If you allow me one more story about writing, a gentleman that tried 17 times. It’s hard for me to think of young people, they don’t remember many things that we took for granted. Have you heard one of the greatest TV shows of all time MASH. We all watched it every week. Even a youth should have seen at least one episode.
Dr Richard Hornberger had a successful practice at Waterville, Maine. He rose at 6:00 each morning, drove 50 miles to work and worked 60 hours a week, often staying late into the night with a critical patient. Spending as much time as possible with his wife and five children pretty well took care of his spare time. But he also had a hobby.
He loved to write, and he couldn’t forget his experience of being a medic in the Vietnam war. This was 7 years of the most hectic time in his life. There would be days with nothing happening, then dozens of wounded servicemen instantly. He just had to write about this which he did and submitted it to a publishing company. They turned it down so he tried a second time.
Two, three, four, submissions. 10, 11, 12, number 17 would be his final submission. There was no plot, it was offensive to women, there were many reasons given for turning him down. He would try one more time, McMillan and company publishers. They accepted the manuscript. It went on to be an academy award-winning movie and a popular TV series.
Dr. Richard Hornberger was “Hawkeye” the main character in a series of strange characters. He wrote under the pseudonym Richard Hooker. This was written in 1968 with a couple more books to follow.
A time to build up in a time to tear down. I can’t imagine young men getting busted up and trying to put them back together. It is much harder to build up than it is to tear down. Students, don’t forget the writing contest. It’s a joy to tell a story.
—James Neuhouser
