Author: Priscilla Jacobson
Submitted: May 11, 2018
Tell us a little about yourself. Hello. My name is Priscilla Jacobson. Gloria a Student's Memoir of Intended Paths is my first book. I will be graduating college in December with a BA Degree in Rhetoric/Writing and a minor in Political Science. I have twin daughters and three grandchildren.
What was your motivation behind this project? I took a speech class at the university in the Fall 2010. Public speaking was what I feared most. This professor was a God-Send to me. Gloria encouraged me in public speaking. This is where I discovered my path is to write. Gloria had a mighty impact on my academic career. She was a very significant mentor in my life. Gloria passed with cancer Feb 8th 2013. This book is about a research project we did together for the URS about Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. I wanted to write a book of a collection of interviews from her, but only obtained one interview. This is why I shifted it to a memoir of that experience. I wrote the book shortly after Gloria passed. It captures the moment bringing events back to life as I had experienced.
What do you hope folks will gain from this project? The purpose, for the reader, is to know just how important it is to have someone believe in you. And how God sends that special person in your life that sets you on a path discovering new talents that often go unnoticed. This book will inspire people from all walks of life, professors, students, nurses, anyone who has a struggle with public speaking, and people who are in need of hope. It's a book that I hope professors will use in their classrooms. It's also a good teaching tool for writing students because it contains analogies and metaphors. But the main purpose is for the general audience.
How were you personally impacted by working on this project? When Gloria was fighting cancer, I stayed in touch. I told her I was going to write a book about her, but that it would be an opening story rather than a closing one. I hoped to get more interviews from her; unfortunately she passed before I had that opportunity. I began writing the book only two months after she passed. I needed to "capture the moment" It's been 5 years now and I still think of Gloria from time to time. I'll never forget her. It's time to move forward and continue that path with writing. It's difficult to go the road alone, but I believe both God and Gloria knew I could press on. This book will always be special to me because Gloria was very special.
Who are your influences, sources of inspiration or favorite authors / artists? My sources of inspiration are the bible, I love Rita Davenport famous public speaker. Favorite authors are Max Lucado, Mitch Albom, and Andy Andrews.
Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know: Yes, I chose a pen name because the manuscript was so controversial in a writer's group I attended before publication. The hardest thing I had to do was to change the names. However, I creatively chose the names with a unique meaning. I pick Priscilla from Priscilla and Aquila in the bible. Jacobson came from Jacob's son - Joseph the dreamer. My dream is to write. Gloria, well I added the G because God is in it. And Noble for her last name because she was a wonderful professor of noble character. I hope readers will read this memoir. It's unlike any memoir you'll read. I greatly appreciate any reviews on how it uplifts the audience.
