While recently going through my old photographs I came across this picture of me at 18. I’d always loved taking pictures, but during my first year of college I took a required photography course and started using a better camera.
It was one of the most fun and exciting turns in my life. Even though I wanted to be a writer since I was nine, making a living writing didn’t seem like the most practical idea so I decided I would make a living as a photographer instead, while still pursing my dream of writing books. That plan didn’t go so well, alas, but I stumbled into something that ultimately led to Echo, a social network I started in 1989. My first book was published in 1998, when I was 42.
I remember telling my therapist, when I was around 30-years old, that if I didn’t publish by the time I was 40 there was no point to keep trying. After 40 I’d be too old to enjoy it. Hahaha. I remember seriously thinking that!! Hang in there dreamers!
This is me at 18, in my college dorm room, with my beloved Pentax SP-1000.