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ALBUQUERQUE, NM -- Carolyn Meyer, a Lewistown native, has found success as a writer of several books.
Born in 1935, Meyer attended Lewistown High School. It was there she found her love for writing. Meyer credits one of her teachers for much of her success.
"Most influential was Miss Frankenberry, who taught English," Meyer said. "I called her the grammar dragon. She was fierce, but from her I got an excellent background in writing correctly. I already knew that I wanted to be a writer. I edited the Maroon and Steel (the school newspaper) and the Lore (yearbook) for the class of 1953."
While she was attending high school, Meyer also gained valuable experience writing commercials at WMRF.
"At first I just typed whatever someone else had written, but eventually I wrote the commercials that the announcer would read on the air," Meyer said. "The commercials were usually based on ads published in The Sentinel, Wolf Furniture, for instance, and Kauffman Music and Furniture. When another station went on the air, I think the station was near Mifflintown, I was hired to write commercials about manure spreaders and egg washers for the rural audience."
Young and enthusiastic, Meyer wanted to head out and live her dreams. After graduating from Bucknell University, she traveled to New York to continue her career as a writer. Upon her arrival, Meyer discovered a new venture, television. But her experience was less than desirable.
"After I graduated, I headed for New York to seek my fortune. I loved radio, but television was the new big thing and I began to think that I might have a career writing for TV," Meyer explained. "The employment agency was not impressed with my college degree or my experience in working for small town radio stations. They wanted to know how fast I could type. I ended up as a secretary in the sales department of CBS-TV. I hated it."
The experience and brief setback only fueled the fire for Meyer. She began writing her own material and eventually, the hard work paid off. In 1969, she published a how-to book.
"Eventually, after I'd gone through the rites of passage of most young females in the 1950s and had acquired a husband and children, I tried writing short stories which I sent off to The New Yorker," Meyer said. "They were promptly rejected. Then I wrote articles for magazines no one had ever heard of and, eventually, I had small successes."
"After my third son was born, I wrote a sewing book for little girls, 'Miss Patch's Learn-to-Sew Book.'" It was published in 1969 and was surprisingly successful," Meyer continued. "I followed that with several more how-to and craft books and from there branched out to non-fiction books for children and then for older readers. From this experience, I learned to work with editors and to accept criticism. And to deal with rejection, because it was constant."
Meyer still felt something was missing and that she had not quite found her niche. Then she began writing historical fiction. From there, Meyer started publishing stories with several historical figures. Along with her non-fiction works, they helped take her to places outside of the U.S.
"It still wasn't the kind of writing I really wanted to do, to tell stories. In 1981, my first novel for young adults was published," she said. "I continued writing non-fiction books that took me to South Africa, Northern Ireland and Japan. With the discovery that I really enjoy doing research, I headed in a new direction, historical fiction. Between 1992 and 2019, I wrote 27 novels based on the lives of people like Queen Elizabeth I, Anastasia, Shakespeare, Charles Darwin, Marie Antoinette, Cleopatra and Georgia O'Keeffe."
Meyer released her latest book in 2019, "Girl with Brush and Canvas: Georgia O'Keeffe, American Artist." She has published over 60 books for children and teenagers. Her career has come full circle and has made a return to a familiar friend.
"I've taken in an entirely new direction," Meyer said. "I'm now a storyteller performing with The Moth at big theaters in cities around the U.S. Portland, Cincinnati, New York and, recently, England. Eventually my story will end up on "The Moth Radio Hour" on NPR and I'll be back in my first love, radio."
If you would like to know more about Carolyn Meyer, visit her website at www.readcarolyn.com.