Steven L Peck

When I was in seventh grade, I wrote a long epic poem about a weasel. It was full of pathos, adventure, heartbreak, and sorrow. It might have been the greatest poem ever written. But alas it is lost. My teacher liked it well enough she had me read it to the class. After, a kid who had tormented me endlessly, chasing me home from school nearly every day to beat me up (he never caught me, I was like a deer in those days), came up and with tears in his eyes (TEARS!), said, 'Peck. That's the best thing you've ever done.' The power of poetry! I was hooked on being a writer from that moment on.