When I was finishing high school and
looking for a good college or university, my preference was Michigan State
University’s School of Journalism. I
wanted to be a journalist, and my work on our school newspaper had convinced me
of that calling. My heart was set on it.
My father had other ideas.
He feared my exposure to radical
ideas such as communism, and also had concerns about how far from North
Carolina I would be. He was nearing
retirement from the Army Medical Corps and my parents would be moving back to
the Old North State soon. Disappointed
in not having such a great opportunity to study journalism at a school known
for such, I began searching through the Blue Book of colleges. Because my boyfriend planned to attend
Georgetown University in Washington, DC, I decided to seek a school in
Virginia, my mother’s birth state.
Randolph-Macon Woman’s College won the prize and I began my freshman
year there, graduating in 1955 with a major in political science and a minor
study in English.
It was at R-MWC that I began writing
for the two campus magazines and the newspaper.
I spent my senior year as editor of the newspaper, The Sun Dial. The experience
whetted my appetite for more of the same, and when my husband, daughter, and I
settled in Madison, NC after our first home in Bremerhaven, Germany with the US
Air Force, I found the opportunity. The Madison Messenger and papers in nearby
cities took my feature articles. I wrote
a column in the local paper as well. I
loved writing about interesting people and also helped husband Charlie with
articles on Madison’s history for a publication honoring the town’s
sesqui-centennial. It was a fulfilling
time that I could manage while at the same time caring for our four children as
they grew up.
At some point, however, my direction
changed and I became deeply involved in the life of our local Presbyterian
church. The effort eventually led me to
seek ordination at a time when women were barely recognized for such
leadership. Before I began that journey,
graduate studies in English at UNC Greensboro broadened my understanding of
literature and enhanced my writing skills.
The latter became important as I worked on church newsletters wherever I
found a chance to minister. I also
became extremely active in women’s organizations that supported opportunities
for leadership in many fields, and my choice was to serve as a chaplain in
hospital and hospice settings. Writing
sermons, a challenging genre, occupied much of my creative efforts.
Retirement provided opportunities to
consider other possibilities. I began
working seriously with different genres: poetry, varieties of prose, letters to
the editor on political and social issues, and eventually managed to publish
some books. Two are by a small press in
Maine, the rest self-published by a North Carolina company. Included are poems, a collection of stories
about a small town, and stories of children in WWII and of rescued pets. The latter two books are closer to my former
journalistic efforts.
What now? Well, I think another path is calling me:
some form of feature writing about interesting people and events. I don’t know how that will materialize, but I
see myself headed along other directions in my writing, part of which will
include my blog page. Watch this blog
for further news.
