I Am Youth: 1974-1987

I Am Youth: 1974-1987Some fifty years ago, as Deb Thompson was crossing that boundary between childhood and adulthood, she started writing poetry. This began as journaling, a diary to cheer herself up. It quickly became an endeavor in itself. Thompson boxed up her work when it came time to focus on college and career, but she always promised herself she would get back to it. Now, in retirement, she is keeping that promise. These poems give an in person tour of the wild

Some fifty years ago, as Deb Thompson was crossing that boundary between childhood and adulthood, she started writing poetry. This began as journaling, a diary to cheer herself up. It quickly became an endeavor in itself. Thompson boxed up her work when it came time to focus on college and career, but she always promised herself she would get back to it. Now, in retirement, she is keeping that promise. These poems give an in-person tour of the wild emotional swings of growing up as well as quiet times of absorbing the world around her. 

Sharing this these poems might help others through tumultuous times, or it may help parents understand their growing daughters. On the other hand, Deb recorded general observations of the world and glimpses of how the world has changed -- and stayed the same -- over the last fifty years. 

Experience the world through the eyes of a teenage girl in the 1970s, now viewed through the past. Though the world is different today, the experience of growing up is still much the same.

About the Author

Deb Thompson grew up on a dairy farm in a time when the women's rights movement was still young and “equal pay for equal work” was still a controversial idea. As the first one in her family to go to college, she experienced this new world in particularly raw fashion, keeping a poetry journal in the process.

Since those beginnings, she has had many adventures, especially in the southwestern United States and the Caribbean.

Deb is a Registered Professional Geologist with degrees in Geological Science from The Pennsylvania State University (BS) and the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee (MS).  After she retired from a career in environmental consulting, she. volunteers for the Montour Trail, a volunteer-operated and maintained multi-use trail in western Pennsylvania.