On the Late Show with David Letterman, one of his longest running bits was Small Town News, where he would read submissions by viewers from their local papers, usually either an odd news item or a typographical error. I was a fan of the show, so when I saw my chance to submit an item from my local paper, The Stokes News, I went for it. The item I submitted was a classified ad with a typo, about a community yard sale scheduled for Saturday, May 32. Long story short, my submission was chosen and appeared on the show in July of 2014.

Written by Martha Murphy

When I entered Skidmore College as a freshman, I declared a Geology major and Music minor. I spent the fall semester developing quick-witted retorts to teasing about going into “Rock Music.” I spent the spring semester coming to terms with the fact that, as hard as I tried, I couldn’t read and interpret topographical maps—a huge disadvantage when you’re majoring in Geology.

That same spring, I enrolled in a creative writing course to meet a core requirement. A simple assignment—and support from a perceptive and thoughtful professor—altered the direction of my life.