Bloggin' Umholtz

Miss Muldoon responds

         First, if you are sitting there scratching your head, or whatever it is you prefer to scratch, wondering who Miss Muldoon is, you need to stop and go read the following two blog entries before continuing any further.

         "Miss Muldoon" 

         "More on Miss Muldoon" 

         For those of you who recognize who Miss Muldoon is, please continue.


         Ever since I mailed my letter and package to Miss Muldoon, I’ve anxiously scanned the mail for some sign that she received it. I would call home to my wife in the afternoon from work, wondering if anything interesting came in the mail. When I came in the back door I would make a beeline for my recliner and the pile of mail sitting on it. Each day, I was disappointed. It has been almost a month and I was beginning to resign myself to the fact that maybe she just wasn’t going to respond, when coming home today, I found a letter, and the return address said Anne Muldoon.

         I was so nervous. I was like a teenager on his first date. I set the letter on my desk an actually walked away from it. That lasted about two minutes. Inside was a very nicely written letter. Turns out she was recovering from surgery and that was the reason for the delay n responding. I won’t retype the whole thing, but I will give you the highlights.

         And I quote.

         “Sometimes it’s surprising to hear of my influence on a young life. Most librarians have at least a minor passion for their work so it’s easy to try to pass along the pleasures found in reading. You have taken that pleasure and passed it on with your writing.

         After reading your book of stories from cover to cover (no skips), I can only say that you really should be published. I have to say I chuckled my way through all the Little Jim, Goose, (and friends) stories. You made it easy to visualize all the shenanigans they came up with. In fact, people and scenes jump right off the page. You have material there for a comedy series.

         So many of your stories really touch the heart. The Monkey Hole, George, Old Cowboys, to name a few. I also appreciated your imagination in Rainbow Central and A Kiss Upon Your Soul.

         In other words, keep writing. I look forward to a volume 2.”

         In case you folks don’t realize it, I’m crying right now.