"We Amphibians" by Mark K. Marshall

 – the glory-whoop I let out when I cross over the river

I’ve passed from creek to shore once again.

Mark Marshall moved to Nashville in 1977 from his home state of West Virginia. He has worked mostly as a career coach where he has gotten to hear and share stories with thousands of people from every conceivable walk of life. He now works in private practice and as a career coach at UpRise Nashville. He’s also a member of The River Writers. Much of his writing draws upon how growing up in Richwood, West Virginia, a small lumber and mining town deep in the West Virginia mountains, has shaped his life. 

Author’s Talk

Mark Marshall

I moved to Nashville in 1977 from my home state of West Virginia. I’ve mostly worked as a career coach where I have gotten to hear and share stories with thousands of people from every conceivable walk of life. So, storytelling has always been central to me. Much of my writing draws upon how growing up in Richwood, West Virginia, a small lumber and mining town deep in the mountains shaped my life. 

Somewhere along the way, I started jotting down times and tales I wanted to remember on index cards. Eventually I had a tall stack of index cards held together by a giant binder clip, thinking I might do something with those memories one day. At the conclusion of a poetry reading I attended a few years ago, the featured poet, professor, author, social activist, political advisor, world traveler, Caroline Cottom announced that she was conducting a memoir writing workshop in a few weeks. My stack of index cards came to mind, I registered, and found the collaboration with other, more talented writers very supportive and stimulating. A core group of people who were there that day still meet every other Friday morning to hone our craft, share our work, and support each other as The River Writers, still guided by Caroline. 

Learning to be a more skilled writer has become an important part of the journey I am on. I have come to value and enjoy the process of editing and shaping a piece.  When writing, I’m sure that where my memory runs out, my imagination takes over a bit to fill in the gaps or to tell a better story.   Carolyn once told me that a writer has the right to say “Well, that’s the way I remember it.” when someone else says, “No. That’s not the way it happened.”  So, for the most part, my essays describe “the way I remember it” and the way I want to share it with other people – all with the love and appreciation for how this place, these people, and events have shaped my life. I hope there’s something here you can somehow relate to, and that you too will honor the stories in your own life.