Discuss

Everywhere I go, I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. --Flannery O'Connor

I've always said that I never majored in English because I enjoy reading too much. I suppose I can add that I enjoy writing too much, as well. Technique can be taught; soul cannot. I have read so few writers that have soul that also have permanent teaching positions at unversities; it's a cocoon and a safety net: even if my muse goes on permanent vacation, I can still afford that summer house on the lake! Ah, our intellectual betters. They work so hard for their money!

Unfortuately my soapbox prevents me from locating a book from which to pull a self-indulgent quote but I'm sure I can duplicate something fairly close from memory.

At her father's funeral in Nantucket, Allegra wept. Not for the old man, for he had made his mark , but for herself and the years he stole from her with his selfishness. A thief of the soul, he was, for all his talk of filial duty.