Revolution and Evolution: My Career as Writer and Teacher

When I was three or four years old, there was a drawer in the kitchen filled with lined stenographer pads, pieces of deckled letter paper, yellow legal pads, and Big Chief tablets that, along with a variety of pens and pencils, most stamped with the logos of hardware stores, gas stations, and insurance companies, made up our household writing supplies. My contribution was a box of 64 Crayola crayons and a variety of stubby colored pencils. My love of pen and paper probably started when I did tracings on the variety of papers in that drawer. Even at age four, I was fascinated by the handwriting of both of my parents; I thought it was artistic and beautiful. Ever the bossy little princess, I demanded to be taught how to write. To satisfy me, my mother wrote my name several times on a sheet of paper in pencil, then I traced the words in pen. She provided me with page after page of family and pet names, addresses, and nursery rhymes to trace. At the bottom of each page was space for me to try the letters and words on my own.