Guest Post: Susan Van Kirk on The Powerful Gift of Words
Visiting us today is bestselling author Susan Van Kirk. Susan and I were first introduced to one another by Lourdes Venard of Comma Sense Editing. This would have been in 2013, maybe 2014. Both Susan and I had written first manuscripts and we were filled with dreams of eventual publication for our cozy masterpieces. The dream came true for both of us, though we’ve both had a few bumps along the way (getting “orphaned” when our publishers closed shop being one of them). Knowing there was someone there to understand what we were going through, from those early edits on, knowing we could vent (and it would stay between us)…that’s powerful stuff.
But here’s the thing. Susan is also a former educator and she’s just released Mr. Vonnegut and Me (And Other Incredible Tales from a Teaching Life). Take it away, Susan:
The Powerful Gift of Words
Sometimes gifts are returned to you in unique ways, often using words as their vehicle of choice. The universe has a way of doing this when you least expect it.
Since my first book came out sixteen years ago, I’ve written ten mysteries. However, my first book was a memoir about my forty-four years in classrooms. I recently revised it and launched it into the reading world again. Called Mr. Vonnegut and Me (And Other Incredible Tales from a Teaching Life), it consists of fifteen true stories written as creative nonfiction.
Before becoming an author, I was a single parent of three and a public school teacher. When my last child was a summer away from starting college, I went back to school for a master’s degree at the University of Illinois. I moved there for three summers, sublet an apartment, and finished my degree at age fifty. It was the first thing I’d done for myself since I’d married almost thirty years earlier and eventually divorced.
I took a course called Reflective Teaching, a course meant to help educators consider deeply the answer to this question: How did their beliefs and values influence their teaching? On one of my papers, my professor wrote a note saying, “Your writing has a wonderful voice, and your stories are incredible. Have you ever thought about writing a book?”
Well, no, Professor, I hadn’t, but her words stuck in my brain, and several years later I wrote my memoir. Her remark had given me a gift, one I’ve enjoyed over these sixteen years.
After the memoir came out, I received a letter from a former student who’d read it. In part, it said this:
“You know, I grew up in a family that loved me but had few expectations for me. My mother’s only requirement was that I graduate from high school. The fact that I brought home As and Bs was a bonus for them. My seven older siblings sure hadn’t. Anyway, since they were happy, I never learned to push myself…Now here I sit, working my way through a PhD program, planning to become a college professor.
“For years, I have held on to a memory of being in your English class. You assigned us to groups and had us ‘teach’ the class. None of my group members wanted to be the one who actually spoke. So, I stepped up and did the teaching. I clearly remember you writing the words, ‘you should be a teacher’ on my paper when you graded it. At the time, I didn’t think I would truly be good at teaching others. In reality, you apparently saw the flicker of a passion within me that I did not self-identify at the time. Now, I can’t imagine doing anything but teaching. I thank you for this gift.”
I tell this story not to brag, but to illustrate that the universe sometimes does work in unique ways, and words are the powerful tools it uses.
About the book
When Susan Van Kirk drove into little Monmouth, Illinois, in 1968—straight out of college, with her teaching degree in hand—she thought she was ready to teach English and speech to high school students. She didn’t realize she would both teach and be taught by a town, a school, and the students who entered her life. A veteran of forty-four years of public high school and college teaching, Van Kirk will take you on a passionate and unforgettable journey through one teaching life. Meet her students and experience the events that molded a rookie teacher into a veteran. This montage of stories covers the years 1968 to 2008; they describe her early fears about classroom discipline, plots to overthrow “the rookie,” handling drug overdoses, the devastating first student death, and a challenge to a major Kurt Vonnegut book in her classroom.
Mr. Vonnegut and Me (And Other Incredible Tales from a Teaching Life) is a second edition, and Van Kirk has added a new introduction plus updated material about where the students from the stories are now. These fifteen stories are incredible, inspiring, and filled with what makes us human. Find the book.
Susan Van Kirk
About Susan Van Kirk
Susan Van Kirk is the author of six Endurance Mysteries beginning with Three May Keep a Secret. Her standalone mystery, A Death at Tippitt Pond, was followed by the Art Center Mysteries: Death in a Pale Hue, Death in a Bygone Hue, and Death in a Ghostly Hue from Level Best Books. The third book of the trilogy was nominated for the Anthony Award for Best Paranormal Mystery of 2025. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and is past president of the Guppy Chapter of SinC. Find her at susanvankirk.com.
There are so many layers under what goes on in the classroom, and this books sounds as if it digs into them. I’ve just purchased a copy and look forward to reading about your trials and triumphs as a teacher.
Jackie, thank you! It was my hope that Susan’s story would reach a wider audience and you just proved it’s working.
Thanks so much, Jackie. I hope this book will inspire others to go into this profession. When I decided to teach, I could never have imagined the stories in this book, stories that really happened.
I love this essay, not just because it’s written by a friend, with whom I have a lot in common, but also because it illustrates the power of teaching and learning in everyone’s life, how igniting the initial spark can make all the difference in the world. Thank you, Susan Van Kirk. You inspire me, too!
So true, Saralyn!
Thanks, Saralyn. I know you’ve experienced some of the same thrills I have since I’ve read some of your books! They sing to me.
I enjoyed reading the updated version of this memoir. Knowing the Susan of today, it is fun to imagine the Susan who was the teacher and student champion.
True, Debra!
I’m not sure I’m much different, Debra, just older and wiser. I learned a lot from these events and the students who came into my life.
First, thank you for your service as a teacher. There is bo higher in my mind. And you are right on about words being a gift when the universe so decrees. You never know the power of them, so choose wisely.
Thanks so much for your kind words. 44 years in high school and college. And I’d go back and do it all over again. The stories in my book are hard to believe but they all happened.
Susan, I love your thoughts on the power of words. The universe does have a way of returning gifts/words just when they’re needed. I’m looking forward to reading your book!
Thanks so much! The older I get, the more often these karma things seem to happen. This one was gratifying. Hope you enjoy my book.
Welcome, Susan. Your post is an inspiration for many of us who may have taken circuitous route before finding our true calling. It’s a welcome for reminder of how important my high school English teacher was to my eventual writing career. It’s wonderful that you had an inspiring one, too. Thanks for sharing your experience with us today.
You’re so welcome, and thanks for letting me post on your blog. I, too, had many inspiring teachers, one in particular who inspired me to teach. And you are so right about circuitous routes. We have lots of company, don’t we?
Being a retired teacher myself, this brought tears to my eyes. Your passion and determination is inspiring for more than just your students. Well done!
Thanks so much, Kathleen. I shed a few tears too as I edited this book and put it out into the world once again. The stories are funny, poignant, crazy, sad, and inspiring. A little of everything!
Thanks so much, Judy, and everyone, for having me on the Stiletto Gang blog. Enjoyed it!!