Social media, SEO, marketing and writingA Story About Me, A Story About Us
A funny thing happened to me the other day while conducting a vanity search on Flickr.com. I typed in my name, Jon Samsel. A single result appeared—‘Writing Display’ by Pesky Library.
What the…
I clicked on the photo. Upon careful inspection I saw that it was a table display showcasing an array of books supporting the different styles of writing. The display was located in the Carl A. Pescosolido Library, which is said to be the academic core of The Governor’s Academy—the oldest boarding school in America, located near Boston.
What do ya know…
I perused the book titles in the photo:
- Words Fail Me: What Everyone Who Writes Should Know About Writing by Patricia T. O’Connor
- The Pen Commandments: A Guide for the Beginning Writer by Steven Frank
- First Paragraphs: Inspired Openings for Writers and Readers by Donald Newlove
- From Reader to Writer: Teaching Writing Through Classic Children’s Books by Sarah Ellis
- True Notebooks by Mark Salzman
- Write Where You Are: How to Use Writing to Make Sense of Your Life by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg Ph.D.
- The Writer’s Mentor: A Guide to Putting Passion on Paper by Cathleen Rountree
- Free-Lancer and Staff Writer: Newspaper Features and Magazine Articles by William L. Rivers
- On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser
- Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark
- Crafting a Life in Essay, Story, Poem by Donald M. Murray
- Shoptalk: Learning to Write with Writers by Donald M. Murray
- Writing in Flow: Keys to Enhanced Creativity by Susan K. Perry Ph.D.
- Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them by Francine Prose
- Writing with Power: Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process by Peter Elbow
- How to Write and Sell Historical Fiction by Persia Woolley
- Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir by William Zinsser, ed.
- The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier: How to Solve the Mysteries of Weak Writing by Bonnie Trenga
- Writing Personal Essays: How to Shape Your Life Experiences for the Page by Sheila Bender
- Getting the Words Right: 39 Ways to Improve Your Writing by Theodore A. Rees Cheney
- Interactive Writer’s Handbook by Jon Samsel and Darryl Wimberley
- The Pocket Muse: Ideas and Inspiration for Writing by Monica Wood
A flitter of excitement gripped me suddenly—what esteemed company to be included in!
It’s amazing to me that a group of high school aged kids have access to a library stocked with such a variety of writing manuscripts. That got me thinking about The Governor’s Academy. Why hadn’t I heard of it before? What was its story?
According to the school’s website, the academy was established in 1763 as Dumm’r Charity School through a bequest from Massachusetts Bay Lieutenant Governor William Dummer. It was later renamed Governor Dummer Academy and the school provided educational opportunities during the Colonial times. The school has often been referred to as the foundation for the preparatory school tradition in America.
Many famous people have been entwined with The Governor’s Academy over the years. Booker T. Washington Jr. was a member of the school’s football team; John Quincy Adams once served as secretary to the Board of Trustees; Paul Revere fashioned the first seal for the school; Captain Edward Preble, commander of the USS Constitution and a hero of the War of 1812, attended the academy.
Then there is the library. Constructed in 1997, the Carl A. Pescosolido Library is couched between two historic brick buildings. The Pesky Library (as it’s commonly known) includes more than 20,000 square feet of study and research space, a 30,000-volume collection, 175 dataports and wireless access, hundreds of periodicals, and an unrestrained, light-filled research areas and team study rooms.
In summary, I guess you could say my vanity search morphed into a odd sort of historical, hypertext spelunking adventure. Yes, it started out as a story about me but it grew into a story about us—chronicling the narrative of a book display, a book co-authored by me, a modern library, a prestigious boarding school and a historic compendium of times gone by. Hopefully you will agree it was a tale worth sharing.
