THE PULPWOOD QUEENS' TIARA WEARING, BOOK SHARING, GUIDE TO LIFE

THE PULPWOOD QUEENS' TIARA WEARING, BOOK SHARING, GUIDE TO LIFE celebrates female friendship, sisterhood, and the transformative power of reading. It includes life principles and motivational anecdotes, hilarious and heart-warming stories of friendships among the Queens, and stories from Kathy about the books that have inspired her throughout her life, complete with personalized suggested book lists.

Enjoy an excerpt from THE Pulpwood Queen Kathy L. Murphy’s book - it’s recommended reading for everyone who is interested in knowing what it means to be a Pulpwood Queen.

“Kathy L. Murphy is the real thing, and she will get America reading if she has to go door-to-door to do it. After you read this, you’ll want to be a Pulpwood Queen too!” Iris Rainer Dart, author of Beaches and Some Kind of Miracle

Grand Opening of Beauty and the Book

“I write for no other purpose than to add to the beauty that now belongs to me. I write a book for no other reason than to add three or four hundred acres to my magnificent estate.” —Jack London

My belief in service served me well in my first beauty shop, Town & Country Headquarters. How I got into the hair business is not too complicated, really. As I mentioned before, after I graduated from high school I enrolled at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, home of the K-State Wildcats. In retrospect, I think that decision was wise, though at the time that was not my original decision. That choice had been made for me. When I was in school every high-school senior had an appointment to sit down with the guidance counselor sometime before he or she graduated. My meeting with my counselor, Mr. Straight, was not productive.

“Kathy, tell me. What would you like to do upon graduation?” Mr. Straight asked.

“I’ve been thinking about it quite a bit, sir,” I blurted out nervously, “and I think before I continue my education, I would like to travel. I was thinking that maybe I would like to be an airline stewardess. That way I could get to see some of the world, and I could have a job to support myself at the same time while I tried to figure out my future course of study.”

“Kathy, which branch of the military would you like to enlist in?”

Confused by this sudden change of venue, I corrected, “Sir, I do not want to join any branch of the military’s service. I just want to become an airline stewardess. Don’t they have special schools for that type of career?”

“The only airline-stewardess training that I know is through one of the wonderful branches of the armed services.”

But, Mr. Straight, one of my parents’ best friends’ girlfriend is an airline stewardess and she went to this stewardess school—I think in Kansas City.”

“I think, young lady, you would get more of your parents’ approval if you would attend Kansas State University,” he said as he slid the paperwork across the table in front of me. “You are already pre-approved to attend this fine university, and I have taken the liberty of filling out the paperwork for you. You were accepted based on your excellent grade-point average. I also chose elementary education as your major.”

“But Mr. Straight, I really—”

“No need to thank me, Miss Murphy,” he said as he stood up and handed me the paperwork. “I am positive your parents will be pleased to have you attend such a fine institution.”

He smiled as he walked around the desk and led me out the door. Since I was seventeen and had not yet found my voice, I took the paperwork and enrolled at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas.

I had always been a good student, though I found college to be a big change. Suddenly, instead of being in classrooms of fifteen to twenty students, I was in auditoriums that held five hundred. I was scared. There were professors who seemed to look down their noses at me, who treated me like I was stupid. I knew I wasn’t—I had gotten all As and Bs in high school—but it sure did throw me to be treated like a country bumpkin.

All the painful loneliness and intimidation I had felt in elementary school returned. I felt just like I had as a girl from the wrong side of the tracks: not good enough. Outwardly, I think all my friends thought I was fine, but in reality, I was in over my head. I was drowning in fear and too afraid to tell anybody. I spent my first two years in college feeling tongue-tied and humiliated, afraid of just about everyone and everything.

It didn’t help that, when I attended my first English 101 class—always one of my best subjects—I was called up to the instructor after class.

“Miss Murphy?” the professor announced to the classroom. “Would you please see me after class?” I had raised my hand and nodded yes. After class, I approached her desk. I was wearing cut-off jean short shorts and a halter top, and my long blond hair hung down to my waist.

I felt that I was dressed like most of the other students that August in 1974 and looked pretty good with my summer tan from lifeguarding.

She looked up. “Miss Murphy?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

I stood at her desk with my binder clutched to my chest and my knees starting to shake.

“I don’t like your looks. I don’t like your attitude. And if you don’t drop this class immediately, I will give you an F. Do you understand what I am saying?”

I looked at her in disbelief. Wasn’t I always the teacher’s favorite? What had I done wrong?

Find out the rest of the story in Kathy’s Book, THE PULPWOOD QUEENS' TIARAWEARING, BOOK SHARING, GUIDE TO LIFE