Thursday, September 1, 1983
The Jimplicute, Scott City, MO 63754
Dear Editor,
When I was ten years old, I took my pencils and papers and went to sit under the shade of a big cherry tree to write stories and poems. The cherry tree was located in a quiet spot behind our barn in the middle of the field. It was there I began doing what I wanted to do more than anything else in my life – write.
My interest was great in reading stories but I cared little for the fiction kind; the real life stories were my favorites. Reading was fun, but I wanted to write my own stories. The stories of early history in Scott County was more interesting to me. It was under the cool shade of the cherry tree that I began writing these stories.
One day I decided to send a story to the county newspaper, The Scott Democrat. As a result, I began writing a series of stories which appeared in the paper. My mother was very interested in what I was doing and could hardly wait for each paper to see what I had written. My uncle commented that I was pretty young to be writing for a paper, but said he liked what I had written. He especially liked a poem.
Years afterward when I was married, my interest was still in writing about Scott County. I wrote stories for the Scott Democrat. Finally, I reached the end of my stories, and Mr. Alden Pinney, the editor of the newspaper, asked why I had not sent any more stories. I had to say that everything had been told up to date and I had to wait until something new happened.
Sincerely, Edna Drexler