after school,
out to do some "blazing" as we called it (which usually
meant checking out some boy's house or whereabouts) and looking
for some extra funds. Mary would ask Rhoda what we were up to, get
absolutely no satisfaction
that I can recall, and only in self defense finally open the cash
drawer and hand over a few bucks.
Hard to believe, but it was thirty
years ago that Rhoda and I met at Fortier High School. One of the
teachers there, Charles Macmurdo, put us together as editor and
managing editor of the school newspaper. I remember his telling
me before he introduced me to Rhoda that I would like her very much
and that we would be friends for a long time. Prophetic, indeed,
because thirty years later we are still the very best and closest
of friends.
As it turned out, Mr. Macmurdo and
Mary Kellogg were two of the most influential adults in my life,
Mr. Macmurdo for introducing me to Rhoda and allowing us to be rather
creative, shall I say, with the school newspaper – students
used to congregate in the halls on the day the paper came out to
see what Rhoda's survey was that month (she covered topics such
as "What historical figure would you like to be and why?"
– Morgus was a popular response) and to find out what I was
taking to task on the editorial |
|
Mary Kellogg and Rhoda
K. Faust |
page, none of which I remember now. It was
also due to Mr. Macmurdo and his consuming love of literature
that I became a novelist.
But it was Mary Kellogg who ended
up having the most prolonged influence. I'd never known women
like Mary or Rhoda Norman before. They were both glamorous and
smart; they owned a book shop. And they were mothers. I didn't
see Rhoda Norman as often as I did Mary, and anyway, Mary was
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