By Peggy Patterson Mull
My first-grade teacher was Miss Glennah Powers. She was what they called in the 1940s a “spinster.”
Miss Powers lived within walking distance of Barboursville Elementary School; her house was a two story, frame, gray house which she shared with her brother, also single. She wore a gray dress every day—she must have had several just alike because she always looked the same. Her hair was piled on top of her head, and depending on how recently she had been to the beauty shop, it had a distinct blue hue to it. The dresses always came to just above her ankles, and she wore high topped, button-up black shoes. We learned to love her and thought she knew all there was to know!
Peggy Mull turned 90 years old in August and is enjoying a new-found avocation: writing memoirs about her early life in West Virginia. She is an active member of Harvey Browne Presbyterian Church, where she sings in the choir and plays in the church orchestra.
Jean Wolph is an author of educational publications and a professional development consultant. She recently retired after 20 years as the director of the Kentucky Writing Project and nearly 25 years as the director of the Louisville Writing Project at the University of Louisville.
