Just wanted to say hello and introduce myself
My name is Grant Karazsia and I am one of the newest staff writers hired to the Greene County Daily World. I was raised in this area through the early years of my life and after graduating from Linton in 2005, I have only returned sparingly for holidays and extraordinary events. It was not until a couple of weeks upon accepting the position at the paper that I recently returned from my many year hiatus.
On returning home, the item I found to be most amusing was the overall familiarity in navigating from point A to point B in Linton... where all of the side streets and back alley rushes reappeared as though they have never left, forever ingrained in my conscious.
Now, when I am sent out on assignment, the memories continue to flood through my mind and where I would be on my way to a town council meeting or event I will sometimes stop at a familiar spot and think back many years prior, where I might have been found skateboarding, or playing music with a group of friends. Not to sound overtly nostalgic, but more often than not those brief moments in time often return a smile to face similar to the same grin that I wore in the past.
For many years I have been interested in literature and the written word, but that was not always the case. Around a couple of years ago I was having a conversation with my parents about my transfer into the English Department at Indiana State University, and they reminded me that for most of my early education I would do everything I could to not read. In fact they would say it was struggle for me to hold a book up to my face and concentrate for longer than a couple of minutes.
After much reflection I began to wonder of the epoch in which my love for reading had changed and then I remembered the first book that really took my interest: Kurt Vonnegut's The Sirens of Titan.
Now I think an apology is in order, because this book was lent to me by Patti Danner and it was never returned. Patti, if you are reading this, I still have the book and will gladly return it to you the next time I see you.
I am not sure exactly what about that book really grasped my interest, actually I am probably due for a re-reading of it sometime here shortly, but it was from that particular work that afterwards, I could not get enough of Kurt Vonnegut and I quickly read everything I could by the beloved Indiana author.
From Vonnegut, I expanded my horizons in the realm of science fiction where I read Orwell (1984), Burgess, Philip K. Dick, Asimov and many of the other great science fiction writers. But it was not until my first English Literature class that I really expanded into more types of literature, beyond science fiction.
In terms of books I own entirely more than I have possibly read and in fact, upon moving, most of the boxes that I carried down from my apartment, by and large were filled with books, more accounted than any other item.
One of the biggest challenges that I have had in my life is picking a career path. This is often a lofty question, the finality of it, when you ask someone what they want to do for the "rest of their life." This is something that I have struggled with for many years until I thought back to my past career choices.
When I was younger I went to see Apollo 13 at the Linton Cinema with my father and I was so mesmerized by the topic of space and going to the moon, that when the credits began to roll there was nothing more that I wanted to be than an astronaut. This fascination ensued for a year or so in which I watched many documentaries and read many books on the requirements it took to become an astronaut.
It was not much later when one day while sitting at home, I was watching television and Raiders of the Lost Ark was showing. I became so captivated that when Indiana Jones saves the day in the end I thought I had my next career path lined up for me: an archeologist. I learned later that not all archeologists carry a bullwhip and gun, but the thought still did not detour me until I watched Star Wars: A New Hope.
From the moment after the epic lightsaber battle between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader there was nothing more I wanted to be than a Jedi.
This trend continued longer than I care to admit, but I found the thread that connected an astronaut, archeologist, and Jedi; it was not the occupations of these characters that interested me as much as the stories that the movies told. When I realized this later in life, I decided that I wanted my occupation to be in writing.
I want to thank everybody here at the Greene County Daily World for making me feel welcome among the staff and I am very excited to report to those out there in our community.
Grant is a staff writer at the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at (812) 847-4487. He can also be reached via email at gkarazsia@gmail.com.
- -- Posted by Lil' Hahn on Sat, Aug 16, 2014, at 9:45 PM
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