WOODROW WILSON HIGH SCHOOL Alumni
PORTLAND, OREGON
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
HIDING OUT ON THE SIDE OF A MOUNTAIN
Katey Schultz, Class of '97, writes from her home near the summit of Roan Mountain in North Carolina. She has published nonfiction in newspapers, magazines, literary, and international journals. After Wilson, Katey attended Whitman College, graduating with a degree in Philosophy in 2001. She volunteered for AmeriCorps for a year and a half after that, then settled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina "to teach at Arthur Morgan School, a backwoods farm-based boarding school for teenagers. I was able to earn my Montessori Teaching Certification while employed and I learned a lot about simple-living," adds Katey. "In 2006, I left teaching to devote more time to writing. I served coffee at Penland School of Crafts while enrolled in Pacific University's low-residency MFA in Writing program."Katey graduated with an MFA in 2008 and has been self-employed ever since. She specializes in essays about the creative process, which appear regularly in national art magazines. Her nonfiction, short stories, and poetry have been published in numerous literary journals. Katey is currently nonfiction editor of Silk Road and fiction anthology editor for Main Street Rag Publishing Company. Her community-funded photo/essay collaborative book debuts this fall, titled, Lost Crossings: A Contemplative Look at Western North Carolina’s Historic Swinging Footbridges.
Reflecting about her time at Wilson, Katey said that she “should have known that after falling in love with the writings of Henry David Thoreau in Ms. Wood's English class, I'd end up hiding out on the side of a mountain for half a dozen years and writing my heart out. She was my first official inspiration in the writing world and I've been changed ever since."
Carolyn Wood remembers Katey as "a young woman who could tell a story, who loved Outdoor School where she worked as a counselor. She clearly loved the outdoors, the camaraderie of the counselors, and the role of teacher. That she has continued living in North Carolina, that she has taught school and persisted in her writing does not surprise me at all. She's strong willed, creative, an outdoorswoman, and a storyteller. What a great combination." Carolyn adds, "I wonder if she remembers the poem 'Pokeberries' from class--or if she's read Kathleen Dean Moore's (philosophy professor from OSU) 'Riverwalking.' It will make her homesick for the Pacific Northwest."
Katey's parents are Lisa and Bill Schultz, who relocated to North Carolina four years ago to teach at Arthur Morgan School. You can read more about Katey and her current publications and projects at: http://katey.schultz.googlepages.com.