Name: Thom Caraway
Job title: Lecturer, editor-in-chief of Rock & Sling, Whitworth’s literary arts journal
Department: English
How long have you worked at Whitworth? This is my third year
What do you like best about your job? That sometimes my day goes like this: meet with creative- writing student and help her see the potential in a story she wasn’t so sure about, then spend two or three hours reading insightful and eloquent work by other students, go to class where still other students are engaged and writing about wide-ranging and interesting topics, stay after class to answer a few questions about detailed elements of writing craft, visit with colleagues and share good ideas, good music, and general good feeling, head out for the day and run into to former students making a parkour/poetry video behind the art building. I’ve worked at several schools, and the level of student engagement, colleague camaraderie, and shared mission at Whitworth is truly rare, and greatly appreciated.
In what ways do your gifts and abilities help meet the needs of the campus community you serve? I’m not sure, but I hope that they do. I’ve been able to do a lot of different things here, from Core D-groups, to composition classes, to creative-writing workshops, lit classes for Continuing Studies, planting flowers and bulbs in the Westminster/Lied commons, to Script, and now Rock & Sling. The opportunities are amazing, and I hope the services I provide are needed.
Favorite book: The Great Fires, by Jack Gilbert
Favorite movie: “Amadeus”
Favorite food: Soup
Favorite quote: “I believe Icarus was not failing as he fell / but just coming to the end of his triumph.” ~ From the poem “Failing and Flying,” by Jack Gilbert
Favorite music: Radiohead
Favorite animal: Elk
Guilty pleasure: Facebook
Hobbies: Backpacking, hunting
Best vacation ever: Camping with my wife and kids
Birth place: Redlands, Calif.
We’d be surprised to know that…I’m an NRA-certified professional marksman.
I collect…airplane emergency evacuation cards.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Santorini
What cartoon character best describes you? Space Ghost
If you could try anything and not fail, what dream would you attempt? Professional baseball player
What is your favorite sound? Elk bugling
What is your life motto? “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”
If the whole world was listening, what would you say? “Read more poetry.”
Favorite childhood book: The Story of King Arthur and His Knights, by John Knowles
Favorite childhood TV show: “Star Blazers”
Least favorite word: No
If you could go on a road trip with anyone (from the past or present), who would you choose and where would you go? I’d go to Troy, Montana, with poet Richard Hugo.
Best high school class subject: English
