Nick

You probably won’t remember me. Well, maybe you will. I was a student of yours in one of the Creative Writing Workshops at Iowa, I think back in…um….’01 or ‘02. Anyways, I wrote a story about two old beatniks who reunited after one of their bitchy old wives died called “Off the Road”. You actually really liked it , if I remember correctly, and actually asked if you could use the idea. I believe you actually asked me if you could steal it, and I said of course, yes, steal it, make it what it should be. Well, dammit, where is it? I have to say it was probably the peak of my writing career, and I also have to say that you were among the most influential instructors I had the pleasure of working with at Iowa. I have since graduated and moved to Los Angeles, then to Missoula, Montana, and I now live in St. Paul. My fiancee is attending Law School here (don’t worry, we’re not going to sue you if you do write the book and make millions, I just want a mention somewhere). But I really, truly, tremendously and fondly remember the class you taught and hope that everything is going well for you. You’re still teaching somewhere, although I haven’t been able to figue that out from your blog here. In fact, I’m not even sure how I stumbled on this site. Where am I? Who?
Glad to see you’re still writing and still yelling at your students. You’re a fantastic teacher and I envy your current crop of pupils. If anything ever came of my story I’d love to get a read. Best of luck, Steve. Thanks for making a part of my college experience what I imagined it would be.

Nick Thomas
St. Paul, MN