Origins Blogfest: I was a 4th Grade Writer

1972. I was in Mrs. Benz's 4th grade class at the Intercommunity School of Zurich. Mrs. Benz was a tough teacher, and we learned a heckuva lot that year. One thing I really wanted to do was write a story that she would think worthy of inclusion in the school magazine, because Mrs. Benz didn't let any old flotsam and jetsam represent her classroom.

I wrote what I thought was a great tale, of three girls wandering into a haunted house. Mrs. Benz got out her editorial pen. I went back and rewrote. This happened a couple more times. Finally, I passed muster. The piece was sent off to the magazine. But now I had to hold my breath. Would it be included?

I remember when the magazine came out. Shiny white paper. Flags of the nations on the front. And there, on page 43, with the unassuming title--"A Story"--was the first published piece by 9 year-old Michael Gilmartin.

40 years on, I still have my copy.  I see I was very keen on adjectives. (The final line reads: "They broke into a run and never came back to the old, grimy, smelly, romantic house.") I also used words like picturesque, eiderdown, cobwebby,  and luxuriously.

That first sight of my words in print, my byline, meant there was no going back. I don't think I thought I was going to be a writer, any more than I thought I was going to be an astronaut--but I realized I loved to write, and loved the thought of others reading my words. That feeling has never left me, even though my decision to try and make writing a career came almost 20 years later. That dream, born from the first dream, lives on.

The Origins Blogfest is the brainchild of DL Hammons, who along with Katie, and Alex, and Matt are co-hosts for the blogfest. For the list of all participants, just click on  Origins Blogfest!