10th Anniversary

Today marks my 10 year anniversary writing “Hello, Monticello.” I started at age 61, thanks to Kathy Mudd. It was a long time coming starting when I began writing for self-amusement when I was 10 years old in my hometown, Lucy, Tenn.

In the 10th grade, thanks to Mrs. Dobias, my English teacher and also faculty adviser to “The Trojan,” our monthly high school newspaper, I began to write articles.

My eyes soon were on the main column for the newspaper, “Corridor Cruising,” a satire about our high school. At the end of my 10th grade, the then editor asked me if I would like to write “Corridor Cruising” starting the next school year. The current columnist was graduating. Thanks, Janie.

For the next two years I turned into a sort of a real and fake news sleuth. My persona was an imaginary student who hung out on the fire escape outside the newspaper office (literally at times) and was able to see all from there. My first taste of the power of the pen was exhilarating.

My editor and I had heated arguments over my precious words he wanted to edit, probably leading to his talent as a lawyer and eventually to becoming a federal judge.

Also, during high school I wrote articles for the local newspaper, “Millington Star.” Back then they used hot metal printing, where the pictures and words were put on sheets of aluminum and then transferred to paper. Each week I would go to the newspaper office and type my article on a typewriter that used a roll of paper that resembled that of an adding machine. I learned how to hyphenate words, count words where so many words equaled an inch, and still remember the smell of newspaper ink.

Through my high school writing I got to attend the yearly high school journalism luncheon at the Peabody Hotel sponsored by the main Memphis newspaper, “Commercial Appeal.” Loved, loved, loved getting to attend and meet some of their columnists, including my idol, Lydel Sims. He wrote a home-spun-type column DAILY with local real characters and events. It was on the left-hand, below the fold of the front page. The name was “Assignment: Memphis.” My inspiration.

I took a gap year between high school and college, not to mature, but to save money for college. A course in journalism led me to write for the college newspaper, “The Volette” at the University of Tennessee Martin. I figured my writing talent would precede me, but there were lots of writers already there in competition.

Demoted to answering phones, delivering messages, finally, I got in on a meeting and was asked to write something. After that I learned that you have to toot your own horn and find the stories. Coincidentally, and quite amusing is that my editor at “The Volette” was Kathy Rudd.

College didn’t work out for me although I loved going and taking the courses I liked. They had other ideas like maybe me graduating some day. My active college years were from 1966 to 2014, still not even getting an associate degree, but plenty of credits, constitutional law to international cooking.

Eventually, I went to work for the phone company with connections through a friend. While there I wrote articles for company and union newsletters, even publishing a few. It was enough to keep my fingers in the ink.

As luck would have it, I landed in yet another small town, Monticello and the rest as they say in the movies is history. Thanks, for letting this old gal have some fun and I hope you have, too. 520 columns and thousands of words.