Publicity is correlative to your position in the community. Seldom does the quiet worker, without incident become published in local news or publications. Though his achievements are many and great, he accomplishes great things in his lifetime, his quiet fortitude and persistence are rarely recognized as important or document worthy.

So, what makes a person worthy of comment? Worthy of being heard in a society such as ours? Is it his life? That he has something of grave importance to express? Or that his knowledge is vastly improved over that of the average person?

While it may be fortunate that everyone with a word to express is not heard, and there may actually be some benefit to censored press, it is my honest opinion that those who find it necessary to control the knowledge available to the public are creating a disservice to the general people of our nation.

The people deserve to be heard. Even if their opinion is static, unpopular, or defensive, each person on the face of this planet has a voice and I believe they should be heard.

There have been cases where a person spokeout and was belittled, limited, and censored by the press. I can understand this to an extent, however, in today's means of trasnporting suond around the world... Why?

Let's hear it for freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Be published!

Jan Verhoeff

Somewhere between college and life, Jan began to focus on other people. Her intense need to feel accomplishment in her life drove her to finding a deeper contentment than just existing in the hoot 'n holler of southeastern Colorado. While the beauty of the prairie never escaped her eye for color and beauty, the intensity of her desire kept her moving ever onward.

Summers in Michigan and Tennessee brought her closer to something, but it wasn't until much later, as an adult, mother of four that she began to understand that her need for accomplishment included sharing what she had learned along the way. It also meant that her talent for painting the dream and writing her thoughts had a lot to do with her accomplishments.

She began to focus on actually writing down her thoughts and ideas in journals, revealing her prayer thoughts and life events. Bits of paper became treasures of memory, and a notebook became an outlet of hope and a step of faith. Jan put her thoughts on paper, and began to publish them, where she found opportunity, including various magazines, trade journals, and local publications. Her interests in business and new enterprise became a resounding outlet for her talent, and wisdom for those who sought it. Jan's interest in business development became her trademark, resulting in her first book publication in !992, "Building a Business: From Scratch". This 22 page booklet was published by a local printer in a vertical brochure format, selling more than a thousand copies nation wide. It has resurfaced in college classes as the basis for college term papers, graduate thesis, and research documents for small business courses over the past 13 years.

Seeking more diverse outlets for her talents, Jan most recently has written several short stories published in various books, including: "Stories for the Trail" with the Lamar Writer's Group, "Prickly Points of Life" a combination poetry/short story collection of Jan's work, and "Coffee Clatter" a bound collection of written works originally published in a newsletter published by her daughter, Brenna, as a Sophomore Year Project when she was homeschooling at Buchanan Academy.

More recently her work is available in a newsletter she publishes weekly via email, and various blogs listed on the right side of this page.

You may contact Jan at: janverhoeff@yahoo.com