Unconventional Path to Writing: From Law School to Marines to CIA – Richard Ford’s Journey

2023-08-17 15:01:35

SZ-Magazine: As a young man you tried out a lot of professions. Can it be said that you became a writer rather by accident because you hadn’t had success anywhere before?
Richard Ford: You can. I didn’t like law school. I joined the Marines when I was 20, but it didn’t work out because I got hepatitis. Then I taught at a school for a year. Fourth grade, way too tiring. When I was offered a desk job at the CIA, my wife said she didn’t want to be married to anyone who worked for the government. So I turned down the job with no prospect of anything else. It was then like I was staring at a blank wall and suddenly a window opened in the middle. Stories were written in this window. I never thought I had a special talent for it. Up until then I had only read novels.

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