HFCC Alumnus to Publish New Book
Robert Flemister
Issue date: 10/16/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment
Typing with two hands can be challenging to some-perhaps technology neophytes-but imagine using only one hand. Peter Jurich, a former Mirror News staff member and College alumna, writes about his life in his book entitled, Typing With One Hand, a memoir written for "adolescents and teens from middle school to high school levels with intent to prove reading fun and writing uninhibited," says Jurich.
The title of the book refers to Jurich's inability to type with two hands as a result of two strokes caused by several hereditary brain tumors, both of which occurred when the author was 3 years old. After having the tumors removed, Jurich was left with less than adequate motor skills on the left side of his body, including his hand, which he refers to as "the Shaky Left Hand," leaving a major impact on his self-esteem.
"It's the difference between walking down a hallway in a pure, unadulterated fashion," Jurich says, "and doing the same thing only having people stop talking once you pass them, followed, of course, by giggles as someone from the group does his own interpretation of the weird boy who just walked by."
For a while, the tremulous symptoms also impacted how he perceives himself, despite his mother telling him that monster would make him a stronger person. "If someone who walks the way I do has the audacity to actually walk around in public, he can certainly have the audacity to do anything else." Jurich adds. "If nothing else, I can use my walk as a 'friend filter'."
After almost two years of transcribing his life, Jurich spent months querying agents in hopes of publishing his book, to no avail. The process left him disheartened. At the suggestion of his friend and a former Mirror News staff member, Luke Duncan, Jurich decided to publish his transcriptions through the internet for free.
Jurich, however, is no stranger to publication outside of the Mirror News. Jurich was published on the New York Times Magazine website for a college essay contest. More recently, Writer's Digest bought his article about using new media as a writing outlet. "I contacted their [Personal Relations] person and asked her if I could advertise in their e-newsletter that goes out to 90K+ people every week, thinking it would be excellent exposure," Jurich says, "I ended up getting an email back from a managing editor there saying that they like what I did and asked if I could write an article… [I] danced around my house a little, and then accepted."
Typing With One Hand was not simply prepared with the intent to encourage adolescents and teens to enjoy reading, but it also serves as a message that nothing is ever set in stone. Jurich hopes the book opens up people's eyes to become more stimulating, inventive, and live creatively in their everyday lives. "I want to be successful so others can be successful," says Jurich, "This [book] is not for me anymore. It's for the multitude of closed eyes I see in many faces; it's for dreams that don't exist yet."
The title of the book refers to Jurich's inability to type with two hands as a result of two strokes caused by several hereditary brain tumors, both of which occurred when the author was 3 years old. After having the tumors removed, Jurich was left with less than adequate motor skills on the left side of his body, including his hand, which he refers to as "the Shaky Left Hand," leaving a major impact on his self-esteem.
"It's the difference between walking down a hallway in a pure, unadulterated fashion," Jurich says, "and doing the same thing only having people stop talking once you pass them, followed, of course, by giggles as someone from the group does his own interpretation of the weird boy who just walked by."
For a while, the tremulous symptoms also impacted how he perceives himself, despite his mother telling him that monster would make him a stronger person. "If someone who walks the way I do has the audacity to actually walk around in public, he can certainly have the audacity to do anything else." Jurich adds. "If nothing else, I can use my walk as a 'friend filter'."
After almost two years of transcribing his life, Jurich spent months querying agents in hopes of publishing his book, to no avail. The process left him disheartened. At the suggestion of his friend and a former Mirror News staff member, Luke Duncan, Jurich decided to publish his transcriptions through the internet for free.
Jurich, however, is no stranger to publication outside of the Mirror News. Jurich was published on the New York Times Magazine website for a college essay contest. More recently, Writer's Digest bought his article about using new media as a writing outlet. "I contacted their [Personal Relations] person and asked her if I could advertise in their e-newsletter that goes out to 90K+ people every week, thinking it would be excellent exposure," Jurich says, "I ended up getting an email back from a managing editor there saying that they like what I did and asked if I could write an article… [I] danced around my house a little, and then accepted."
Typing With One Hand was not simply prepared with the intent to encourage adolescents and teens to enjoy reading, but it also serves as a message that nothing is ever set in stone. Jurich hopes the book opens up people's eyes to become more stimulating, inventive, and live creatively in their everyday lives. "I want to be successful so others can be successful," says Jurich, "This [book] is not for me anymore. It's for the multitude of closed eyes I see in many faces; it's for dreams that don't exist yet."
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