Bob Ludlow was born on May 26, 1939, in Chicago. He grew up in Orlando, Florida, which is his current residence. He wrote this article while working as a fitness editor for Cooking Light magazine. He currently is employed in the Brevard County Public Schools as a behavior therapist. Here, he answers some questions about his life and his work.

As a young person, did you like to read and write? If so, what did you like to read and write? How did you develop your skills?

I began reading good literature on my own while I was in high school. Reading became almost an obsession during the two years I spent in the Navy after high school. Beginning with the works of Mark Twain, I read hundreds of novels by American and English authors. I also read some poetry and philosophy.

I began writing some poetry and essays in high school to express my thoughts about the meaning of life. I admired good writing and wanted to see what I could do.

Following my military service, I began taking courses at a junior college in Orlando. At first I tended to miss assignments and turn work in late. Of course my grades suffered accordingly. One incident I do remember was staying up all night to complete a short story for an English class. Later the teacher told me he thought it was good enough to submit to the Atlantic Monthly! Wow, did hearing that mean a lot to me! It probably was the first time I really believed I could be a good writer.

How did you become involved in magazine writing?

My first published writing was an outgrowth of my passion for chess. I was appointed editor of the Florida Chess News, a quarterly newsletter published by the Florida Chess Association. I must say I got carried away and took that little publication to new heights, transforming it into an attractive and literate magazine! This was my first experience with deadlines, editing others' works, and preparing copy for press.

A later opportunity came in the form of a regional running magazine published in Orlando. I was an avid distance runner, and I wrote a piece for the magazine about my Boston Marathon experience in 1982. Based on that, the publisher asked me to become editor of the magazine, which was a shoestring operation. In my spare time, I plunged into that task with a passion, until my wife and I moved away from Orlando. I still believe the pieces I wrote for the running magazine are my best work, probably because of my intense interest in health, fitness, and running and the creative freedom I enjoyed. I later became fitness editor for Cooking Light magazine, my first real job in publishing, which I held for almost three years.