Stan Washington – In my early years, my family moved many times. I have lived in the Permian Basin, Texas Panhandle, and eastern Oklahoma oil fields. I am the oldest of four and attended several colleges (no degrees). My career has been in IT as a computer operator, application programmer, system programmer, system engineer, and sales technical support. After 31 years with IBM, I retired.

My wife and I moved from the Philadelphia suburbs to Leland, NC, in 2017. After moving to Leland, I began taking acting lessons at the Leland Cultural Arts Center. Each class puts on plays for local folks free of charge. It is challenging and fun. COVID has shut down the classes, so now we meet by Zoom to continue reading plays and practicing our acting skills. We hope for a return to the stage this fall.

I also participate in a writing club – the Coastal Carolina Writers. The club uses timed writings to build writing skills in short sessions. Some members are working on longer pieces, including short stories, memoirs, possibly a novel. We started using the Amherst method and have expanded our focus to allow different writing formats. 

I enjoy trying multiple genres – science fiction, drama, eerie tales, and comedy. Writing frees my imagination. I look around for a subject that interests me and then work on an outline of the characters without creating an ending. When the club meets, prompts and inspiration are supplied. Each member can use one of the prompts or use their own ideas. We time ourselves to 20 minutes (we allow for work from outside the meeting).  Once done, each can read their piece to the group for feedback. Sometimes it is funny and revealing, but mostly fun.

My wife and I belong to a local bowling league. My wife has greatly improved her skills with a 201 in league play. I can only mention a much lower scoring range.