Congratulations, Sue!
One of our founding editors, longtime Contributing and Advisory Editor Susan Fellows, has retired from her teaching position at CSUSM. We are so proud of all that she has achieved, and most importantly, all the lives she has touched. It was clear this evening that she has touched many lives.
They are countless.
We hope you will join us in toasting Sue, and wishing her all the best as she enjoys her retirement ... which we intend to fill with Perigee Perigee Perigee!
Congratulations, Sue!
They are countless.
We hope you will join us in toasting Sue, and wishing her all the best as she enjoys her retirement ... which we intend to fill with Perigee Perigee Perigee!
Congratulations, Sue!
posted by Robert Woerheide at 9:34 PM
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When I first started back to college after years of just working and being a “single-parent-mom,” I took one of the first required courses on critical analysis of literature with Dr. Sue Fellows as my professor. I’m not going to get all “cheesy” on you and tell you that Sue “made me feel right at home.” On the contrary, the class, with all its exploration of great philosophers like Plato, Kant, Marx, and Nietzche, was intimidating. Sue wanted us to read aloud, discuss these intricate theories, and once a week, respond to their works in writing. All of this scared me to death. Weeks rolled by, and at every class, I silently prayed that she would not call on me during class. Of course, she did, as she was and still is the kind of person who expects us all to “show up”: to be the best we can be even if we don’t know how to believe in ourselves. This expectation, to show up and be the best I could be, followed me through all three of the classes I was fortunate enough to take under the teachings of Sue, and I’ve carried this expectation with me even to this day, when, in June, I will graduate with my Masters of Fine Art in creative writing.
But one of the most important lessons I learned from Sue, was that this expectation to do my best did not have to be drudgery; it could, indeed, be FUN! In the class of critical analysis of literature, I soon learned that my written responses could be creatively written. In writing about philosophical ideas, I could include a childhood memory, or a moment in time when I felt the perfection of a day right after a thunderstorm, or a description of the wilderness that might make me feel that as a human I am just an animal with a feeling of loss. Yes, this type of writing was the beginning of my discovery that I could write creatively about monstrous ideas that I was only beginning to understand. Everything, and I mean everything, could be included in the perimeters of these discussions.
In the second class that I took from Sue, the “Writing Process,” and in the third class “Theory and Practice of K-12 Writing,” I was lucky enough to watch other students come to similar recognitions. There were so many students, who, by the end of the semester, eventually became thoroughly “turned on” by their own writing. Why? Because Sue expected us to do our best: to read, read, and read (because that is what writers do), and to write, write, and write. It is amazing how this simple formula makes us better writers. And at the end of each class, almost all of us, were simply amazed at how much our writing had developed by simply applying ourselves to the task at hand.
In June, I will graduate with my MFA. Sue has remained one of those teachers who I could always call on for advice along the way: and she has always encouraged me to go forward. I have been extremely lucky to have her as a supportive friend along this journey I’ve been traveling. But most importantly, I will always be lucky, and grateful, for the many lessons she gave me that I will be able to carry with me for the rest of my life. And the main one being: “have fun while you are doing it!”
During my first semester at Cal State San Marcos, I was asked what I thought of Dr. Fellows. I replied, "I like her brand of insanity."
Having been able to sit with Sue Fellows every semester of my Junior and Senior years, I still declare that insanity rages within her, for the following reasons:
It's insane to expect a student to participate in his or her own learning.
It's insane to make students read in order to become better writers, and write to better understand what they read.
It's insane to have a passion for discussing the works of those who write at the fringe, alongside those who comprise the canon.
It's insane to to be a professor and actually profess something.
Sue, I love your brand of insanity. You encourage me with your example, your passion inspires me, and you have taught me a good deal about REAL writing.
Thank you.
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