My good friend Judy Owens Manley asked me to give her advice on what MFA program to enroll in, and to write her two letters of recommendation. I told her that yes, I will. And I will find the time to do this.

I asked her last night to answer two questions, the first one was, why was she interested in the particular programs that she’s applying for. The second (which came on the tail of the first) was what did she hope to get from the program writing wise?

She hasn’t yet answered my questions, but the second question is one that I have been thinking hard about.

I could not have answered the second question when I was in the University of Alaska Fairbanks MFA program. My ability to critique and criticize the writing of others was non-existent. The same held true of my own work. This came with time.

And so today, I got to thinking that if I were to enroll in, say, a post MFA program, I would want to assist in shaping the scholarly conversation as it pertains to creative nonfiction writing. I write almost exclusively in the first person, which has its own difficulties, as does writing in the second and third person. Essayists and memoir writers don’t have much leeway in terms of fabrication. And they must trust that their readers trust them. Such writers are getting at certain truths, using their own point of view and personal recollections as they attempt to do this.

I am writing (yet another) memoir. I do pass judgement on certain individuals in Part 1, in an attempt to make a bigger point – not that they were idiots or jerks (they most certainly are not), but that like me, they were stymied when I brought into question recycling as this related to re-use. I didn’t mean to. I just didn’t want to see books, perfectly good books, get shredded and pulped. I note that the facility was not built for re-use related activities. (No one, not even Pete, had that kind of foresight).

I would like to think that my example will serve as a jumping off point for those who are designing recycling facilities. Imagine it – an area in which books might be brought in and salvaged, sorted, categorized, and then further prepared for distribution.

In a way, I feel like Temple Grandin who began her career by designing cattle squeeze chutes. She was considered to be crazy at first, but her ideas have since gained widespread acceptance.

Writing about what I am writing in the second or third person would distance me too much from the subject matter. But I sometimes need that distance, which is why in dispatches I sometimes write in the second person. I then feel as though I’m taking a step backwards, one that enables me to take a much-needed, more detached perspective.

Yes, I can now talk about my work. And I think that in time my friend Judy will also be able to do this.

Next: 28. 1/28/23: Whooooooooooomph