Local artist, writer working on first novel
After moving to Bella Vista and retiring from a corporate job in 2007, Donna Hanson became interested in art and writing and is now working on a novel.
She was vice president of infrastructure operations for Kroger in Ohio, and her husband, Walter Hunnicutt, was a pilot. She said he came home from work one day and told her J.B. Hunt had bought his company and asked her how she would feel about moving to Arkansas and retiring. She agreed, and they settled in Bella Vista.
She said it is difficult for women to find a place to fit in when they retire, whereas men can play golf and do other activities. She is a commercial pilot and a certified flight instructor, and she taught flight instruction at the Bentonville airport for four years.
She has done other things to keep busy as well. She and Hunnicutt have a production recording studio in their home, and they create tutorials for the software for music production.
In 2019 a college friend challenged Hanson to try Inktober — an October challenge in which participants draw one pen and ink drawing every day in the month. Participants receive a prompt, she said, and must post their pieces on social media.
The drawings sparked an interest in other forms of art, and she started creating art with watercolors and acrylics. About that same time she met Joan Barrett-Roberts with Village Lake Writers and Poets, and she began writing short stories and other forms of expression. She is now about to self-publish her first novel.
The novel is called “Heroes All,” and it was inspired by her late father, who fought in World War II and was part of the D-Day landing at Omaha Beach.
“Each one of us have been heroes to another person at some time in our life. The heroic moments are the small moments,” she said.
She wrote the novel to honor her father and to raise funds for the LST Association. LST stands for Landing Ship, Tank, which were the vessels used during the D-Day landing. A three-star admiral, Vice Admiral Andrew Lewis, is writing the forward for the novel, she said.
Hanson is also working on her art portfolio, as the Fayetteville Mall is opening up spaces for regional artists to display their art.
She has four children. Her oldest son and his wife live in Phoenix with their son. Her oldest daughter lives in Portland, and Hanson has a granddaughter there. Her youngest daughter lives in Dayton, Ohio, with her husband and their two sons. She also has a daughter in Bella Vista who has a husband and two children.
As for how she enjoys Bella Vista, she said, “Walt and I will sit on the upper deck and look at the lake and say we live in a postcard. We’re really lucky to be here.”