On Thursday, September 30, Mary Catherine Coolidge, a Plymouth alum, will be reading on campus. Coolidge, a freelance writer and editor, is the author of Sideways in Sarasota.
On her website, Coolidgewords.com, Coolidge states that she has “Worked with corporations and CEO’s, entrepreneurs and small business owners, churches, government officials and agencies, real estate developers and salespeople, contractors, hospital organizations, PR firms, architects, engineers, community leaders and prominent sports figures.” She is a well-published journalist, and has also produced web pages and a plethora of other written material.
How did she get so versatile? “I think that versatility comes from being willing to take risks…[Even when] I was working in fields technically unrelated to my passion, I found-and took-every opportunity to develop writing, editing, and marketing skills along the way. My boss needed a speech written for a star Red Sox player? I volunteered… [A] CEO needed a letter written for a visiting mayor describing all there is to do in Boston? I volunteered.”
Four years ago, Coolidge took another big risk. She left the corporate world to start her own freelance writing and editing company. “I work long hours-freelancing is not a lot of fun, honestly. If you want to be successful, you’ve got to grind out a ton of hours,” said Coolidge.
“The payoff of freelancing,” she said, “is that I’m my own boss…I set my own fees, I can take an hour off during the middle of the day to go work out, I can do the laundry while I’m writing a mission statement for a client, and I can feed the cats while I’m on a conference call.” Now that’s the life, “Long hours, huge responsibility…but also the right to call your own shots and design your own future,” said Coolidge.
Although she says that “Corporate writing is the bread and butter,” of her business income at the moment, Coolidge hopes that, someday, she’ll be able to devote more energy to the type of writing that she really loves, “Sharing personal opinion about life, politics, love, and learning,” she said.
Two years ago, Coolidge began writing an in-print newspaper column for a local paper in Sarasota, FL. It’s called “Reality Chick,” and it’s been her favorite assignment as a freelancer so far. “I wrote about everything from dating disasters to presidential missteps,” she said, “I loved the give and take with the community. People often loved or hated what I wrote, but at least they were reading!”
Coolidge wouldn’t reveal anything about her upcoming reading, but she did say this, “No hints, really. But I’m a balls to the walls kind of woman, so fasten your seatbelts and put your tray tables in the upright position.”
The plane will leave on time, so be sure you’re in Frost Commons for a 7:00 p.m. departure.