Barbara Cobb

Email: SERIAH01@AOL.COM

AOL: SERIAH01

I WAS BORN THE FOURTH DAUGHTER OF SEVEN GIRLS AND TWO BOYS, TO THE REV. AND MRS. EDDIE STEPHENS, IN GAINESVILLE, GA, WHICH IS ABOUT 50 MILES NORTHEAST OF DOWNTOWN ATLANTA. GROWING UP BLACK IN THE SOUTH DURING THE 50'S, 60'S, AND LET'S NOT OMIT THE 70'S, WITHOUT A DOUBT, WAS INDEED,A VERY DIFFERENT KIND OF EXPERIENCE THAN WHAT MANY HAVE EXPERIENCED IN OTHER PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

MOST OF MY CAREER LIFE HAS BEEN SPENT IN BROADCASTING; HOWEVER, MY HEART HAS TURNED AWAY FROM THAT PARTICULAR MEDIUM TO PRINT. NO, I AM NOT JUST NOW CONSIDERING A POSSIBLE CAREER IN WRITING. I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A PUBLISHED WRITER, BUT LIKE SO MANY OTHER "WANNA BE'S" I HESITATED, FEARING THAT I COULD NOT WRITE WELL ENOUGH TO MAKE THE MARK. AS A RESULT, MY PROCRASTINATION HAS CAUSED ME TO LINGER FAR BEHIND MY DREAM.

HOWEVER, AFTER SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, PROCRASTINATION WAS SLAM DUNKED INTO THE SEA OF NEVER AGAIN AND NO MORE HESITATION.

ON THAT DAY ONE OF THE SEVEN GIRLS MENTIONED IN THE FIRST PARAGRAPH OF THIS PROFILE TOOK A DIRECT HIT FROM THE JET, WHICH WAS VICIOUSLY AND PURPOSELY FLOWN INTO THE PENTAGON. FOR SEVERAL DAYS SHE WAS LISTED WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AS "DUTY STATUS, WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN." ALONG WITH SEPTEMBER 29, 1994, SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, HAD TO BE THE MOST DEVASTATING DAYS OF MY LIFE. BUT I LEARNED SOMETHING FROM BOTH DAYS, AND THE DAYS THAT FOLLOWED THEM: I LEARNED THAT LIFE IS ABSOLUTELY TOO SHORT TO PUT OFF UNTIL TOMORROW WHAT POSITIVELY MUST BE DONE TODAY!!!

IN SEPTEMBER OF 1994, MY MOTHER DIED A TRAGIC DEATH. IN SEPTEMBER 2001, MY SECOND OLDEST SISTER WAS A VICTIM OF TERRORISM. SEPTEMBER 28, 2002 WOULD HAVE BEEN HER RETIREMENT DATE, ONE IN WHICH SHE WAS ANXIOUS TO SEE. HER NAME WAS EDNA L. STEPHENS. SHE WORKED FOR THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT FOR 34 YEARS; ONE YEAR WAS SPENT WITH THE FBI, AND THE OTHER 33 WERE OF SERVICE RENDERED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE/ARMY DIVISION, AS A CIVILIN BUDGET ANALYST.

EDNA AND MY MOTHER ALWAYS ENCOURAGED ME TO MAKE GRAVE ATTEMPTS TO GET PUBLISHED. THEY HAD MORE CONFIDENCE IN MY ABILITIES THAN I HAD. I AM NOW, EVEN MORE ENCOURAGED, BY THEIR PASSING AWAY THAN I WAS IN THEIR LIFETIMES. LOSING BOTH OF THEM IN SUCH TRAGEDIES, BIRTHED A NEW, AND PASSIONATE URGE IN ME TO SHARE WITH OTHERS WHAT IS CLATTERING, LIKE CLOGGERS, UPON THE UNCARPETED, BOARDED FLOORS OF AN OLD, EMPTY HOUSE, THROUGH THE CHAMBERS OF MY HEART AND MIND.

EACH WORD THAT FLOWS, LIKE INK, FROM MY HEART THROUGH MY FINGERTIPS, ONTO THE COMPUTER KEYBOARD, REMINDS ME OF MY MOTHER'S AND MY SISTER'S ENCOURAGEMENT. FOR THE MEMORY OF THEM, I MUST WRITE. FOR THE UNDYING FAITH IN ME, I MUST WRITE. THEY DID SOMETHING FOR ME THAT I DID NOT DO FOR MYSELF: THEY BELIEVED IN ME. I OWE THE MEMORY OF THEM A DEBT THAT I FOR WHICH I SHALL CONTINUE TO PAY UNTIL MY SUN GOES DOWN AND MY MOON RISES IN ANOTHER SKY AND ANOTHER WORLD.

