The Houston, Tex., postmark threw me off. However, the letter was a pleasant surprise.
Shirt Tail, a former member of the Young Co-operators Club, had returned home to Canada before Christmas and read through some back issues of the Producer. Reading a piece on the history of the YC pages stirred nostalgia in her.
“I owe a tremendous debt to the YC Club because without that avenue where I learned I really liked writing and that I had a modest talent for it, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” said Elaine Taylor McCasland.
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She’s now the vice president of communications for Enron Operations Corp., the largest integrated natural gas company in North America.
“Years ago … I waited impatiently each week for The Western Producer to be delivered,” she wrote.
“It was a forum, an outlet that balanced my somewhat isolated life on the farm and allowed me to achieve some personal success outside of the classroom.”
While she believes other young writers have garnered pleasure and pride from the YC pages, she acknowledges change is inevitable for the club as the world changes around it. Sadly, contributions to the YC page have declined.
However, the letter reinforces the concept of what the YC pages can do beyond just inking a pen-name on newsprint.
Tangible results such as earning the publication points and initials behind a pen-name are exciting, but sometimes inner qualities are developed that take a person far in life.
The YC Club over the years has offered encouragement, refined writing skills, created friendships and helped develop respect and co-operation among young writers.
This helps prepare people for different careers, including being vice president of communications for a Texas company.
