8 Letters from the Elementary School Where I Guest Lectured

Reaching a wider and younger audience is part of the reason I'm currently touring my new autobiography, 'Tusked on the Inside,' and entirely the reason I am only touring it at elementary school assemblies. So far it has seen mixed reviews which I am taking as a good sign; no great work has ever been universally praised, particularly by children.

March 21, 2011

Every time I write, I pray that destiny carries my words to the ears of sapling writers; nourishing their roots and inspiring them to grow. Then, with any luck, all of my hard work will someday be remembered by future generations as a shining example of literary compost.

When you see this, I want you to think of me.

Reaching a wider and younger audience is part of the reason I'm currently touring my new autobiography, Tusked On The Inside

, and entirely the reason I am only touring it at elementary schools. So far it has seen mixed reviews, which I am taking as a good sign; no great work has ever been universally praised, particularly by children. Still, it is the kids I have affected that matter most, those young boys and girls that found something valuable in what I offered, that left the auditorium in Marion, Ohio or Carbondale, Colorado feeling as though I touched them. In honor of those tiny victories, I want to share with you some of the Thank You letters I've received. What they lack in eloquence they make up for in heart, just like literature itself. Each one of them means almost as much to me as I clearly meant to those children.