I grew up in the woods beside a river in Illinois. As a kid, I roamed and read a lot. Reading a good story was like setting off on an adventure through a mysterious forest, down a raging river, and across a stormy sea. Back then, I didn’t care how good authors did what they did. I just enjoyed it!
The craft of writing held little interest for me, except as it could be applied to school assignments. I never helped with the school yearbook. Never wrote for the local newspaper. Never took particular pride in my writing. Travel and adventure appealed to me, though. Somehow, I figured to become a foreign news correspondent. However, at the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, I nearly flunked out of News 101, saved only by my feature story published in the Sunday magazine section of the Columbia Missourian daily newspaper. After self-funded study in England and completion of my bachelor’s degree, I came to Madison with a graduate assistantship in agricultural journalism and environmental studies.
That was the mid-Seventies. My two-year terminal master’s degree stretched to three years, then more as I tried to wrap up a book-length thesis. To pay for those final years, I worked for the Wisconsin Legislative Council as a reporter on environment and land use issues. The MS in Agricultural Journalism got me into the Peace Corps and off to Malaysia, where I stayed to work on a private contract in ag extension communications. Returning to the States in the early Eighties, I found a job as an international ag journalist.
Also, I discovered I was a better editor than writer. During a 25-year career editing international ag trade magazines, I visited farms and agricultural facilities in 40 countries. Ag editing raised a family and paid most of the bills. Although I no longer edit ag publications, I continue to work in the ag publishing field.
Reading a good story still makes me snort with wonder: How did the author do that so well? To find out for myself, I’m writing an adolescent adventure novel: A boy, a river, and the strange fish that almost got away.
Participating in Tuesdays With Story is great fun, especially when members are able to help other members improve their writing. You’re right there, with fellow writers, in the throes of re-creation.
Tuesdays with Story 
Are you Clayton Gill – Peace Corp based in Malaysia and lived in Jalan Gallagher. Guddi Americk Singh
Clay:
I’d love to get in touch with you. Please contact me–look at The College of New Jersey, Dept. of Biology.
Don Lovett