We Columnists

This column was originally published in The Battle Creek Enquirer in February 2010. For some time now, Linda Jo and Nicole have each had their own weekly columns.

Every other Sunday the Enquirer gives either Nicole L. V. Mullis or me a chance to share our ideas and experiences with you by way of our columns.

And we both delight in this opportunity. We're very different people, at different stages in our lives. Nicole is in her 30s, and I just turned 70. She has three grade-school-aged children and is busy mothering, tutoring, chauffeuring, and so forth, while I'm a grandmother of three who doesn't even get to see her little darlings very often.

Nicole is a Catholic; I'm a Unitarian. She's married, I'm single. She and her husband come from large families who live fairly close by and have regular reunions, whereas I seldom see my siblings, who live in Florida and Alabama, and I don't even feel as though I know my nieces and nephews, who live further away still.

Nicole was a journalism major, whereas I was an English major. But different as we are, Nicole and I share a love of writing. And, though we try to use our senses of humor throughout the procedure, at the same time we both take it quite seriously.

Over the last couple of years we've met here in Battle Creek a couple of times for tea (me) and coffee (Nicole), just to get acquainted and talk about the art of column writing. And, different as we are, we found that we both follow similar procedures. We make notes about possible column subjects and then let them "ripen" before actually starting to write.

We both use computers and, as we find sentences or even paragraphs that we aren't sure of, we cut and paste them to the bottom of the screen - just in case we decide we need them after all.

"But I almost never pull them back up," I declared to Nicole, and she laughed and agreed that she didn't either.

I've had over 100 columns published in the Enquirer over the past 12 years, and sometimes think about trying to put together a collection of my favorites. Nicole has had the same thought and has even begun to approach publishers. But I must say that I get weary just thinking about trying to peddle my book. It is so much more satisfying to have people - even ones I don't know - tell me how much they enjoyed a particular column than it would be to try to persuade anyone to purchase a whole book of them.

Both Nicole and I hope to be able to continue our columns for many years to come, and we especially thank "Cranky Bob" Warner and Eric Greene for encouraging and promoting us.

In closing, we'd declare, along with priests, ministers, rabbis, choir directors, scout leaders, and such prominent news people as Bill Moyers, David Gregory and the late Tim Russert, "See you next week."

Or, "See you week after next," as the case may be.