Tom de Haven has retired from the university and is returning to the writing life.
A novelist (I think he’s published 19 novels and is working on his 20th), Tom taught writing for some 38 years, most recently at Virginia Commonwealth University. I had the pleasure of taking a writing course from him, which led to attending his outstanding Norton Island writing workshop, which led to getting an MFA in creative writing. Kind of a crazy path, considering I was a statistician at the time.
Tom has that effect on people.
As we talked about his plans for his new novel at his retirement party, I was certainly happy for him. And, yes, perhaps I’m a little more than envious, though it’s envy with a catch. In his retirement he’s not really retiring from work. Writing is one of the most rewarding and difficult of human endeavors, and now he gets to pursue this full-time. It’s still work, but at least it’s your work.
I was also glad to see at the party five of us from that Norton Island workshop. There’s never enough time, but we had a moment to reconnect and strengthen our writing bond.
Sometimes life pulls us in many directions, stretches us thin, and saps our energy. However, from Tom’s example we see that if you can keep the focus on getting those words down on the page, then maybe one day you too can retire–having published a steamer trunk full novels and with the opportunity to continue adding more.
New life goal unlocked. Thank you, Tom.
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