About Ken

“How did you get into writing?” is one of the most frequent questions I get.

It started with a nightmare.

About three months after I retired twelve years ago, I awoke shortly after midnight from a dream about the exploding US deficit. At that time, I believe it was around six trillion dollars. All sorts of concerns filled my head.  I got up for a glass of water and tried to go back to bed.

My brain wouldn’t let me sleep. I went to our office/den to watch TV. The news channel broadcasted a lengthy story about how Congress was struggling with the new budget. Coincidence? Try as I might, I couldn’t put aside my nightmare.

A small red light on my computer, only a few feet away, kept blinking. Was it beckoning me, or teasing me? I turned off the TV and headed to the word processor to write something about my dream for my wife before I’d forgotten it. Shortly after, I started putting down my thoughts, it dawned on me that maybe all my crazy trepidations might be shared by others, and make for a good story or even a movie––so I started writing anything that came into my head. In two hours I hatched a plot complete with a gripping ending. Then, rewrote it. By morning had about six pages of what surely could be the basis for a blockbuster film.

When I told my wife about my dream, she shook her head and laughed.

It seemed overnight my life might take a new direction. I was going to be a writer. Look out Hollywood producers, here I come. Over the next two months, I learned a bit more about formatting a manuscript and after two more rewrites was anxious to send it out. But to whom?

Thinking this story had to be a sure-fire hit, I decided to send it to Stephen Spielberg at DreamWorks Studios.

I put together a letter of introduction, had my manuscript professionally printed on linen paper at Staples, and sent it off registered mail thinking this story would get his attention.

Three weeks later I received the envelope back as undeliverable. They had moved.

Undaunted, I found their current address and resent it the next day. Two weeks later, Tom, our mailman, rang the doorbell. “Hey, you got a certified letter from DreamWorks. Thought you’d want to see it, pronto.” 

I gingerly carried the mailing into the house, my feet barely touching the floor. He loved it, I thought. 

Carefully, I cut the end off the envelope so as not to damage its contents and slipped out what appeared to be my manuscript and cover letter along with another sealed envelope.

Inside that smaller envelope was a brief handwritten note. “Please be informed that Mr. Spielberg only accepts manuscripts from known sources. No one has read this. Please do not send materials to this location.”

I was shattered. How could they be so stupid? What did they know about quality writing, anyway? I sat at my desk and looked at what I had sent out. Eventually, I had to admit to myself that it wasn’t quite as good as I thought.

Two months later I found a writing class for adults at a local venue. We met weekly to critique our writings and learn new skills.

What started as an upsetting dream changed a lot for me. I have realized that writing provides new opportunities to expand my thinking and to share important life experiences with others only too happy to do the same.

Do you or your children have a passion for reading/writing you would like to share? Your story could inspire others. Please consider sending it to us.  If selected, we would love to share it with our readers.

Twenty-five hundred years ago Plato taught the power to tell a good story is the power to rule the world. For many adults reading and writing good stories remains as powerful today as ever. How do we encourage our kids to read more and perhaps write when so many are distracted from pursuing their full potential?

That is truly a challenge for our time.

Ken