The Chronicle, Thursday, December 22, 1983-Page A7
Chronicle Profile
Penn Rediscovers Writing Talent
■By AUDREY L. WILLIAMS
Staff Writer
Jane Penn has yet to get a rejection letter from a
publishing company and she probably won’t be
nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in literature anytime
soon either - but she does have high hopes.
Penn, a 32-year-old housewife and mother of four,
may seem like ordinary folk to some, and she is. But
on the dining room table of her home on Lomon
Street are a few notable items of the writing trade
neatly arranged among the usual items of dining.
Her favorite book, “The Color Purple” by
Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker, is about
to be read for the second time because, she says, “I
want to find out what 1 missed the first time.” “On
Writing Well” lies closed on top of notes she has jot
ted down in a writing class she is taking at Salem Col
lege. Everything seems to have its own place and not
just in the dining area.
A poet and writer of children’s books for her fami
ly, Penn is modest about her creativity and would
rather refer to it as just a little something she does in
her spare time.
“1 did a little writing in high school, says Penn.
“My English teacher would always return my paper
with a note on it that said, ‘Jane, you have a real flair
for writing.’ I didn’t take it seriously because at the
time I wanted to be a nurse or join the Peace Corps. ’ ’
Penn did neither. In her senior year in high school,
she married her beau, Waddell Penn, and the two
started a family a year later.
It was Penn’s family and a sister who teaches first
grade who helped her surface the talent she left
behind in her high school English class to take on a
more “serious” role in life.
“One day my son brought a picture of a turkey
home from school and I got an idea,” says Penn.
“So 1 decided to write a story for him called ‘Her
man, The Smart Thanksgiving Turkey.’”
Penn’s sister did the illustrations for the story and
it, too, struck her that Jane was a little more than a
creative mom when it came to bringing words to life.
“I think what really got me going was my sister
Ann and when 1 heard people saying that you can
make money from writing,” says Penn. “This may
sound a little corny, but I’m motivated to write by
people and when I see little things like birds flying.”
That was the spark of Penn’s pursuit to become a
writer for children. But before then, she says she had
already begun compiling recipes for a cookbook she
plans to write.
“Right now, though. I’m just working on my
poems,” says Penn.
One of her poems is called “Two Lost Shoes,” a
cute reminder to her children to put their belongings
in the right place. Most of her works are geared
toward children, since her sister uses many of them
for class instruction to help her illustrate and explain
various subjects to her first-graders.
Penn and her sister Ann are also making their
debut in the area of greeting cards, designing each
one of them differently. They send their own per
sonalized greetings to relatives and friends.
She says she uses as many resources available to
give her new ideas for her style of poetry.
“Sometimes I drain what 1 can from TV,” says
Penn, “or my kids may say something cute. I once
1 ‘’^'1
Mm
c\osen:l f"
on
Jane Penn; A poet and children’s book writer is beginning to take her talent seriously
(photo by James Parker).
wrote a poem for one of my daughters because when
she was little she used to get an attitude, and one day
1 wrote a poem about her and the pouting she did.
When I would recite it, she couldn’t help but laugh.”
Penn says she’s glad she rediscovered her talent as
a writer and that one day she would like to devote
more time to just writing, possibly novels. Since car
ing for a husband and children limits her writing
time, she says she makes the best of both.
‘‘I have God in*my life and he balances everything
out for me,” she says. “I have a reason for
everything and speaking for myself, the husband
really helps make it good.
“If you’re made to feel good, you don’t mind do
ing things like the ironing and cleaning, things other
people may find demeaning,” she says. “The
writing, my family - all of it gives me joy.”
LINKS Entertain Senior Citizens
The Winston-Salem
Chapter of LINKS Inc. en
joyed dinner at the Koyota
Japanese Restaurant on
Thursday, Dec. 8 at 6 p.m.
Seventeen senior citizens
from University Place were
the guests of the LINKS.
Mrs. Beverly Spainhour,
chairperson of the Interna
tional Trends and Services
facet, was responsible for
the project. Each of the
four Chinese chefs gave a
skilled demonstration on
preparing chicken, rice,
onions, celery and bean
sprouts.
Members attending
dinner were Virginia
Newell, Demerice Ervin,
Mary Bruce, Louise Davis,
Jean Quick, Lizzie Dee
Brandon, Mattie Clarke,
Clara Gaines and Toyoto
Baitey.
748-9825
Acrylic Nails Regular $35.00
With Coupon $30.00 Thru 1983.
Phone for an Appointment
Conrad’s Hair Design
3088 N. Walkertown Rd.
Eddie Sauls
Sauls Is Awarded
Eddie Norwood Sauls, an
all-conference linebacker
for the Winston-Salem
State University Rams for
four seasons, has been
awarded a $2,000 scholar
ship for postgraduate study
at the university or profes
sional school of his choice.
The award was announc
ed by the NCAA
postgraduate scholarship
committee recently, whose
members also extended con
gratulations to Sauls and
Ihe university, as the award
is significant in light of the
fact that all candidates are
from university’s across the
country.
Sauls is a political science
major at WSSU and has
maintained an academic
average of 3.0 during his
four years at WSSU. He is a
graduate of Goldsboro
High School in Goldsboro.
To maintain such a high
academic average indicates
the determination and com
mitment of the athlete to
complete his college career
at the highest level of
achievement in his sport
and also in his academic
major.
Kappas Hold Meeting
The Phi Delta Kappa
Sorority held its monthly
meeting recently at the
Masonic Hall.
Plans were discussed for
^he March Zino’s Con
ference by Eva Jeffries,
chairperson of the con
ference.
Food and clothing were
brought to the meeting by
the members to be donated
to Crisis Control Ministry
Inc.
A Christmas party for
members and their
husbands was held earlier at
the home of Mattie Neal of
New Walkertown Road.
Employee Receives Award
Mrs. Carrie Richardson
•IS recently elected as the
Triad Rehabilitation Center
Tnployee of the Year at the
latiuaJ staff party at the
Oakwood Haven Trailer
Tark Community House in
^Ittnmons.
Richardson has been
"nployed in the housekeep-
department at the center
for seven years and
voted Employee of
Month last year.
She received an engraved
plaque and a four-day vaca
tion for two.
Richardson is the wife of
Mingo Lee Richardson.
They have eight children
and 10 grandchildren.
SEAGSAM (JSnUERS COMPAnY. K.Y C 80 PROOF OISIltLEO DRY GIN DISTILIEO FROM GRAIN