I met Linda McCloskey in the winter term, 2010. I was a 52-year-old transfer student, preparing to switch careers and become a technical writer. I never dreamed that ENG250, “Writing about Literature,” would change my life. My intention was to take a few writing classes. I did not believe I was capable of earning a degree. Linda not only encouraged me to pursue a degree, she guided me through the academic maze. I would take two more classes from her: “The Personal Essay and Memoir,” and “The Writer in Nature.” During the latter class she convinced me that I should start a Nature blog.
Linda taught me the essay form and would never discuss a “paper.” “Essay not paper,” was her mantra. She insisted that I write in the first person singular. She taught me that writers intently observe their world. They look for patterns and variations from those patterns; seeking to understand those observations through their writing. She professed George Perkin Marsh’s adage, “Sight is a faculty; seeing, an art.”
....continued...
A Story About Linda
from Don Drife