My Week in Review

Well, I am a day late with this blog post, but hope you find time to read it.

The past week has been busy and interesting. It began with my meeting the two pastors of my church. I knew them but we had never met in person. 

I don't go to church for a number of reasons related to my health, but in 1995 when we first moved to this little mountain town and this rural area, we attended different churches all summer hoping to find the right fit.

We had been very involved with our church in Albany, GA, the First Presbyterian Church there. It was an old church downtown. Barry and I sang in the choir and dearly loved being a part of that group. They gave us a party when we moved away and we missed them terribly. We liked this church because the people are open-minded and not biased toward anyone or prejudiced toward anyone. It is an open-arms church, I think.

It was a small presbyterian church here that drew us in. The friendly people and the small congregation seemed to call us. Before long Barry and another new member had decided we needed a choir. Barry just couldn't enjoy a church without a choir because he loved to sing. We formed a small choir and loved singing every Sunday at the service and at rehearsals. Singing makes you feel good and we drove home feeling as high as a kite because our endorphins were soaring.

I miss that feeling and I miss those people I learned to care about back in those days. Most are gone now.

But when Bob and Linda, the co-pastors who are a married couple, called and asked me to meet them at the church because they had something for me, I was happy to go.

Linda had knitted a beautiful prayer shawl for me. She said if I had to have surgery, and I will likely have surgery in a few months, she wanted me to have this shawl to keep me warm and to know I was wrapped in love. Now isn't that the sweetest thing in the world?

Wearing my beautiful, soft prayer shawl

On Thursday evening, I read some of my creative nonfiction at the John C. Campbell Folk School for our Literary Hour. We had a large group come out and one of my stories about my father seemed to resonate with everyone. It was a beautiful evening.

Saturday afternoon we returned to the same place at the folk school, the Open House Pavilion, and held a memorial service for one of our beloved members, Dr. Gene Hirsch. As we shared our thoughts and gratitude for this man, we also felt the joy of being together again since we had not met in person for two years due to the pandemic. 

Yes, last week was a busy week for me and it was filled with kindness, love, and celebration. 

This week has begun with medical issues but I am excited because my sister, Gay, and my niece, Lee are coming to visit. We three have such fun together. 

My dear readers, I hope you all are healthy and safe as we slowly move into fall with all the colors and cool weather.  For you in the southern hemisphere, I wish you good weather as well. 

Now, I am going to read all your Sunday blog posts.

Memoir - What to Include, Where to Begin

I will be teaching memoir writing at JCCFS for senior adults who want to share their life stories with family.
Many of my students are not professed writers, but men and women who write letters or have written technical papers or used writing in their careers in some way.
Like many of us, the average person thinks he/she can write the story of their life with no help from anyone. After all, who knows their life story better than the person who lives it? And so they begin, just as my 90 year old cousin did. But she never finished it. “I don’t know where to start,” she said. “Every time I get to writing I find after about ten pages in that I forgot something. Then I have to start over. I just get discouraged.”
As amateur writers, choosing the parts of your life to include is one of the hardest things to do.
“But I want to tell it all,” you say.
Helen Keller chose only the most important parts of her life to include in her autobiography.
We cannot possibly write all the memories in our brain no matter how dear they are to us. Our memory holds more information than all the sets of encyclopedia you could stack and pack into 100 rooms. We just can’t write it all.

Today memoirs are no longer autobiographies, but short and meaningful moments in a person’s life arranged in the best way to tell a story. Good memoirs should read like fiction, using many of the elements of fiction.



A memoir can begin any place in your life. A memoir doesn’t have to tell your whole life, but can be any part of your life.



Popular memoirs seldom start with “I was born on January 2, 1937, in Springfield, Missouri on Jefferson Street in a little brown house.”

We must find the story in our lives that needs to be told. We must ask ourselves, what do I want the reader to take away from reading about my life? Ask ourselves, why would the reader like this book and finish this book? How do we engage our reader? We must have a good concept, interesting events and we must use sensory detail; these three are the most common ways to balance action (what takes place) and reflection (what you think about the action as you remember it).

I receive a newsletter from John C. Campbell Folk School, and today I was happy to see the forward thinking of the administration there.

Solar Farms are popping up all over our area and I am delighted to see alternative energy sources being used locally. Many are skeptical of changes and think the solar farms are eye-sores on the landscape, but I think there are much worse eye-sores that do no one any good.

The following is an excerpt from the JCCFS newsletter.

Field House has new solar collectors for hot water.

Solar Hot Water System Installation Environmental Sustainability Initiative which is part of our Capital Campaign.

The installation of solar hot water
systems has already taken place on three of our buildings. The Dining Hall, Log House, and Field House have received these systems which are expected to provide 75% of our hot water needs and reduce CO2 emissions by 16.728 tons per year.

The systems produce hot water by means of solar flat plate collectors mounted on the roofs of buildings with necessary southern exposure. This installation, part of our Capital Campaign's Environmental Sustainability Initiative, allows us to not only be more environmentally responsible, but also to save an estimated $40,000 annually in propane and electricity.

Within the next few months, solar hot water units are scheduled to be installed on Davidson Hall, Keith House, Orchard House, Hubbell House, Mill House, and our Laundry Facility.


I am in class this week at JCCFS. We have made some fantastic photographs we'll share tomorrow.

January Writing Classes at JCCFS

I'd like to sign up for every single writing class at John C. Campbell Folk School in the month of January. Google these instructors and you will find out why I expect each class to be fun, fun, fun!


January 7-9 (Weekend $308)
What is Memoir Anyway?
Instructor: Dana Wildsmith
Ready to embark on writing the story of your life? Before you start, it’s
helpful to learn the difference between memoir, autobiography, and
family history. Our focus will be on memoir methods as we delve into
contemporary examples and classic memoirs for direction. Explore how to work parts of your life into very readable prose. All levels are welcome.


