When I was a child, my father owned a small-town weekly newspaper. The whole family worked on it. I did my first writing for that newspaper, and that was the beginning of my love affair with words.
In junior high, I discovered the Nancy Drew mysteries and read all of the thin blue books on our classroom shelves.
Lela Foster Moudy, my high school English teacher, was excellent, but strict. She insisted on good grammar, and taught us to diagram sentences. We had to read a number of books and memorize lines of poetry each year just to maintain a grade above a C. She also coached our ready writing team for the Texas Interscholastic League. Under her tutelage, my love of words grew.
In college, I majored in journalism and English, wrote publicity, and edited the school paper. I also fell in love with and married a fellow journalist and word enthusiast. We spent many evenings, side by side, reading. From time to time, one of us would share a particularly interesting or well-written or funny passage.
I spent 24 years editing 20th Century Christian magazine and writing religious books.
Words are important to me. I make an effort to communicate clearly and economically. I love the rhythm of words, even in prose writing. Words allow us to share our thoughts, our feelings, our faith and our values. I can’t imagine a world without words. How poor we would be.
This month's website includes an article about media, a Bible study on Good News, and a feature on news personalities who have been important to me.
I’d love to hear from you in response to the website. I hope you’ll suggest topics that you’re interested in and let me know if the site is helpful to you. This is my website, but I believe in sharing. You can reach me at b.silvey@sbcglobal.net. |
