Skip to main content

Creative Writing


I have disparate interests. I guess that makes me more complicated than some folks. In revising my CV, these contradictions present themselves in various ways. That's why when I sent out my CV in response to a request for possible employment mentoring beginning teachers, I was wondering how my writing experience would play. There, next to memberships in professional organizations like the American Psychological Association's high school affiliate, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the National Council for the Social Studies, sits my NTWA membership. National Turf Writers Association. My colleagues in the Bay Area Writing Project have always found it fascinating that I managed to balance two worlds. Thoroughly supportive, for them, it was always about the writing.
People still judge the racetrack through a clouded lens. I guess they can't get past the gambling. Good reason for some. That addiction has taken its toll in similar fashion as other addictions. But it's always been about the horse and the horse people for me. Sure, I'll bet a race or two or three. I don't owe explanations to anybody, yet the thought of being judged lingers. People harbor so many myths about the racetrack. I think that's what kept me so interested for so long. Doing stories on trainers who had advanced degrees from prestigious schools, or grooms with more compassion than many doctors can be quite satisfying. Watching, with the breeder, the first race of a "baby" can be breathtaking. I love the tradition, the color, the mind numbing puzzle of figuring out a race. I love the characters (they're all there) like Adrian the OCD horse player, Hoover or Tony or Henry, all grooms who could be in any film. I respect the knowledge of trainers I've interviewed; the way they know individual personalities, the psychology of their animals, the body language and their ability to communicate without speaking. I been fortunate to see and discuss horses with the rich and famous, and the poor and infamous. Sometimes it was just the rich and poor; depends on how you define those terms. But the friends I have with low level claimers bring just as much awe and insight as those with graded stakes winners.
Living vicariously through the experiences of my favorite jockeys has been with me since I was 10. A bicycle can be a stretch runner too.
So now that it's time in this new year to renew my memberships in professional organizations, I'm taking stock and reconsidering a few. I'm pleased that my voice will still be heard in The Blood-Horse magazine from time to time. Turf writer is only one part of the whole. But all writing is creative writing. Isn't it?

Comments

Cameron McPherson Smith said…
hey bruce, looking forward to reading you in The Blood Horse. i'll keep my eyes open...is it at Powell's? cheers cameron
February 6, 2008 at 12:29 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

To a Tee

 I'm a sucker for a good t-shirt.  They are the foundational garment of my life.  My day starts with selecting a t-shirt and it ends with sleeping in one.  Once thought of as under garments, t-shirts are now original art and no doubt, a billion dollar business.   You can get a t-shirt with anybody's picture displayed.  You can commemorate an event, a birthday, a death, even a specular play in any sport.  Family reunions usually have a commemorative t-shirt.  Also, any organization that solicits your support in the form of a donation is likely to offer you a t-shirt. Where once I only had the basic white t-shirt, my drawers are filled with all manner of colorful choices.  Some recognize major events in my life, some, spectacular performances or plays I have witnessed, and some unforgettable places I have been.   I say I'm a sucker for a good t-shirt because I have taken the bait on what I perceived as a must-have only to be disappointed. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Illusory

What does it take to enrage you?  That moment when your words fly on pure emotion because enough is enough.  Is it a driver that cuts you off at high speed?  What about being an eyewitness to blatant racism or on the receiving end of some obvious injustice? I know some people who never express rage.  I admire them but know full well I am not capable of such distance from that which would bring about such a strong response. Another senseless shooting and 7 people die at the hands of a mentally ill gun owner.  The father of the 20 year old college student lets it fly and somehow millions feel a new sense of relief.  He calls the politicians bastards who do nothing, he wears his pain in public.  The news media responds but we all know that nothing is going to change.  We are the gun country.  We are the place where anybody, anytime, can be cut down just for being there when somebody else snaps. Usually the perpetrators are delusional. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mr. Greene v. Mr. Brown

I want to tell you about something. Something I've carried inside myself for a number of years now. Perhaps if I were a different kind of person I wouldn't need to talk about it. I'm not. My need to tell it is stronger than your need to hear it. Because, however, there are a number of teachers and former students of mine who may read these meanderings from time to time, I need to tell this story all the more. About 7 or 8 years ago I was asked if I would allow a university PhD. candidate to observe an English class. At first I decided against it because I was scheduled to have a student teacher placed with me the second half of the semester in question. After some urging, however, at the request of a respected colleague, I agreed. Soon I was committing to extra meetings, signing documents and explaining to the class in question who the young woman who thoughtfully pounded away on a laptop in the rear of the classroom three times a week was. I knew that the topic of ...
3 comments
Read more