Steve Allen has been a student of writing for over 50 years. His first foray into the art was at the age of 11, when he wrote, edited, and published The Martian Tribune, a two-page science fiction tabloid typed on a Smith-Corona typewriter with carbon paper and onion skin paper. Publication ceased after the fourth exciting issue, due to a severe lack of subscribers.
By age 14, Steve was writing, and rewriting, and rewriting, and rewriting, the same essays under the direction of the best teacher he ever had, Mr. Robert J. Smith of Eaglebrook School, Deerfield, Massachusetts, in 1962. Remember “The Elements of Style”, by Strunk and White? To Smith it was as blessed as the Bible, and he brought life into choices of punctuation and grammar.
Having the ability to write masterful essays in high school and college allowed Steve to offset poorer results with math and chemistry. A religion major at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, he wrote his senior paper on the “Messianic Secret” motif in the Gospel of Mark. But alas, a career in the religious field was not in the cards, so Steve became a teacher.
Teaching little kids how to read and bigger kids how to write was an enjoyable first career. But it was followed by life as an insurance salesman and later as a technical writer in the insurance home office environment.
A stint in the journalism field found Steve selling and writing ads in Kewaunee and Door County. A stickler for clarity, he drove his superiors almost nuts with his fervent desire to produce the perfectly-written ad.
Most recently, Steve was editor and publisher of DoorCountyTravelersJournal.com and written many feature stories for the online publication. His fascination with Door County life, local history, and the little Holy Nativity Church in Jacksonport combined to compel him to write the story of Pris Parker and her friends and family.
The story begins in 1917 … Should you call her Pristine? Would you call her Pristine? Read the episodes and decide for yourself!
YOU ARE READING
Pris Parker and the Door County Ghost
Historical FictionOur story starts on a Sunday in mid-May in the year 1918 in the quiet little town of Jacksonport, Wisconsin, in picturesque Door County. The United States has entered World War I, and young local men are being called to duty. But now trouble is brew...
