Story by Jon Stalnaker
AKA The Studebaker Dude
I first became interested in writing after my mother sent me an autobiography of her adolescence in July of 1988. She also sent copies to my siblings, and we decided it would be fun to write our stories as well. I wrote my stories, and my three sisters all wrote something, but I no longer have access to theirs. I don’t remember my brother writing anything. I would have been surprised if he had. He thought it was a good idea, though. I called my sister and she said she was going to see if she could find any of the ones that were missing. I thought I had a copy of Valerie’s, but I can’t find that either.
What I liked most about my mom’s story was that it gave me insight as to who she was as a young girl up to the time she married my dad. I remember wishing that my dad had written the same thing. Unfortunately, he was already gone by 1988. I wanted my own children to be able to read about me. I certainly have put into words plenty of what makes me tick after all these years. I wonder if any of them will actually read any of it after I’m gone. I do know that they have read some of my work up to this point. My first attempt was not very good. Since then, I have improved enough in my writing skills to make it a little easier to read. Even though my original story was poorly written, it was therapeutic for me to write it. I would wake up in the middle of the night thinking about my childhood and go to the computer and start writing. Some of the stories really touched me and I did a lot of crying into the keyboard. My mother’s stories were written on a typewriter. I probably would never have finished writing it if it wasn’t for computer word programs. I surely would have gone through a case of white-out.
I dusted off my mom’s autobiography and read it again. It was surprising to me that I didn’t recall so much of it. It’s so nice to have it in a folder so I can re-read it again. I like to think that some of my children might be interested in reading my stuff after I pass away. If not, I will be gone, and it won’t matter. It was actually the therapeutic benefits of writing that got me hooked. I got into Studebakers and started writing for a newsletter editor position I had volunteered to do. Before I knew it, I was writing on a regular basis. I was editing the newsletter, so I developed skills by having to correct other submissions. I wrote for work and later wrote for the Sacramento Auto Museum Docent class. I never studied writing I just started doing it and was encouraged by people telling me they liked the way I wrote. Their encouragement kept me going and I started writing stories for the Studebaker Drivers Club magazine.
Decades prior to all this, I wrote a short story for Readers Digest. I read that they paid for any story that got published and I was proud of the story I submitted. That story never got published and the rejection was a disappointment and only fed my lack of confidence in myself. It was a long time after that experience that I tried again. I wrote a small story for Reminisce Magazine that was published in their November 2017 issue. I was a better writer by then and they sent me a check for the submission. The check was issued by Readers Digest, the same publisher that rejected me decades before. I felt vindicated.
It was really after I finally retired for good that I started writing on a regular basis. I’m having fun with it and that is really why I do it. I certainly have amassed a large quantity of stories and have a couple of books, binders full of newspaper clippings and a list of magazines containing things that were important to me at some point in my life. I seriously doubt that any of my children or grandchildren will read all of it, but perhaps they might read some. It was worth it to me just to have an outlet for my thoughts, and I appreciate the opportunities that have been given to me.
