Meet Kathy Harris

Meet Kathy Harris

Katherine was born in Connecticut, but she says she’s a New Yorker, through and through. She spent twenty years in New York and Los Angeles, working as an actress. She met her husband “on the road” doing the Straw-Hat Circuit—”Summer Theater”. Her husband was a transplanted Charlottean, so, after their daughter was born, the Country Life started to “look mighty good” to them. They left the Big Apple, and moved to Charlotte. Katherine became an English teacher, always working Theater Arts into her curriculum.

She has always loved reading and yearned to write, and one day, while searching through a CPCC catalogue, she saw a description for a class designed for people who “had yet to put pen to paper”. That “Wordplay” class in 2008 got her “artistic juices” flowing again. She has been putting her “pen to paper” ever since. Maureen’s classes have given her the courage and the joy she was looking for, and the skill to express her “inner artist” through pen and paper.


A Sample of Kathy’s Writing

Black Silken Muse

by

Kathy Harris

Oh, rats! There she goes again, sitting in front of that infernal machine. Why does she spend so much time with it when she could be with me? She could be admiring my fabulous face, and admiring my deep green eyes that glow in the dark. She could be stroking my long black hair, running her hands down my back, starting at the back of my neck and ending at my tail. Everybody says my hair is so soft, so sleek, so wonderful to touch. We could be rubbing noses right now…we could be pressing our warm bodies together, feeling the warmth and happiness that comes from mutual love and admiration.

Instead she chooses to fondle that cold, hard, metal machine. Did I say “fondle”? I meant to say “pounds”. “Pounds” away at the keys of that machine. But why? Why do that, when I’m right here, ready and able to give her all the inspiration she’ll ever need? I plead with her to scratch behind my ears and whisper sweet nothings into my pointy little ears. Shall I leap up on her desk and gently place my paw on her hand? I’ll gaze into her eyes, as if to say “Love me. Love me first!”

I know. I’ll leap into her lap, I’ll squeeze myself beneath that wooden desk and I’ll poke my head out and stare up at her. I’ll purr loudly and longingly…making a sound so sweet, no human could resist. And she’ll stop doing whatever it is she’s doing and she’ll pick me up, and stroke my silken hair…

Oops! She pushed me! She pushed me off her lap and onto the floor! Is what she’s doing that important? So important she chooses that instead of me?

Black Silken MuseWait. I’ll hop up on the table and place my head between her and that screen. She’ll have to look at me. She’ll look at me, and remember how much we have between us. She’ll remember that I am her first love. And she’ll remember that it’s five o’clock, and it’s time to feed me.


 What Kathy says about WordPlay

“If you’ve ever visited New York, you know that people there love to talk. And Talk. And Talk. You can be standing at the deli-counter, waiting to order a ham sandwich, and you’ll hear at least three life stories from the people surrounding you. People in the West Village love to share
their thoughts with anyone who is willing to listen. Anyone.

In Charlotte, well, not so much. Charlotteans tend to be quieter, They keep their thoughts to themselves. At least that’s been my experience. When I moved here with my family, I noticed the reserve, the desire for privacy, the reticence to share. I sorely missed the din of words, and
the exhilaration of ideas floating about in New York delis, in buses, in department stores. Then I found “Wordplay” and Maureen. Maureen has shown me how to discover the stories that are out there. She has shown me how gather them, and arrange them, and make them part of my own experience. Maureen teaches her students to be “mindful” and “present”. She gives us the skill to interpret and express our creative souls by just putting pen to paper. And she gives all of this with love and caring, and with the tremendous artistic passion that is hers. She gives
us “Wordplay”.”