I used to tell my students I had two special shelves, one for my own published work and another, of which I’m equally proud, for the published work of people who’ve studied with me. I asked folks to let me know when they had stories or books coming out. For a while, some did.

Given that I’m a person prone to jumping off time cliffs, parachuting out of one life venue into another, it’s been a little hard to keep track of me over the years. Only when I joined Facebook in 2009 did I have a chance to catch up with some of my former students and learn how their careers have unfolded since we last talked. In fact, most of the generous pre-pub quotes for HOW TO GREET STRANGERS come from these students-made-good.

Given that Goodreads invites me to create an idiosyncratic bookshelf, and given that social media lets me cast a wide net, I decided to try to build out my students’ shelf.

Think of it as an aberrant genealogy project, with some necessary caveats:

I don’t claim credit for the talent of others, only hail its passage through my life
Most of these folks have worked with many more teachers than me
I remember breathtaking work by students who didn’t carry on with writing—the people on this shelf cared deeply and worked hard, sometimes against great odds
Children often surpass the accomplishments of their parents

I would especially love to know if any of the storytellers I taught when they were very young—at Centrum’s high school and fifth grade conferences, in Oregon’s Talented and Gifted high school writers’ conferences, through Poets in the Schools or in my children’s classrooms have made writing part of their lives’ work.

Let the shelf begin with this list of former students I know have published books (and one who’s been publishing the work of others for the last twenty years). If you are one or if you know of others, leave a comment on this blog post or write me at archer@archerbarron.com.

I've started the shelf and called it Students-Made-Good. Please help to fill it up.

To be shelved, in no particular order: Ellen Howard, Karen Karbo, Collins Hemingway, Alix Wilber, Kevin Canty, Phil Margolin, Teresa Jordan, Andrew Himes, Karl Marlantes, Dick Couch, Scott Sparling, Rebecca Wells, Richard Paul Russo, Kelly Jurgensen, Glimmer Train Co-founder and Editor, Susan Burmeister-Brown.