What a morning for Sandpoint writers! First, I opened my email, and there was a quick note from Cindy Wooden, who is very busy these days in her Vatican News Bureau. As a Catholic News Service correspondent, she has spent more than 15 years traveling with and covering Pope John Paul's activities.
This morning she wrote that she's tracking down Cardinals for today's story. Cindy graduated from Sandpoint High School in 1978. She learned her journalism from the same wonderful mentor as I did, Bob Hamilton.
Yesterday, I sent Bob the link to her Catholic News Service stories. I'm sure it was a proud day for him to know that Cindy has reached the pinnacle in journalism, reporting one of the world's biggest stories on the events associated with this Pope of all Popes.
After reading Cindy's email, I picked up my Spokesman-Review and saw an article about this year's Pulitzer Prizes. The fiction winner's name seemed mighty familiar, so I looked up Marilynne Robinson on the Internet, and, sure enough, she's our Marilynne Robinson, born in Sandpoint, Idaho, in 1943.
She's already penned one award-winning classic called Housekeeping; now she has a Pulitzer for her novel Gilead. It's about a 76-year-old preacher from Gilead, Iowa, writing a letter about his life to his young son. I may just do a story about this phenomenal achievement, if I can figure out how to contact Ms. Robinson.
In the meantime, I guess we can be proud that the water here in Sandpoint must contain some literary vitamins, when ya think of Patrick McManus, Cindy Wooden, Marilynne Robinson and a few other aspiring writers.
Not a bad day for Sandpoint products.
2 comments:
Congratulations Sandpoint. I hope someday a few of my students will go on to such achievements.
....and speaking of Sandpoint products, the Cobb Salad that I bought at Wal-Mart here in New Bern, North Carolina tonight came with Litehouse Ranch dressing!
MJB
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