A Writer's Moment: 'Food for thought - and writing'

A Writer's Moment: 'Food for thought - and writing':   “Most memoir writers will tell you that the hardest part of writing a memoir isn't what to include, but what to leave out.”  – Kathlee...

'Food for thought - and writing'

 

“Most memoir writers will tell you that the hardest part of writing a memoir isn't what to include, but what to leave out.” – Kathleen Flinn

Born in Davison, Michigan on this date in 1967, Flinn is a memoirist, journalist and chef, best known for her New York Times bestseller The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry.   After earning a degree in journalism from Columbia College in Chicago, she wrote for newspapers and magazines in a number of states and nationally, including working as an obituary writer in Sarasota, Fla.  That experience was – in a way – her first chance to write “memoirs.”  

 

It was also at that time that she started thinking about attending culinary school at the world-famous Le Cordon Bleu and her book is the first to provide an in-depth look at attending and graduating from the famed school.  To date, it has been translated into nine languages, sold in more than 60 countries and is in production for a television series.

Flinn’s most recent book is Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good, a multi-generational culinary memoir about growing up in Michigan.  A finalist for several book awards, it also has earned a citation from the  International Association of Culinary Professionals.  And her writing success all goes back to her time writing obits in Sarasota.

 

 “I didn’t realize it at the time," she said, "but writing obituaries was one of best jobs that I've ever had. After all, it's the only time that someone will ever laminate my work and put it in their Bible. Plus, let's be honest, writing obits in Sarasota is a very busy job. The saying was that old people lived in Miami, but their parents lived in Sarasota.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Specialize in the impossible'

A Writer's Moment: 'Specialize in the impossible':   “What we need is more people who specialize in the impossible.” – Theodore Roethke Born in Saginaw, Michigan on May 25, 1908 Roethke ha...

'Specialize in the impossible'

 

“What we need is more people who specialize in the impossible.” – Theodore Roethke

Born in Saginaw, Michigan on May 25, 1908 Roethke has been lauded as one of America’s greatest 20^th century poets.  Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his book The Waking and the National Book Award for Poetry – for Words for the Wind and for The Far Field – Roethke shared his talents both through his writing and as a longtime teacher of aspiring writers.  His legacy, in addition to inspiring and training generations of students, is a diverse and lyrical body of poetry.   For Saturday’s Poem, here is Roethke's,

                                                              The Waking

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.

 

We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

 

Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.

 

Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

 

Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me, so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.

 

This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

 

I learn by going where I have to go.

A Writer's Moment: 'Your story, your hero'

A Writer's Moment: 'Your story, your hero':   “Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story.” – John Barth   Born in Maryland on May 27, 1930 Barth is best known for the ...

'Your story, your hero'

 

“Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story.” – John Barth

 

Born in Maryland on May 27, 1930 Barth is best known for the novel The Sot Weed Factor, and for his short story collection Lost in the Funhouse and novella collection Chimera, winner of the National Book Award for Fiction.

 

Barth authored 21 books plus numerous essays and short stories winning a number of major awards including the Lannan Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award and the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story. 

 

“The story of your life is not your life,” Barth said.  “It’s your story.” 

A Writer's Moment: 'First be a reader'

A Writer's Moment: 'First be a reader':   “I think the reason I'm a writer is because first, I was a reader. I loved to read. I read a lot of adventure stories and mystery book...