No Plan - A Challenge for My Edi

When I first decided to write this book I had no idea where my mind would lead me. Unlike those who need to know what they are going to do before they do it, I decided to give my mind the freedom of working without a plan, subject, or any other specific goal or destination. This is not easy to do, because, already I have run into basic organizational problems that could have been eliminated with a little advanced planning.

I suppose one might liken the process of writing a book to that of a race horse running a race. There are those horses that will come flying out of the starting gate, almost before the bell is rung, but the moment they are outside, on the track, they see the crowd and for some reason they are unable to run. Then, there are those that have a very hard time starting; they don't want to leave the comfort of their stall, but once they have been forced out, they are off and running. I am like the first kind of race horse. I enjoy writing the first chapter and jump out quickly, but then I become nervous, I don't like showing off for a crowd. I have always been a one-on-one type person. So, when it comes to writing, I always think of only one person at as time when I write. So, I hope you find my writing like a collection of personal letters or intimate conversations, bound together.

I have spent my life meeting people, and made "knowing people" my business. Some people don't like to become personal about anything, preferring to not know anything but facts. Those people make me nervous. I am a "personal" person, and my purpose here is to explain in words something that has appeared to me in a flash. My paints are words, and my canvas is the mind of you, the reader.

Feedback Page

CONVERSATIONS

My Earliest Days

Recollections of WWII

Music Touches Me for the First Time

The Grand Island Experience

Individual and Collective Error

Pain - Notes