"My Free Soul" by Mary Floyd
— I had to hide my secret.
Without my bubble, I would cease to live, just blow away like dust.
Mary Floyd lives in St Augustine, Florida. She started working with a tutor at Learn to Read approximately three years ago. In addition to wanting to learn to read, she was also motivated to follow her life-long goal of writing. She started attending meetings of Ancient City Writers Association less than a year ago. At present, she has written 50 fictional short stories. She had two stories published in the Florida Literacy’s collection of Adult Learners (2024 and 2025).
Author’s Talk
Mary Floyd, author, (left) and Barb Horton, tutor (right)
From a March 31 posting on Instagram and Facebook by Learn To Read of St. Johns County, FL)
Learn to Read (LTR) is very grateful to Randell Jones of Daniel Boone Footsteps and the Personal Story Publishing Project (PSPP) of Winston-Salem, NC. Our student, Mary Floyd, has been published in the spring 2026 boo, “Free,” personal stories of choice, effort, and consequence. Mary’s story is titled “My Free Soul.” Mary has worked tirelessly with her LTR tutor, Barbara Horton, over the past three years. Congratulations Mary and Barb!
LTR has successfully incorporated the complete collection of 13 PSPP anthologies, generously donated by Randell Jones, into our basic literacy and conversational English programs. Remember, “Everybody loves a good story.”
LTR thanks Randell Jones for his support and dedication in helping Mary as well as LTR. Thank you too for your financial generosity towards LTR in memory of your mother, Muriel Kathleen McBride Jones, who was an adult literacy tutor for a time and a mother forever!
Please visit Daniel Boone Footsteps at DanielBooneFootsteps.com / RandellJones.com for more information.
Also, if you should require any help in the areas of basic literacy, preparation for the GED test, learning English as a second language, or preparing for the U.S. citizenship test/interview, please contact LTR at Learntoreadstjohns.org or call us at (904) 826-0011.
Joe Cinney, Executive Director
Learn To Read of St. Johns County
St. Augustine, Florida
Students at Learn To Read are using stories in all 13 PSPP collections and “6-minute Stories” podcasts to improve their basic literacy and to enhance their conversational English.