I started writing when I was a kid. I did a long scrawly plethora of creative things because that was what made me tick.

I didn't "go public" with my poetry until I was 50. I rarely saw a reason to share it before then, but several friends convinced me. One said "It's like a gift, and you've put it on a closet shelf where it doesn't do anyone much good." I had never thought of it that way. I always thought that excellence did not need anyone else's approval, so I created for myself alone.