Terry Taylor has written for the U.S. House of Representatives, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, the Harvard University Institute of Education Management, the Boston University School of Management, the Dickinson Financial Corporation, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s FastTrac Entrepeneur Program, The Jerry Litton Memorial Foundation, the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Moore Sturges Public Relations Firm, The Ivy Group, Bailey Properties, to name a few. His writings have been produced/published in New York City, Washington, D.C., Boston, Kansas City, and Raleigh; as well as in Oxford, England; Bath, England, and Toronto, Canada, among others.
Terry’s Story
I have been writing all of my life, and I owe my great regard for the eloquence and power of the written word to my third grade teacher in small town Iowa, Miss Groth, who instilled in me an abiding love for reading and writing and whom I have never forgotten. My first fee earned for writing came early in life when my older brother paid me to write a note of remorse, which he copied word-for-word, given to the neighbor whose picture window was broken from a baseball line drive off my brother’s bat. I now call that note – a true literary masterpiece, incidentally – Opus Apologetica Profundum Saviour De Gluteus Maximus because it worked and indeed saved my brother’s . . . bottom.
My creed as a writer has always been, “Have Pen (more lately, Computer, Tablet, or iPhone), Will Travel.” No writing project has been too daunting, nor too small or inconsequential. I have performed writing projects for national politicians, a billion dollar corporation, multi-million dollar foundations, a metropolitan Diocese of the Catholic Church, public relations firms (both my own and others), major colleges and universities including Harvard University, and for television projects (including writing for a documentary narrated by the late Walter Cronkite that won Best of Show Award by the International Television Association). But I have also enjoyed writing for a small inner city parochial school, a farm realty company, the corner dance studio, and a rural Baptist church whose steeple rises above the corn fields of Iowa. Painters say, “It’s all green to me.” Well, writing is all black and white for me.
I AM BACK!! What do I mean by that? I have returned to writing after over two decades of helping to build a family business and even more importantly, raising a wonderful family with my wife, Marcia, that includes my now 20-something children: son Matthew played semi-pro soccer and was invited to an MLS Soccer tryout, but chose to go into business; daughter Skyler was a professional ballerina before becoming a mother and ballet teacher; and daughter Callan played five seasons of professional basketball in Europe and Australia (MVP in leagues in three different countries) and now coaches Division 1 women’s basketball in New York City. As much as I cherish writing, family will always come first, and as you can see, I am unabashedly proud of my family.
Much of my current writing is in more creative endeavors – I am working on a script, a short story, etc. – yes, I am finally treating myself! But, of course, I am available for your writing project – big or small – and the good news is you will like my fee (only slightly more than my brother paid me for that first writing for hire endeavor so many years ago). I will leave you with this original quote that represents my appreciation for the written word:
“The right words on paper refresh like raindrops on a hot, dusty road.”