The Full Story
About Jill
It all started when I was about the age of 10. It was the mid-1970's and my mom had painted an old 1800's school desk a frosty pink and placed it in the corner of my bedroom. When I wasn't playing school at that desk, I wrote in my first diary which was also pink...
Writing has been a need as essential to my well-being as water.
* Excerpt from memoir, Getting Over Vivian
Before a time of video games and 24-hour cartoons, I sat at that pink desk immersed in a methodical silence. That solitude permitted me the luxury, if not necessity, to ponder. It still amazes me how the serendipitous placement of a particular item in a room; a warm lamp or a shelf to house favorite books, can transform an environment and sometimes provoke new behavior. An item placed, just so. Changing destiny. A magical renovation.
I put ink to paper in my first diary while sitting in that desk, setting in stone a proclivity to write the rest of my life. I calculated my future age for the year 2000 on my first calculator. I practiced my first skills as a teacher as I led either a mute classroom of dolls and stuffed animals or my less willing younger brother and exasperated friends in dittoed lessons.
Bio
Since receiving my pink Five-Year Diary at age 10, my life has been navigated through the written word. Coming of age during a time of radical economic downturn in Denver, I began my post college years waiting tables at the, now historic, Wynkoop Brewing Company and wandering the, then-vacant streets of lower downtown Denver, discovering wonderfully gritty joints along the way.
A teacher for many years, I enjoyed nurturing the creative and healing aspects of writing with students of all ages and backgrounds. Since retiring from that vocation, I began my career in journalism, writing for several Colorado publications. I reflect on my parenting and teaching experiences in a regular column in the Denver North Star newspaper, Letters from Miss Jill.
When not writing, I immerse myself in meditative art-making or hop on my mountain bike to climb the rocky trails of the surrounding foothills. I currently split my time between Denver and Salida, Colorado with my husband Jeff, son Gray and dog Lexi. My memoir is a reflection of all those journal entries compiled during my early life. Getting Over Vivian is my love-letter to a Denver that is long gone.
Also, here are some links about me:
https://voyagedenver.com/interview/rising-stars-meet-jill-carstens-of-northwest-denver/
