Welcome New Board Members

Three new members of the National Willa Cather Center’s Board of Governors were enthusiastically welcomed at a recent board meeting. Amy Neff Balamanno, Timothy Bintrim, and Robert Wolfe joined a committed group of professionals, scholars, and community leaders who share the desire to advance the legacy of Willa Cather. 

As a great-great-granddaughter of Anna and John Pavelka, Amy Neff Balamanno has a unique tie to the Foundation and appreciates the work to keep her family’s story alive. “I'm passionate about the mission of the Foundation because of the continued dedication to sharing Cather’s work and the preservation of my family’s heritage.” While she now resides in California, Balmanno spent many summers in Nebraska with her grandmother, Antonette Pavelka Kort.

A professor of first-year writing and American Literature at Saint Francis University, Timothy W. Bintrim joined the board because he is passionate about the mission of the Foundation and appreciates the warmth of Cather scholars within the academic community. Bintrim’s scholarship focuses on Cather’s Pittsburgh writings, and he humorously shared, “She was a devoted Pittsburger for two decades and avoided paying rent for all but five of those years.”

Born in Omaha and raised in Lincoln with family ties to Red Cloud, Robert Wolfe was introduced to Willa Cather’s works by his parents and paternal grandparents. His lifelong interest began at age twelve when his grandmother loaned him a copy of A Lost Lady. “I grew up in the midst of Catherland and, as a result, learned a lot about people, life, history, and the land from a remarkable teacher, Willa Cather,” he said.