Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A new book by a veteran Mississippi State education professor is urging school administrators, teachers and others in the field to personally lead in improving community literacy by becoming good writers themselves.
"Walking the Talk: Modeling Literacy" is the 256-page creation of Jack Blendinger, a member of the university's College of Education faculty, and James L. Nicholson, a retired newspaper editor, English instructor and Blendinger's former California high school classmate.
The book is a January release of KendallHunt Publishing Co. of Dubuque, Iowa.
"Simply put, our thesis calls for the adults working in a school to truly improve the literacy proficiency of students by becoming writers themselves," Blendinger explained. "After personally making the commitment to become writers, they must then invite students attending school to join them as members of the community of writers."
After calling for a transformation of instructional practices, Blendinger and Nicholson move their narrative to an original manuscript they developed. Titled "The Letterman," their story-within-a-story details the experiences of a teen in the 1940s who desperately wants to become a high school varsity football player.
"In making 'The Letterman' the heart of the book, we are telling readers that, if we, the authors, can write rich, authentic material instead of the usual educational jargon, so can they," Blendinger said.
The authors conclude their collaboration with an emphasis that persons of all backgrounds and experiences "have stories locked away in their psyches just waiting to be told." Blendinger said readers also are provided with "tips on how to roll up their sleeves, put pen to paper and start writing essays, short stories, scripts, novels, and poems."
"Walking the Talk" is the second book of its kind by Blendinger, a specialist in educational leadership and MSU faculty member since 1990. Three years ago, he released "Write Like a Pro!"--also from KendallHunt--that provided a ready reference guide to writing skills.
Before entering higher education, Blendinger spent more than three decades as a high school teacher, principal and public school superintendent in California and Colorado. Beyond an education career, the University of Northern Colorado doctoral graduate competes internationally in canoe and kayak racing.
Nicholson holds degrees in history and English from California State University, Los Angeles and Vanderbilt University, respectively. Now retired in South Euclid, Ohio, he may be reached at 2jnicholson@sbcglobal.net.
For more information on the book or other aspects of the authors' proposals, contact Blendinger at 662-325-7064, cell 268-4490 or jblendinger@colled.msstate.edu.
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For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.