(01.31.01)h

A writer by vocation, and a poet by avocation, I was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, raised principally in Hamilton, Ontario, and have lived in five of the ten provinces in Canada. Since moving to Calgary, Alberta in 1972, I've worked primarily as a speech writer for Calgary City Council.  Although the experience was invaluable and the world-wide contacts exciting, the 'job' has driven me, in retirement, to a more introspective and personal means of self expression.

My love of the written word, in all its applications, was born before the advent of television and computers as home entertainment standards.  I was blessed with boundless imagination, nurtured by the likes of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys' series as a young child, and by authors John Steinbeck, Ayn Rand, Pearl S. Buck, J.D. Salinger, Norman Mailer, Hemingway, and a host of others in my teens and young adulthood. Educated primarily in Central Canada, I was also privileged to be able to attend the University of Calgary for three years.

Although every writer thinks about being published, the reality is that most of our works will never see the light of day in the publishing world.  Cyberspace is about as close as many of us will ever come to being read by more than just family and friends.  I, for one, am grateful for the catalyst that the net has become in the lives of so many creative people.

If literature is to continue to be a viable tool for education, enlightenment, and entertainment, the world wide web must be embraced as a classroom.  We must do it now and do it right, or our children will be raised in a world devoid of heart, the lessons of historic perspective, and stultified by 'anime'.

Update: April 6, 2000

Since originally creating Small Reflections in 1998, I have finally decided to follow my heart and my dream, and now reside in Southern California where I write poetry in a nurturing and loving environment, and read what I've written at Spoken Word poetry venues in L.A. and the San Fernando Valley. My first chapbook, Befriending the Hydra has been published and clicking on the title will take you to the order information page. Several of my poems have won prizes in international poetry contests, and a number of others have been included in anthologies, one of which is di-verse-ity 2000, the anthology produced by the organizers of the Austin International Poetry Festival.

The 'voice' I've been searching for all my life is getting stronger and my skill at translating its thoughts into well-crafted poetry is improving. Could I ask for more? Yes, of course! I'm still growing.

Heather L. Long