[The Stage is on Fire] is a page-turner in which, much like life, there are no easy answers and yet each step of the journey yields insight and hope. This work of heart must not be missed!
Melanie Faith
Creative Writing Teacher, Essayist & Poet.
Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.
The Society of Professional Journalists
In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.
I thank you … It is the authenticity of your “class notes”; and it is the delicacy and skill with which you present the nuances of classroom life and the actuality of your students’ and fellow teachers’ lives.
Maxine Greene
Philosopher and Education Scholar
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Weekly Roundup: Alchemy for Tomorrow
Permanent Hair Color
I ordered permanent hair color this week. It has been 10 weeks since I colored my hair. I am beginning to look like my Nana who had beautiful silver hair. I have thought about wearing my grey hair as a show of solidarity with all those whose who are staying home. Then I thought about how I used to experiment with coloring my own hair back in the day, and how it would be cool to try a new color. This is a small thing, but in this joy-starved moment, where reality weeps under the weight of the global death count and unknown future, I think having my husband color my hair a gentle auburn hue would be nice.
The 2020 Kentucky Derby mini Marathon
This Saturday would have been my 8th Kentucky Derby miniMarathon – 13.1 miles of tradition for me and my family. (My father has finished more than 30 miniMarathons.) So many people are struggling with big things being cancelled right now. This cancellation really hits home. The race is always a North Star for my year, and as such, for my life. I will run the race if/when it happens in August. Having shared my disappointment, I fully support the cancellations and closures. The health and well being of our world is interconnected and cancelling big events gives the world more time to safely deal with the pandemic. It is just hard.
An Alchemy for Tomorrow
The 50th Earth Day occurred this week. It made me reflect on the way in which our past can be considered prologue. Our connection to, or separation from, the earth. The relationships with people we have maintained or set free. The deaths we have endured. The hills we have climbed (sometimes cresting, sometimes turning around a few feet from the base). The jobs we have lost and landed. All the times we have either succeeded and failed are important. All that we have managed and survived and overcome is the soil in which the seeds of tomorrow are planted. The future is, at best, uncertain. An alchemy for tomorrow is found in wisdom from the past and faith in the future.
About Katie
Born in Louisville. Live in Atlanta. Curious by nature. Researcher by education. Writer by practice. Grateful heart by desire.
Buy the Book!
The Stage Is On Fire, a memoir about hope and change, reasons for voyaging, and dreams burning down can be purchased on Amazon.
