Smiths On

“I never liked English class growing up. And looking back I realize that writing (and creativity in general) came so easily to me that I never understood how special it was. Toward my later years of high school, thanks to a few select teachers, I began to realize how important my talent is. A few years later, when I began writing war stories for therapy, my understanding of writing matured from simply realizing its importance to feeling it. My absolute favorite part of writing is that it affords me the opportunity to sort through my jumbled thoughts and make sense of them. I can analyze, I can mature, I can dream, all just with a pen and paper. As a soldier and an author, I am often asked to define freedom in my own words. I think people expect a patriotic answer about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, something about the freedom of speech or religion. While that’s all true, my real answer would have to be writing. Writing is my freedom. And to have the talent, opportunity, and luck to share that freedom with others, well, that’s every artist’s dream, isn’t it?” --Ryan Smithson, author of Ghosts of War Ryan will be at Shaker High School on November 4, 2009 as part of the annual Veteran’s Day Celebration