Years as a ‘word nerd’ sprout into column

Catherine Van Noy spent most days as a child with her nose in a book. Courtesy of Catherine Van Noy

But she has always been happiest when writing. Courtesy of Catherine Van Noy.

Editor’s note: I’m pleased to introduce a new community column to The Burgs, written by Catherine Van Noy.
For many readers, it is a re-introduction of sorts, as Catherine outlines here in her column.
This format will allow her to put a spotlight on people around the New River Valley whose efforts or attributes might not otherwise be known, and give a reflection of community life and involvement.
Her column will run in The Burgs every other week on Saturdays. If you have an idea of someone or something to be featured, feel free to call or email Catherine and let her know.

— Erica Myatt

My love of language and the practice of writing go way back. Way, way back. Four decades at least. That’s a lot of time and a tome of sentences. Since I put pencil to yellow, lined paper somewhere around second grade to craft my first narrative work, I’ve been enchanted by the process of stringing words together to arrive at an idea or shine a light.

I attribute some of this tendency to a quip by Mark Twain, master wordsmith if ever there was one. My father had posted a Twainism on the wall of his office. “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.” I wasn’t much of a Samuel Clemens fan at the time, but that vivid expression stuck. A dank space conveys so much more than dampness.

Each week, our Wordly Wise textbooks introduced W. S. Guy middle-schoolers to 15 nouns, verbs, adjectives, or adverbs. There were challenge words also, as I recall. And these were the most delicious to my eye and ear. I recall a penchant for trying to weave the most exotic terms together, stretching all standards of clarity and commonsense. Does the strident strumpet offend more with her bellicose nature or her lavish pulchritude? I was, undoubtedly, a word nerd.

And so when I learned of the opportunity to write again for these pages, I didn’t hesitate to submit a sample. Some readers will recognize my byline. Ten years ago, I submitted my first column for The Current. When my husband received approval of his Fulbright to Slovenia, I pitched the idea of doing a few travel pieces while our family spent six months in this small, East European country. I sent monthly missives and savored the emails back from readers.
When I returned, the editors and I discussed continuing and “Dateline: Radford” came to be.

My column ran every other Sunday for three years. Here, I revived my creative voice — a career in technical writing can take its toll. I also developed a deep affection for this New River Valley community. The consistent deadlines encouraged me to reach out to learn from lives I might never have encountered otherwise. It is a privilege to sit with someone and say, “Tell me about yourself.”

I invite you to do the same this time around. Call or email me, and share your ideas for stories.

And since we’re talking fondness for the written word, I encourage all bibliophiles to participate in the 14th Annual Used Book Sale sponsored by Literacy Volunteers of the New River Valley.

You can take part in several ways. Bring your books to the New River Valley Mall Food Court area on Feb. 10, from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. or Saturday, Feb. 11 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.
Then, return and shop for cheap reads the following week from Feb. 16-19. Find more details at www.lvnrv.org.

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