M. L. St. sure on HubPages

My Dad was in the Marines during World War II. As a child I questioned him many times about his shiny medals, photographs, letters and postcards to my Mom; things about the war. It seemed the more I pressed him for answers, the more reticent he became. By the time I was eight years old I was writing war stories in the closet where my Dad's uniform hung.

I became obsessed with writing. One day I mailed a story to the Oakland Tribune, and it was published the next weekend in the "Aunt Elsie" column. Well, that did it for me. I was a PUBLISHED author! I was born and raised in Berkeley, California, and a few years later, I entered college and majored in English. I was still writing stories in my free time. A friend of mine who was editing for me, suggested I attend the Iowa Writer's Workshop in Iowa City, Iowa. So off I went to write more stories, and I absolutely loved it! I had just finished a summer session when I received a phone call from my Mom. She said my Dad had just passed away from an aneurysm. I was devastated. My chance to know him was over. A few months later, a package arrived in the mail. I opened it, and wrapped in old newspapers were my Dad's war journals. What a day that was for me. Though by the time I began reading them, I soon understood why he never spoke of the war. It took me a long time to absorb, to rethink, rehash everything that had happened to him. I really took it hard. My husband, Ken and my daughters encouraged me to write his story; that it would be therapeutic. So I began writing, and I could tell with each page I finished I was beginning to come to terms with my grief. By the time I was finished, I was healed. My book EVENSONG is dedicated to my Dad.