I AM DRAWN TO WORDS. I LOVE THE WAY THEY LOOK, SMELL AND TASTE, WHEN THEY ARE PRINTED AND ARE VERY WELL WRITTEN. I LOVE THE WAY THEY CAN BE BROUGHT TOGETHER TO MEAN SO MUCH TO THE SPIRIT OF MAN. WHO CAN BETTER JARR THE DORMANT PASSIONS OF MAN, THAT SLEEP IN QUIET CORNERS OF HIS MIND, THAN A GOOD WRITER? WHAT CAN BETTER WAKE THOSE PASSIONS THAN THE PASSIONS OF A WRITER? PASSION TENDS TO BREED PASSION AS OTHER THINGS BREED THINGS OF THEMSELVES.

I AM NOT A PUBLISHED WRITER IN THE SENSE THAT MANY ARE. I HAVE PUBLISHED A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE HERE AND THERE, AND I WRITE FOR INDIVIDUALS WHEN THEY WANT TO SEND A SPECIAL LOVE OR BUSINESS LETTER TO SOMEONE. I ALSO WRITE ESSAYS FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO IMPRESS FUTURE EMPLOYEES, OR WANT TO ENTER A PARTICULAR COLLEGE OR OTHER SCHOOL; HOWEVER, I HAVEN'T PUBLISHED ANY OF THE OTHER MATERIAL THAT I HAVE WRITTEN. I AM JUST NOW BEGINNING TO MAKE GRAVE ATTEMPTS TO BE PUBLISHED. AT NO POINT SHALL I REST UNTIL I HAVE BOOKS ON THE SHELVES OF EVERY BOOK STORE. WITH PASSION, I SHALL ENDEAVOR TO MAKE THIS QUEST A REALITY IN MY LIFE. WITH THE SAME PASSION I ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO DO THE SAME. BUT I HOPE THAT THEY WILL NOT WAIT FOR TRAGEDY TO STRIKE BEFORE SEEING THE LIGHT. PERHAPS OTHERS MAY BE ABLE TO LEARN A VALUABLE LESSON FROM ME, A TRUE PROCRASTINATOR, WHO WAS NOT ABLE TO SEE WHAT OTHERS SAW IN HER. TRAGEDY HAD TO INTRODUCE ITSELF TO ME BEFORE THE SCALES FELL FROM MY EYES.

BUT PERHAPS, THOSE WERE NOT THE GREATEST TRAGEDIES OF MY LIFE EXPERIENCE. MAYBE, WAITING AND WAITING......WAS MY WORSE TRAGEDY.

ONE OF THE GREATEST TRAGEDIES OF LIFE IS UNFULFILLED AND SECRET LOVE, BUT THE UNSUBMITTED WORKS OF WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN A FAMOUS WRITER, LYING ON HIS OLD, DUSTY, OAK DESK LIKE DRIFTWOOD ON A DESERTED BEACH, IS JUST AS TRAGIC. HE COULD HAVE SHARED HIS GIFTED MIND WITH MILLIONS OF HUNGRY, INQUISITIVE READERS, WITH MILLIONS OF CURIOUS KNOWLEDGE SEEKERS. HE COULD HAVE WON PULITZER PRIZES; COULD HAVE TOPPED THE BEST SELLERS LISTS OF EVERY MAJOR NEWSPAPER IN THE WORLD. HE COULD HAVE.......AND LOVE COULD HAVE BEEN FULFILLED. UNFULFILLED AND SECRET LOVE.....UNFULFILLED AND UNPUBLISHED WRITERS.......GREAT TRAGEDIES.

I AM NOW LIVING ON HILTON HEAD ISLAND, WHERE I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON MATERIAL, WHICH I HAVE BEGUN TO SUBMIT FOR PUBLISHING. THE ISLAND AND THE OCEAN HAVE AIDED ME IN MY QUEST TO WRITE FROM MY HEART. NOW I AM USING THE SERVICES OF WRITER'S MARKET TO AID ME IN THE PROCESS OF POURING OUT WHAT HAS BEEN WRITEN, INTO THE PASSIONATE HEARTS OF INQUISITIVE READERS.

PLEASE PRAY FOR MY SUCCESS AS I PRAY FOR YOUR SUCCESS IN THE FIELD OF WRITING.

SINCERELY,

BSC

Interests: TRAVELING AROUND THE UNITED STATES, READING GOOD BOOKS, WRITING, GOOD MOVIES, LITTLE CHILDREN, HISTORY, HISTORY MUSEUMS AND PHOTOGRAPHY.

Published writer: No

Freelance: Yes