Quotes from Professionals

Melanie Rigney

Melanie judged the Non-Fiction category at the Skyway Writers' Festival in which "Lanita's Cooking" took second place. She had some very nice things to say about the piece when she presented me with the award. I later asked if she would put those things into writing for me. She very graciously agreed to do so. The following is a quote from her email:

"Lanita's Cooking" illustrates beautifully the power of the time-honored writing adage, "Show, Don't Tell." Cheryl Hagedorn doesn't simply say her sister-in-law is a poor cook--or that she forgot to cook part of the Thanksgiving meal. Cheryl describes just how bad Lanita is, right down to those marshmallows. She doesn't just say Lanita is southern--she illustrates her speech patterns. As a personality profile, this piece of work is first-rate. Kudos!

-- Melanie Rigney
Editor, Writer's Digest Magazine

David Koenig, Ph.D.

Dr. Koenig is the author of 5 books of poetry: The Green Whistle, The Ladder of Memory, Spiral Staircase, Wildfire and Lightning, and Butterfly (The Soul in Search of Transformation). He also teaches Creative Writing at Oakton Community College. I was fortunate enough to take his class as an Honors Student.

I asked Dr. Koenig to write a letter of recommendation for entry to DePaul's Master of Writing program. I quote it here with his permission:

"You lost me," were the first words a student then unknown to me spoke, during the first day of my creative writing class last semester-she was Ms. Cheryl Hagedorn, whom I am strongly recommending for admission to DePaul University's Master of Writing program. From that day on, Ms. Hagedorn has continued in my classes to be consistently inquisitive, exhibited outstanding interpersonal skills, and been a natural leader to other students. She is also that rare student from whom even a teacher can learn a lot. She teaches creative writing herself now off campus on a volunteer basis, as well as helping guide the school's literary magazine.

I mention these qualities before Cheryl's high intellectual and writing abilities, which are equally exceptional. Far from "losing" her in the two semesters (one at the honors level) that I have been teaching Cheryl, she has proven capable of following, learning, incorporating and then being creative with every concept I have taught. For example, I use a model for teaching based on the four stages of the butterfly, and Cheryl, after questioning and learning about it, wrote a poem called "Egg, Caterpillar, Chrysalis, Butterfly" which perceptively applied the concepts to her own life in an intellectually and emotionally probing way. She is highly proficient in prose as well as poetry, and writes prolifically, turning all her required work in during the first weeks of the semester, then continuing to work steadily from there until the end and after the end of the school period.

Ms. Hagedorn is an excellent and powerful writer, student, leader, and teacher. I give her my highest recommendation.

Sincerely yours,
David Koenig, Ph.D.