Writers told: Pull out all the stops

Monday, June 2, 2003

A Trenton author encouraged young writers to "do what I did not do," during the "Wind on the Buffalo Grass" writing camp at McCook Community College.

Dr. Mary Ellen Goodenberger, author of "Letters for the Literate and Related Writing," told inspiring authors, "Do get your family stories written down. When we lose those people, we lose their stories as well."

Goodenberger said writers can gain inspiration from the objects in their families' lives. "You can tell a lot about a society by looking at its tools," she said, demonstrating a washboard and a rug beater. "We know they valued cleanliness," she said.

One young boy asked, "Would you ever beat a kid with that?" "Oh, heavens, no!" Dr. Goodenberger replied.

Passing around a stereoscope, she said, "See what used to entertain your grandparents."

Souvenir spoons were popular wedding presents in her grandparents' day, Mary Ellen said, explaining that travel was uncommon. Many a Sunday dinner table was decorated with a glass container filled with the hostess's collection of souvenir spoons, she said.

Family portraits were few and far between, Goodenberger said, "and really, really treasured."

Goodenberger told young campers that language also characterizes a society, such as her grandparents'. "People were so close to animals back then," she said. "There were so many sayings about them." Such as " ... didn't have the sense God gave a goose," "thick as hair on a dog's back," "buffaloed."

"'Ants in your pants' means 'fidgety,'" Goodenberger said. "Now, they put you on Ritalin."

Pejoratives, put-downs, were not uncommon, and not even "politically incorrect," as they are now. Nicknames such as "Bohunk," "Hun," "Kike" and "Half-Breed," "are a rotten way to treat people," Goodenberger said. "It's a form of thievery -- stealing someone's self-esteem." Goodenberger encouraged her young audience to treat people with respect, even in writing.

Not every "old saying" was negative, she explained. "'A good man to ride the river with,' was a supreme tribute to those early pioneers," she said.

Mary Ellen and the students chuckled over the seemingly similar words -- but complete opposite meaning -- of these two euphemisms: "Her face would stop a clock," and "Looking at her made time stand still."

Goodenberger encouraged her listeners to read and know the Bible and Shakespeare. "Language is full of quotes from both," she said.

"We've always had lots of fun with language in my family," Mary Ellen said, explaining "coinkydink" is the same as coincidence; putting the "empha'sis on the wrong sylla'ble"; and the snazzy, jazzy sound of "swayve, cheek and debonair."

Through the years and over the ages, the origin of a saying can become lost and its meaning diluted. "Why do we say that?"

"Flying under false colors," Mary Ellen said, referred to the pirates who flew a friendly flag until they were close enough to board and raid a passing ship. Nowadays, the saying has very little to do with pirates, although it still refers to someone who is not quite true and upstanding. "Pull out all the stops," means "go for it ... ," "don't let anything stand in your way."

Originally, Goodenberger said, it referred to the pump organ. "The more stops that were pulled out (on the keyboard), the richer the music's tones," she said. "That's what you need to do in your writing," she said, "-- pull out all the stops."


The week-long "Wind on the Buffalo Grass" writers' camp was designed for high-ability young writers in sixth, seventh and eighth grades. It was cosponsored by McCook Community College, Educational Service Unit No. 15 of Trenton and the Nebraska Humanities Council.

Young writers and storytellers studied creative writing and storytelling to portray their visions and interpretations of history. Students visited Dancing Leaf Lodge at Wellfleet, Massacre Canyon Monument at Trenton and the High Plains Museum in McCook.

Instructors were Dr. James Riding In of Arizona State University, a Native American author and professor; Debra Carpenter of Chadron, Humanities speaker and storyteller; Dr. Mary Ellen Goodenberger of rural Trenton, retired school administrator and teacher; and Ann Kester of McCook Community College, Humanities instructor.

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