An Interview with Linda Joy Walder
Linda Joy Walder has written poetry in her mind daily since childhood. Her debut collection of poems, Running Naked in the Snow, is deeply rooted in a lifetime of magical and mournful occurrences.
As the Founder and Director of The Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation, a trailblazing not-for-profit organization, Linda has led the global community for over 20 years in fostering acceptance, valuing, and supporting the diversity of adults diagnosed with Autism.
Linda resides in Charleston, South Carolina, with her beloved human and furry family.
I was sitting on my back porch during the pandemic in a surreal state of mind, a mixture of grief, metamorphosis and peace, and the poems flowed through me expressing these emotions and more. I shared a few of my poems with a renowned local poet who unbeknownst to me had just started a press. He offered me the opportunity of a lifetime to have my debut collection published by Free Verse Press.
In the back of my mind I always imagined that if I ever was to have the good fortune of having a collection of my poems published, it would be entitled Running Naked in the Snow, after a magical experience I had with my children, when my son actually ran naked in the snow. It is a beautiful metaphor of freedom, unadulterated and unconventional…pure joy in living in the moment. My son showed me this and shared such a powerful revelation of how to live.
“Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell
I am inspired by all natural and contrived art forms.
I am the Founder and Executive Director of the first not-for-profit organization in the world to focus exclusively on adult autism since 2002. The Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation is all-volunteer run and is named for my son Danny Fiddle in his memory. Danny inspired the title of my debut collection of poems. For more information visit djfiddlefoundation.org.
For me writing is like breathing air; it is intrinsic to my existence. I have had the calling to write for my entire life.
On my back porch and at home in general.
I write daily inspired by nature, music, encounters and experiences. There is no particular ritual, it is more about feeling the urge to express.
There is no such thing as a perfect reader! All readers perfectly bring themself to the work and individually experience it. Hopefully a poem will resonate with the reader and perhaps inspire their own creativity and ways of looking at and experiencing life.
Have a question? Want to send me a message?
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Get In Touch
Lindajwalderc@gmail.com
1-800-249-9099
Old School Mail
Linda Joy Walder
186 Seven Farms Drive Box 389
Charleston, South Carolina 29492