Blackboard Exercises
Donald Murray
Description
Donald Murray, 1924-2006, was a Pultizer-Prize winner, World War II veteran, advocate of writing and its teaching, professor of English at the University of New Hampshire, and most importantly, a writer. He is the author of many books on the teaching and craft of writing, including: Learning by Teaching, Craft of Revision, Write to Learn, A Writer Teaches Writing, Expecting the Unexpected, Shoptalk, and Writing to Deadline. For twenty years, he wrote a weekly column in the Boston Globe called “Now and Then” where he engaged readers with the painful private incidents of his wife’s struggle with Parkinson disease and his daughter’s death at the age of 20. Although an accomplished writer and columnist, he didn’t hide his anxiety about writing, “Each time I sit down to write I don’t know if I can do it,” he wrote. “The flow of writing is always a surprise and a challenge. Click the computer on and I am 17 again, wanting to write and not knowing if I can.” A dedicated student, he described his unhappy childhood, “My parents and teachers got together and decided I was stupid,” he wrote. “My response was to develop a private mantra: ‘I’m stupid but I can come in early and stay late.’ Surprise. It worked. Good work habits will beat talent every time.” He died at the age of 82 of heart failure, leaving behind two daughters: Anne and Hannah. Four days before his death, he was writing his last column, which may be viewed online: http://www.boston.com/ yourlife articles/2006/12/26/finding_pleasure_in_the_challenge_of_a_blank_sheet/
Author
Lana Oweidat
Date of Upload
11/3/09