Reflections

Tool of the Devil?

• By fannieb
• July 4, 2014
• No Comments

“A tool of the devil” is what my mom called the Internet. I had laughed at her reaction to the then new World Wide Web and dismissed it as something felt by old folks who just had trouble adjusting to new things. In some ways with technology I’m a late adopter maybe because I am my mother’s daughter. Though I laughed at her depiction of the Internet I believe that some things taking place there are evil like child abuse by internet predators and email scams.

But, today, I look up to the heavens to share the news and say, “I have my very own website, Mommy!” and think she would be proud. Though disapproving of the Internet years ago, I think she would be happy for me that I had found a way to share my writing with others. During the 1970s and 1980s she had aspired to write. She wrote articles for a local township newspaper. She wrote a narrative and had submitted it to True Story magazine. It was rejected. And, she had written a manuscript, Teaching the Mentally Gifted, a guidebook for teachers of really smart students. In the 70s new programs for the gifted were sprouting up in school districts across the country charting new territory. My mom had wanted to provide a roadmap.

I found these writings and others while cleaning out her home in the days after her death. A lost voice found.

So with the launch of this website, lostvoicesfound.com, I aspire to make her proud of me, my writing, and my positive use of this Internet medium.

-Fannie Boatwright

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