Haywire Issue 4 Fall 2014
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Critical Essays<br />
Photograph of Creative Writing/Film/<strong>Haywire</strong>:<br />
Mr. Robertson,<br />
Adam Ross, Mr. Beckley,<br />
and Herr Martens.<br />
HAYWIRE <strong>Issue</strong> 4 <strong>Fall</strong> <strong>2014</strong><br />
A Rudder For The Rudderless<br />
Adam Ross’ Visit to JFKS<br />
by Emily Dills, 9c<br />
On Monday, 3rd of November,<br />
Adam Ross, author of Mr. Peanut<br />
and Middleman, visited JFKS to<br />
share with the 12th grade English<br />
classes about his career as a writer.<br />
As a member of <strong>Haywire</strong>, I was<br />
lucky to be able to attend the event<br />
as a 9th grader.<br />
Adam Ross grew up in New York<br />
City and went to Vassar College as<br />
an undergraduate. He studied creative<br />
writing at the all-girls’ Hollins<br />
University where he earned<br />
a Master of Fine Arts in Creative<br />
Writing. Later, he attended Washington<br />
University with Stanley Elkins.<br />
Ross worked as a bar manager<br />
in Nashville, where he moved to<br />
with his wife. He had been writing<br />
for 12 years before publishing Mr.<br />
Peanut.<br />
Responding to the question about<br />
his favorite authors, he quickly<br />
rattled off Walker Percy, Don Delillo,<br />
Alice Munro, and Junot Diaz.<br />
Ross is currently writing Playworld,<br />
at the American Academy<br />
where he is a visiting fellow. His<br />
children attend the John F. Kennedy<br />
School.<br />
Before the talk many students read<br />
Ross’ short story “Middleman”<br />
from the 2012 Ladies and Gentleman.<br />
Ross fielded questions and<br />
discussed his coming of age story<br />
with us. In the story, the protagonist,<br />
Jacob, grapples with and<br />
comes to understand the phrase<br />
“getting on the inside”. He discovers<br />
it as being “in the moment”,<br />
which is depicted as rare and<br />
therefore precious and extremely<br />
important in life. Jacob matures<br />
by grasping his identity and understanding<br />
the meaning of Mr.<br />
Duckworth’s ambiguous advice.<br />
Ross also shared a considerable<br />
amount of advice and life lessons<br />
with us. First, he enlightened us<br />
by pointing out that “we really aren’t<br />
who we think we are.” He also<br />
shared some of John Keats’ wisdom:<br />
“straight paths are the paths<br />
of mediocrity.” Yet Ross himself<br />
was an extremely mediocre student<br />
in high school, as he didn’t<br />
care to conform to the standard<br />
system. He admitted this in an anecdote<br />
from his life: a particularly<br />
mean-spirited teacher of his vis-<br />
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