Sunday, March 22, 2009

WHY DO I WRITE ~ Mary Jo Bang

WHY DO I WRITE ~ Mary Jo Bang




My biological father (who left home when I was four) kept a daily journal for over fifty years weirdly recording times down to the minute (5:38, not 5:40), the weather and its vicissitudes, which roads he drove to work (various), and what he bought if he stopped at the drugstore (Tums), etc. At night he typed and shaped it. He kept the pages, divided into years, in over-sized three-ring binders. He called it The Story of My Life. There are thousands of pages. Some genetic debt undoubtedly drives my compulsion to write. Of course, there's also everything I've ever read, and every one I've ever met, including my mother, whom I met early.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Dolmii Remeliik said...

I love coming to your site to read the "Why Do I Write" blog series.

Dustin Brookshire said...

Dolmii-- THANK YOU! I'm glad you enjoy the series.