Born to Write

FEATURED AUTHOR—SILAS HOUSE Born to Write Sandra Stidham When Silas House is asked about influential teachers, the first person he names is Sandra Stidham. House credits Stidham with introducing him to the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which became his favorite book, and encouraging him as a child and to the present. In 2003 Stidham was awarded the Outstanding Art Educator Award, which is given by the National Society ofArts and Letters to honor the work of dedicated mentors and teachers of young artists. House was on hand to present her with the award. I TAUGHT SCHOOL FOR THIRTY YEARS in the Laurel County School system here in southeastern Kentucky. When I retired they gave me a party. There were little speeches, tributes and gifts. It was very nice, and I felt honored and grateful. But I remember thinking that the greatest tribute I would ever have was alive and well and living about five minutes away in Lily, Ky Silas House is a former student of my seventh grade English class. They called him Dwane back then. He even looked like a Dwane, an ordinary, somewhat lean and lanky country boy. But by the end of that year he was no ordinary child. Silas thrived on creative writing assignments. I began to notice the quality of his stories and made a point always to include some words of praise and encouragement along with my red correction marks. His grammar in those days left a lot to be desired, but nobody worked harder to improve. We talked about books, and he read everything I recommended. By the end of that year I knew he was very talented. But I wasn't sure if he would follow through with his ambitions to be a writer. Then came a sweet surprise. Silas kept in touch with me! He would bring his short stories by my house and leave them for me to read and edit. We would talk about them, and he'd bring me more. This continued through college and beyond. It seemed that every time he came, his work would be better than the time before. And he never stopped writing. I was amazed at how prolific he was. He was overflowing with ideas for other stories, and he always stayed true to his goal of being strictly an Appalachian writer. 20 One day I especially remember. He was sitting on one end of my couch, and I was on the other reading one of his stories. I remember feeling something akin to chill bumps as I realized he had passed me up. He had it. He was so good I knew there was nothing else I could help him with. It was an awesome moment for me. Then the real fun began. He began working on his first novel, and I got to read it chapterby chapter as he got eachwritten. No advice now— just a kind of bewildered elation. Where had this kid come from? He was writing a novel and describing characters thatI feltI knew personally, developing a plot that lived and breathed and spoke so beautifully to the heart of our people and our heritage. I was thrilled to my soul. It was so easy to become good friends with the adult Silas, although "Miss Stidham" is still all he will call me to this day. He is gentle and good, and it warms my heart to see him. He has had me over for dinner several times, and his beautiful wife and two precious daughters fill me with happiness for him. Silas has been very generous in crediting me for helping him, but let me be very clear about this. Silas was born to write. He would have become a writer no matter who his teacher was. I take no credit at all for his success. It was just a great privilege to be his teacher and an honor to be his friend. The author of Clay's Quilt and A Parchment ofLeaves sat in a desk in my classroom and raised his hand and turned in work and played kickball at recess. He was there, and he became my friend. My retirement party...