the ghost belonged to me by richard peck

Then I'll take this first chapter, and without rereading it, I'll throw it away and write the chapter that goes at the beginning. When he feels that he has gotten a page just right, he takes out another 20 words. He writes each page six times, then places it in a three-ring binder with a DePauw University cover ('a talisman,' he calls this memento from his alma mater). He has no daily routine because of all the traveling he does, but follows a very disciplined writing process. He writes everything on an electric typewriter because 'it has to be a book from the first day,' he explains. Peck writes exclusively on a typewriter, described here in 'Publishers Weekly: When the author is not traveling, he works at an L-shaped desk, which affords a sunny window. Peck is an adjunct professor with Louisiana State University's School of Library and Information Sciences. He knows, respects, and honors personal boundaries in ways that are refreshing for someone who grew up in the sixties and seventies, when every little personal thing was fair game.' He currently lives in New York and divides his time between writing and traveling. Peck is a private person 'who is fastidious about what he allows others to know about himself. He has written a book each year since then, totaling 39 books in 39 years. He left teaching in 1971 to write his first novel, Don't Look and It Won't Hurt. In a 2003 interview he commented, 'I think your view of the world goes on.for the rest of your life.as the world you saw as you emerged into it as an adult.'Īfter his military service ended, he completed a master's degree at Southern Illinois University in 2003 and taught junior high and high school English. After college, he was drafted into the US Army as a chaplain's Assistant and spent two years serving in Stuttgart, Germany. He belonged to the Delta Chi fraternity and spent his junior year abroad at the University of Exeter. Peck studied at DePauw University, earning a bachelor's degree in English in 1956.

He said, 'Ironically, it was my students who taught me to be a writer, though I was hired to teach them.' However, these observations about junior high school students proved excellent material for his books. After a while, he decided to cut his career short and write. Peck began his career as a high school teacher, but, much to his dismay, was transferred to a junior high school to teach English. He attended elementary and high schools in Decatur. He has a sister, Cheryl, who is an administrator at a college in Springfield, Illinois. His mother was a Wesleyan University graduate in home economics and his father owned a service station. Richard Wayne Peck was born Apin Decatur, Illinois, a typical midsized mid-western town, the son of Virginia Grey Peck and Wayne Peck.

The ghost belonged to me by richard peck