Today I had a treat. My student, Shaun, came to see me for the first time in three years. He is a junior at Boston University and is home for spring break. He called me a few days ago and started his conversation with, “Len, this is Shaun. Shaun Herzig. Do you remember me?”
Now I had Shaun as a student from the age of twelve until he was eighteen, so the chances I wouldn’t remember him were nil. How could I forget him? I said, “Shaun, of course, I remember you.”
“Could I come over some time this week and write with you?”
“Of course, my dear. Nothing would make me happier.”
So today was the day and Shaun arrived – all 6 foot 2 inches of him – and gave me a big hug. I felt as if I’d just seen him last week instead of three years before.
“I’ve been writing a lot,” he told me. “I wanted to tell you about the stories I’ve been working on.”
He told me about three, four, five stories that he’s been writing, all of which sound exceedingly interesting. He is, and has been since he was twelve, a passionate science fiction writer.
After he was finished I asked him, “So, how can I help you with these stories, Shaun? What are you thinking?”
His response: “I was hoping to get an edited version of them done so I can send them out for publication. I was hoping you could help me with that.”
My response: “I was hoping you were going to say that.”
So, our plan is that he will email me his stories from Boston and I will give him feedback and edits, then when he returns to LA over the summer, he’ll come and we’ll work together in person.We also looked up MFA programs in Creative Writing so that we could begin gathering information on whether that is the natural next step for his writing ambition.
I was so happy to have my old student back again. He was relaxed and talkative and could have just as well been around 13.
I will look forward to working with him again, and, hopefully, I can help him realize his dream of publication. He is a fine writer and a hard worker. It is entirely possible that he will find several publishing opportunities for his work. We will work hard together to make that happen.
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