puzzle (arrogantly, in ink). She lives with her husband Peter on the edge of DUMBO.  In Brooklyn.  Of course.

John M. Miller, DVM, Contributor

John Miller (Jay) is an equine veterinarian and also operates an equine pharmaceuticals business.  Jay moved to the North Fork with his family 17 years ago, and has not looked back!  Until recently, Jay also operated Vetport, Inc., the facility at JFK Airport that serves as an export quarantine facility for animals leaving the country, and also receiving large mammals for testing prior to their entry to the US. 

Jay’s love of all things food and wine is appreciated by his friends and family who are often the lucky “testers” of his new and original recipes and tryouts of culinary processes and equipment.  His enjoyment of food, cooking and wine took hold early on while he lived in Northern Italy for five years.  Jay delights in learning about a specific region through its cuisine and is an adventurous traveler.  Through his own exploration of the locale’s ingredients, spices, herbs and techniques, Jay achieves the desired result—much to our amazement and good fortune. 

Lynda Bernard, Contributor

Quite some time ago I retired from advertising after long stints at various agencies, having had various titles. The universe, however, had other plans for me, and I wound up running my own agency for 12 years, and then decided it was time to really, really retire. I relocated to West Orange, a flourishing multicultural town, to be closer to my family, and have more time to enjoy my four grandchildren. I live with two delightful cats, Ziggy and Marley, have few pressures, no deadlines. People who are still working often ask me what I do all day - and I smile. Imagine all the things in your life that give you  pleasure, that’s what I do all day. Hobbies? I don’t have “hobbies” - I have ways I love to spend my time. I deeply believe in kindness. I try really hard not to worry about anything (it’s hard work). And every day, I count my many blessings.

Mary Ann DiLorenzo, Contributor

Mary Ann, a career banker, prefers jeans and sneakers to suits and shoes, and would choose outdoors to inside any day. Over the last few years she has been involved in many new adventures, bowling being one of them, and one in which she will gladly talk your ear off until you walk away screaming “uncle!” Her current goal is to score 200, which has eluded her by only 23 pins to date. People have told her she is a good writer, but Mary Ann will let you be the judge of that.

Sarah Ehrenson, Contributor

Sarah Ehrenson relocated to the North Forth in 2000 with her family. She is an equine veterinarian who enjoys traveling, running, reading and maintaining the sliver of sanity she still possesses.

Tina Folks, Contributor

“I remember a time back in elementary school when my art teacher asked us to raise our hand if we enjoyed making things. Well….my hand is still up!”

Tina Folks is a full time creative; ceramic artist, illustrator, and gardener who also enjoys cooking and creative writing. Together with her husband Bryan, she also shares a decorative painting, wallpaper and tile business called Fee Fi Faux, Inc. which serves the residential market on Eastern Long Island. 

Since 2000, Tina has stayed connected to her local community co-producing several public art projects.  Notably, “We are All Connected,” a community fire ceremony in 2014, held at East End Arts in Riverhead, and in 2017 the MAKE YOUR MARK community tiled wall project, permanently installed at Gallery North in Setauket.   

Most recently though, Tina has become a contributor to thehummingbirdpost. Her work captures a poignancy and whimsy of everyday life through her sketches and commentary. Currently, Tina lives in Patchogue with her husband and their five cats.

Tony Meisel, Contributor

Anthony (Tony) Meisel grew up in New York City, and on Martha’s Vineyard, where he learned to sail. After receiving his B.A. from Columbia College, he earned his Ph.D. in medieval intellectual history in  Vienna and continued postgraduate work at Cambridge. Tony’s translation of The Rule of St. Benedict is the standard in English. He has also published books on sailing, wine, and nautical history.

Tony runs his own design consultancy, following a long career in book publishing with a break for teaching medieval art history at the City University of New York.  Tony is a self-professed foodie, and has astounding knowledge of spices, herbs, and cooking.  He and his wife Judi, a research librarian and accomplished baker, live full-time on the North Fork of Long Island, after 30+ years as second homeowners.