Linda Crew
My favorite childhood book about a girl named Mary.
She had "hair as yellow as butter, big brown eyes,and cheeks that were pink from the sun and the wind. And when she smiled,she smiled all over her face."
Just like my own Mary!
As I said, we owned few books. This copy belonged to my husband's mother, who was lucky enough to have a nice little library of her own.
My first writing set-up after college--a manual typewriter on a TV tray pulled up to the woodstove, the only source heat in the house. Things have improved around here by now!
My treasured writer friend,Theresa Nelson. Our paths crossed twenty-one years ago when our early books, And One for All and Children of the River, were reviewed together in the San Francisco Chronicle. I wrote Tess a letter, she wrote back, and the rest is history. And this was before e-mail! She was often on the road with her actor husband, Kevin Cooney, and had to write entirely by hand. Although we've only actually been together a half dozen times over the years, her support and encouragement in writing and in life have meant the world to me. "It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer." E. B. White.
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About Linda CrewBorn April 8, 1951, in Corvallis, Oregon
Atttended Garfield Elementary School Highland View Junior High Corvallis High School Lewis & Clark College 1969-1970 B.A. in Journalism, University of Oregon 1973 Phi Beta Kappa Married Herb Crew in 1974 Three children, Miles, Mary, and William 
We were married right here at Wake Robin Farm where we still live today, thirty-five years later.
Ball Studio
Xi'an, China, 2010
I'm not one of those people who grew up always knowing she wanted to write. I had lots of other glamorous plans such as being a folksinger, an artist or an actress. Much of this experimenting ended up in my book Long Time Passing which explores how a person could wind up being a writer without actually aiming for it.
I did always like to read, though. My favorite book as a small child was called "The Surprise Doll." It featured a girl named Mary who had "hair as yellow as butter, big brown eyes, and cheeks that were pink from the sun and the wind. And when she smiled, she smiled all over her face." I love it that when my own daughter showed up, this is exactly what she looked like. And of course her name is Mary! Another favorite, later on, was Little Women and all of the books by Louisa May Alcott. Another was "A Little Princess" by Francis Hodges Burnett. The heroine, as you might recall, is named Sara Crewe. I have always been a bit bothered that when I married my husband and changed my maiden name-- Welch-- to his, he didn't have that "e" on the end! This was one book I loved enough that I actually put it on my Christmas list. We didn't own many books. That's what the library was for! I used to go down there and just read whatever was on the shelf. Until my sophomore year of college I never thought of being a writer, but, looking back, it's interesting to see how many of my school assignments were written as fictionalized stories or plays. And I did win a city-wide essay contest in middle school, although that essay, "What My Country Means to Me," is so perfectly awful, I literally cannot read it today. I wrote a children's story for a class in high school and the teacher suggested I try to get it published. What for? I remember thinking. Why would I care about publishing? I was on my way to being a big star on Broadway! Well, being a writer turned out to work out a lot better with the rest of my life, and it's amazing to me that I only made it to New York for the very first time just a couple of years ago. I was very impressed with the city, but two days were enough. I'm glad I still live right here at Wake Robin Farm in the heart of the Willamette Valley of Oregon. 
Here's how you're likely to find me looking these days. The pruning saw was the best birthday present I ever got. I wear a full face guard hardhat ever since I brought a Doug fir limb down and gave myself a black eye just two days before I had to give a big talk to a lot of strangers. To read more about how I got from the wedding dress to the woods boots, check out my page for Fire on the Wind!
Seize this very minute! What you can do, or dream you can, begin it! Boldness has genius, power and magic in it! Only engage, and then the mind grows heated BEGIN, and then the work will be completed. Goethe |
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