Hello to All

Another complete newbie to blogging here, bidding my fellow conference attendees a warm hello. I'm driving from Tacoma to Taos via Salt Lake City in a couple of weeks, as soon as I finish a stint of jury duty (my daughter lives in SL, a student at the U of U). Having just completed the school year, I am thrilled to have the entire summer to immerse myself in reading, writing, learning, and frolicking. The week in Taos with all of you looms as the jewel of the summer.

Now, the shift is on from reading my students' essays on Louise Erdrich's Tracks and Hamlet to a second reading of the manuscripts of my fellow memoirists in Greg's class. And I just finished Vivian Gornick's memoir in the jury waiting area at Pierce County Municipal Courthouse this morning. I closed the book, closed my eyes, and listened with ears that had become attuned to the voices resounding through all I've been reading of late -- listened to prospective jurors from across the spectrum: grandparents, single moms and dads, mechanics, employees of Boeing, all weaving themselves together with stories.

Needless to say, I'm thrilled, especially to meet Susan, Caroline, Jennifer, Marc, and Cynthia, whose voices I've come to know as dear old friends. What a trip to encounter you all in embodied space in a few weeks! (I hope you've all received my manuscript, such as it is. I apologize for it going out so late. There's a story, of course.)

All the Best,

Creighton