Memorandum to Bill Wundram, by Suzanne Seeber, July 2002

To: Bill Wundrum

Fro m: Suzanne R. Seeber

R e : Eastern Iowa Writing Project

Summer Writing Class @ SAU 7/23/02

Date: 7/30/02

Thank you for talking with us as teachers of writing, as writers, and as members of your fan club. We are encouraged to respond to class presentations. This is my response to your presentation. I am also enclosing a copy of the "log" which Julie did for the day.

Your knowledge of your "beat", which often seems to include all of Eastern

Iowa and West Central Illinois, was immediately appreciated as you added place and people names when we introduced ourselves. You charmed us by telling stories, including the one about your grandson's housing arrangements at college. You had sized up your audience!

Next right thing you modeled: use humor and start at the very beginning of

the story. "I have been here since the lava dried." And you blatantly admitted your high school teacher gave you NO HOPE as a writer, before you chronicled the 58 years you have with the Democrat/Quad City Times. Furthermore, you let us know you are still working, learning, and having fun: "Maybe one of these days (after some 10,000 columns) I'll get it right!"

We learned how you gather interesting ideas, information, and incidents you consider using in the column. "Keep looking, keep listening, keep working." You also shared some ideas and squiblets which we saw a few days later in various columns.

So you talked about the process in class and modeled and demonstrated it over the next week. Your column, a regular part of my day, became the "opener".

You shared your inspiration: "We're always learning. You learn to write by reading -Dickens -I just weep. Somerset Maughm, Saroyan, Terkel, Clancy today, just great! Most significantly, you shared your passion: "I love to write. Oh, I love to write, it's a great feeling when you turn out a good phrase I am not a Christian

man but I pray every day- Make my words dance and sing and be accurate."

Bill Wundrum was sitting at a classroom table talking with a group of teachers, yet his words and ideas sang and danced before us and echoed in our ears when this Pied Piper of the Pen departed, having invited us to join the writing life.

Your visit and your stories have been a highlight of our summer.

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