By Randy Capps
I remember my formative days as a writer. It was a simpler time. I had a little notebook in which I wrote poetry. Thankfully, that notebook, like the spirit and worldview that inspired the process, has been lost to time.
The other main contributor to what would become my career path was the words of others. I used to subscribe to Sports Illustrated, and the first thing I’d do was turn to the back and read Rick Reilly’s column. Once finished, I’d flip back to the front and see if Steve Rushin had a column.
When I got to college, I wanted to be the next Tom Sorensen. He was a columnist at The Charlotte Observer, and during my days at the campus newspaper, I, uh, borrowed from his style on a regular basis.Two fun facts about that time.
The first was the time that Sorensen came to Gardner-Webb to write a column about the South Atlantic Conference basketball tournament and I, having not yet developed my sense of confidence, was too shy to talk to him.
The second features Reilly. Back in 2005, I wrote what I consider to be my best column. It’s about Jason McElwain, a basketball player with Autism. I contrasted his spirit and achievement with my own family’s journey with the disorder and, on a whim, I emailed it to Reilly for his opinion.
He responded with, “Wonderful work. Stories like that always get me.”
I lived off that compliment for years. Fast forward to last month, when I found myself talking to my friend, Chandler Pernell.
“I enjoyed your column,” he said, talking about the one where I was concerned about the faces I was making on my delivery route. “I have to watch my face, too.”
It made me think about the way I read magazines, and the notion that anyone comes here first to see what random thing I wrote about this month makes me smile.
Just not enough to write more poetry.