January 16-22 (Advanced Week $596)
Creating the World that Isn’t There
Instructor: Patricia Sprinkle
In good fiction, the imaginary world is so real that the readers feel
they’ve been there and know those people. Learn to create such
characters and settings. Bring the first chapter of a novel or one short
story on which you want to focus. Class consists of instruction, writing,
group critique, and revision, with pauses for laughter and learning
exercises. Designed for intermediate to advanced fiction writers, but
writers of memoirs, biography, and history can benefit.

January 30-February 5 ($546)
Sing and Paint with Words: A week of writing inspiration
Instructor: Karen Paul Holmes
Come get inspired. Through music and other arts, we’ll stir the creative
juices. We might listen to Beethoven or Elvis, look at paintings by Monet
or Finster, read literary masters or contemporary writers—all to generate
ideas for our poems, fiction, or essays. You’ll receive editing tips and
one-on-one critiques to make your work stronger and more readable.
Open to anyone who needs inspiration and help perfecting the art of
writing.

(Karen is volunteer editor and publisher of Netwest News. She has published in top literary journals and has a successful business.)

Pursue Your Dreams Now

Some of my students at JCCFS in 2009

April 6, we begin our Spring and Summer sessions with a class titled Who are You  and Why do You Write? I teach that class and the class is full but we will take names for a waiting list.

In May, Mary Mike Keller, talented writer and artist, teacher and genealogist, will teach a class of three sessions, one class each Wednesday for three weeks, on finding your ancestors and writing about them.

On June 19, Rosemary Royston, who just completed her MFA, will teach Humor in Poetry. We all like to laugh, and Rosemary is one of the best at putting that little twist of humor in her poetry.

I will also teach another writing class in June. Date to be Announced.

Estelle Rice will teach this summer and we hope to have the dates for her class next week.

Stay tuned and put these dates on your calendar if you are a beginning or even experienced writer, because there will be something here for you.

Tonight I heard from a man who was in one of my classes at John Campbell Folk School a few years ago. He had never thought he would write, but has now gone on to take two more classes at JCCFS, and now wants a recommendation for his application to get his MFA. Oh, yeah, he is retired after a long medical career. He plans to write fiction.

It is never too late to pursue your dreams. Go for it. Congrats, Don.

Why do all good things have to end?

I wish you all could have been at John C. Campbell Folk School this afternoon at 4:45 p.m. to hear my students read some of the pieces they wrote this week.


Judy began the reading with stories of the Border War between her grandfather and his neighbor. Judy researched her grandfather, talked with her siblings and others who told her about this character, but she fleshed out this man and told his story in class. The audience loved it.

Pat is an Episcopal Priest. She is also a writer. She writes sermons and has great command of the language, but this was her first attempt to write outside her spiritual work. She said this class has been fun and she now feels confident enough to submit work for publication. The listeners this afternoon at the Keith House loved her reading. I'll never forget "The Conductor."

I’ve read much of Nadine’s memoir since she has been in my classes in the past. She is writing the story of her life and when it is finished, it will make an excellent book. Today she read an excerpt called Aunt Betty’s store. The story stands alone with a beginning that grabs the reader, a great setting, delightful characters and humor. The story entertains and enlightens the reader. Nadine was a hit with the audience she faced today, and her marvelous sense of humor endeared her to all of us.

The biggest surprise this week, for me, was Vicki, another former student who is often quiet and fairly serious in the subjects she chooses. She was the last to read this afternoon. Vicki began with a short but powerful story about death, an elderly woman and an old dog. As I watched the small group sitting before her, listening to every word, I saw tears begin to roll down cheeks, tissues pulled from pockets and faces contorted in efforts to hold back the water works.

The second piece Vicki read was as humorous as the first was sad. Within a few minutes the writer, who had reduced her audience to tears, turned them completely around, and they laughed throughout the hilarious true story about Vicki dying her grandmother’s hair. Much of the joy of this story was in the performance, the dramatic voice and gestures of the writer. I hope Vicki will do some open mic reading in our area this summer.

As you can see, this has been another class at JCCFS in which students and teacher fell in love with writing about our unique lives and sharing funny, sad and nostalgic memories. I hope my students from this class continue to write, to attend writing workshops and seminars with good instructors. That will enrich what they have learned this week. And I hope to see them in my classes again one day.

Tomorrow is our last day, and we sadly say goodbye to the folk school experience, to each other and to having a full week to engage in our passion for writing.

Ray Hunter's Dim Trails

Passing down our stories to future generations is one of my passions. I enjoy hearing the stories of my students in my Writing About Your Life classes at Tri-County College or JCCFS, and I am pleased when I have some part in helping get these stories written down to help preserve the history of individuals who don't make the history books, but who have an impact on the world we live in.

Recently I was given a book ,Dim Trails , written by Ray Hunter who has earned his living from the age of six or seven by working on ranches in South Dakota.

He is 80 years old and has written a book of stories about his life and the lives of cowboys who lived the real cowboy way. His stories are written the way he talks, I'm sure, although I've never met him. I knew his brother --better than Ray did since they were both farmed out to different families when they were children because their widowed mother could not keep them.

I admire Ray Hunter for leaving this legacy to his family and to many others who will enjoy reading the true stories of cowboy life in the early twentieth century. I especially enjoyed his tale of someone from Hollywood who wanted to film an actual stampede. Although the cowboys tried to let him direct the stampede, the animals would not cooperate and the film maker ended up losing his camera and running for his life.

This link is to a newspaper article about Ray Hunter and his book.
http://www.tsln.com/article/2008565101030