A friend of mine in Texas, Edward Southerland, gave me a book when I was there a few weeks back. The gift was inspired, he said, from the reading he has done on my blog, which I will take as a compliment since I am always pleased to hear that people actually read my blog. The book is written by William Zinsser and is entitled, The Writer Who Stayed. It is adopted from “Zinsser on Friday” from the American Scholar’s website where Zinsser wrote a weekly column on art, culture, writing, travel, baseball or whatever he deemed interesting enough to support a short essay. I am pleased with this book since I already own another of Zinsser’s books entitled, On Writing Well, which I have found to be extremely helpful.
Thank you, Edward, for this wonderful book. I read many of the essays on the airplane returning from Texas to California and I must say that I not only was thoroughly entertained by Zinsser’s style and voice, but also had a good lesson on what it means to write well in short essay form. Zinsser is conversational in tone, opinionated without being an ass, and takes great interest in a variety of subjects. Here is an excerpt from one essay called, “A Christmas Dinner” on page 16:
Last week, on an archeological dig through some fragments of my past, I came upon a mimeographed sheet of paper. It was folded in half, and on the front flap, in typewritten letters pale with age, were the words:
The 885th Bomb SQD. Enlisted Men’s Mess Wishes You a Very Merry Christmas
It was the menu for my 1944 Christmas dinner…
There’s a lot to be learned from a man who can write a scintillating column after finding a “fragment” of his personal history, such as a menu. He even included a list of the actual food served.
I am discovering through this process of daily blogging that there is an art to writing from a purely personal perspective on topics that are varied and somewhat arbitrary. I have not developed a real understanding yet of what exactly I’m doing or how any of these little entries I write pique interest in my readers, but I recognize that part of the process may be revealed by the title of my recent gift: The Writer Who Stayed. Perhaps the merit of this type of writing is simply to stay and record everyday life experiences and the emotions that accompany them. Maybe that’s what I’m doing with my 20 minutes a day of writing…
Whatever the case, I am delighted to have this lovely book in my library now and am indebted to my old friend from my hometown for giving it to me.
I will do my best to learn from this masterful chronicler, Edward, and to simply enjoy his prose.
I appreciate your kindness in giving me such a teacher. As they say in Bonham – our shared hometown – “Zinsser is a good’un.”
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