For class on Tuesday, we had a guest speaker named Alan Smith from England. This guest was very interesting and also full of quotes. He started out working construction in England for half his life until he decided to become a teacher. English was the main subject that he taught. Eventually, at age 50, he began writing. He wrote a novel that was sent to many different publishers, movie directors, and other sources. He finally found a publisher who helped distribute and print his novel. The New York Times wrote an article about Smith and about the book that he wrote. After this, he began working in a prison, hired as the media press and writer. Most of his articles, over 70, were sent to the Guardian, a well established newspaper. He teaches at the University of North Hampton in south London. The class that he teaches is Creative Writing.
"Sometimes, I make it up," Smith claims. When telling a story or discussing a certain issue, he not always uses fact but uses fiction to help the reader understand. He says that a great deal of talking or writing has the ability to be fact mixed with a bit of fiction. The stories that he heard in prison are not always stories that people want to hear due to the graphic nature and evil acts. Instead, he tells the positive side of the story, putting the prisoner in a bright light instead of a dark past. I thought that he was a great guest and proof that you never know where you will end up. He didn't even start his writing career until he was 50, which is what he believes is his livelihood. People my age, myself included, still aren't quite sure what they want to be as a career but with time and hard work, anything may come up.
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