I feel obligated to share my story about how Prince affected my life. Since his passing at age 57 was announced on April 21, a world of admirers and their messages have filled phone banks, print and social media with their own stories. My story is about his influence on my writing, and goes back to 1989.
At the time, I was reading an international Prince fan magazine called Controversy. Over the years since becoming a Prince fan, I had developed an interest in many things, including some of the quirks and trivia associated with music. One afternoon, I was listening intently to a Prince album and singing along until I hit a stumbling block and thought I could do something about it. I prepared and submitted an article to the magazine about misheard lyrics (also known as mondegreens) in Prince’s songs, and the magazine printed it in the August 1st issue #18. What a thrill!
The bigger thrill came with the next issue (October 1, #19), when the editor announced that Prince had actually read the issue and jotted down a quick reply to my article: his secretary contacted her and asked if she wanted to include it in the next issue and, after what I’m sure was a few moments of hyperventilating, the arrangement was made.
When the issue went to print, I and myriad other fans were also hyperventilating. The fan in me was over the moon, but the writer in me leaped even higher. It was not just Prince reaching out to me as a fan or sharing something with all the fans reading the magazine; it was proving that my writing was not only worth publishing, but that the subject of the article read it himself. It was an honor and an affirmation to me to keep writing.
I did go on to write more articles, eventually shifting to another newsletter after Controversy folded. The readers continued to praise my work, and I was and am grateful. Now that Prince is gone, a creative spark has flamed out. Writers, fans and all of us who communicate about his contributions to our world will keep the big light burning until we all get to see what he does in concert in the after world. For me, Prince opened the door to my writing, and I hope all my words in the future will be my thanks to him for that.
Susan's Scribblings the Blog 