Use Your Power
By Brent Davis
On July 24, the students of the Creative Writing class were graced with a visit from award-winning author Jaclyn Maria Fowler. Jaclyn is a warm and engaging person who connected immediately with the students. One even stayed after class to share a deeply personal story.
Jaclyn shared the story of her first book, Jack: The Almost True Story of the Molly Maguires, and read a part of it. This was a very personal story, although the events were 150 years ago because she grew up in the area where the events took place and her father, Jack, was also a union official who suffered reprisals from management.
Personally, I truly enjoyed talking with her about the Middle East and linguistics, areas of common interest. I am sure that most of the class will be looking forward to her next visit to sign books and perhaps share more of her stories.
Dr. Fowler answered several questions about writing. The one that stood out to me and seemed to summarize her advice was “Use your power!” We all have the power to tell stories that can encourage and instruct others to make this world a better place. Use your power!
