Words from a Reader

The “Writing Life Stories” e-mails I receive are such treasures. As soon as I see there is one in my inbox, I read it immediately. I look forward to them and never know how they will touch me. They can be interesting, informative, humorous, and/or touching.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Weekend at JCCFS Writing


Tonight I'm home and resting after a full weekend at John C. Campbell Folk School where I enjoyed instructing a group of five adults who are writing about their lives and their family histories. As usual, the unique stories shared by the three women and two men intrigued their class mates and me.

Rosemary, from South Carolina, wrote about her ancestors, The Big Ten, a family of five brothers and five sisters and a family that lived in the same place for seven or eight generations.

Jim, a West Virginia native, produced a character study of his uncle who became a father figure to the young Jim.

David, a robust man who reminded me of my brother Rex, with beard and mustache, surprised me by dictating his story into his laptop computer. This was the first time I'd seen that done. Maybe I can talk Rex into trying that means of using his computer. I never get email from this brother because he can't type.

Joyce, a delightful Baby Boomer, comes from a family she describes in such a way that I'm sure they are as much fun and as caring as she. Joyce didn't share her story until today, and in a couple of pages we learned much about the person who says she is shy with strangers.

Tommye, an artist with her loom, impressed all of us with her sensitive eye, as well as her sensitive way with words. To see some of Tommye's tapestry work, go to her blog,

http://tapestry13.blogspot.com/ and check out her website also.

I'll post photos in the coming days.
Now see photos.

6 comments:

  1. Glenda, It sounds like you had a good class with interesting people.
    Thanks for doing all you do.

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  2. Glenda:

    Sounds like a great group of people in your class. I'm glad you had a wonderful time together.

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  3. Thanks for visiting and giving comments. Although I enjoyed this class, as usual, I've been recuperating this week. As Nancy S. knows, while we love what we do, we are drained by the end of the class.
    Still, I look forward to meeting the students who come in May when I teach again at JCCFS.
    The staff and everyone there are cooperative and helpful.

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  4. Glenda,
    Thank you again for providing such an inviting and safe place to begin to share our stories. I'm still reeling from it all.
    Tommye

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I really appreciate your comments, and I love reading what you say.