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| Detail from “The School of Athens” a fresco by Raphael (1483 – 1520) [Click image to call up all published instalments] |
Last Monday, I was sorting through yet another box when I stumbled across one of the first pieces I ever had published.
I graduated from high school in 1986. Shortly before I did, on my 18th birthday, I stopped into The Moline Daily Dispatch to turn in my 30-day notice of giving up my paper route. The Circulation Director, Hal Wilkerson called me into his office.
He asked me what my plans were after graduation, already knowing he did not receive the application for the newspaper scholarship that I had previously told him I was working towards. I explained that I needed to help out at home. Times were tough and my parents still had four more coming behind me. He told me that not getting a degree would be the only thing that would hold me back from taking his job one day, but told me if I needed work, he had something for me. All I needed to do is show up the day after receiving my diploma.
