I hope that most of you reading this get the intended irony of my first installment of Dyslexic with a Future:
Writers, and at the, Dyslexic Writers.
Yes, I know, we Dyslexics are not supposed to be good readers, and therefore by default we are not supposed to
be interested in becoming writers.
But, from what I have seen this is not always the case. In my search for what I am meant to be on this earth for:
I have come to the conclusion that being lucky enough to be Dyslexic, of if you like, a person who does like to think
whilst being confined into some sort of pre-determined "box", we are an imaginative lot. And with that entails is a
desire in some of us to yearn to be creative, to be story tellers, or to be actors to be the one interpret the stories
that some of us create.
Looking back at my time in school: I guess I have a love-hate relationship with writing. I sometimes get a heavy
feeling pressing down on my shoulders when I think about writing a simply for the fact that I recall being under
deadlines for a report during my time in high school or university. Being the good Dyslexic I am, I would postpone
working on a writing project until the last minute, then stay up till God only knows how long banging it out just
good enough to "get by". Therefore the "heavy sinking feeling" on my shoulders, along with the the headache that
started in the left side of my neck that kept me from turning my head that way, till it spread all over the back of
my head, soon I just felt like early death was a good thing.
If that is what you thinking about right now when I started off this about Dyslexic Writers then I think you are
meant to be reading this and I'm glad you are here, because that means I am not crazy after all, and this has not
been a waste of my time. Believe me, I still get that feeling of dread when I'm told that I have to write a
lengthy paper about something I don't like. Also as much as I have had fun writing this right now, I still have
delayed quite a bit. But, this is different, this is something I want to write about. I have a stake in the outcome
of this, and I hope others do as well.
Being the creative lot we are, there does exist a segment that are successful writers. Writers of film and play
scripts, singer-songwriters, the whole gamut really. And looking at it now, I am understanding more and more, they
are doing something they love to do, not because they are being forced to do so, just to get a "decent grade" on
some paper for some class they need to "graduate".
The person I chose to do my first "Careers of Successful Dyslexics" has been one of my good friends since the time
I got out of the Service in 1993. His name is Dan Moyer and we became friends do to the fact we both drove cars
from the 1960's. I had just returned to the massive metropolis of Bellevue, Ohio in my Lime-Gold 1967 Ford
Mustang. Dan had (still has) a 1969 Dodge Charger. We also had a interest in music, although he can actually
play music and write songs, etc. Anyway, Dad had started writing a biography on the actor Jack Webb. I still
can recall going over to his place and seeing him so engulfed in his research for the book, it was like he was
possessed. Anyway shortly after me moving to Alaska in 1998, he finished the book. It is so weird having a
friend who has actually written a book and had it published. But what floored me was hearing Dan say he was
Dyslexic also...I never had that cross my mind. But looking back, and seeing how wrapped up and
enthusiastic about the project he was, it made sense then. He was not working on a dreaded school assignment,
he was doing something he wanted to, and he loved doing it. So, I hope that is a good prelude to our first
installment for "Dyslexic with a Future".
On the next page is interview with Dan.
