Razorqueen and I go way back—so far back that I can’t remember when our paths first crossed. It was possibly elementary or junior-high school. I’m sure I was impressed with (and a little intimidated by) her formidable intellect and inability to suffer fools.
Sometime in high school, we became friends, bonding over things both serious (a mutual adoration of Shakespeare, respect for Mr. Holderman, and playing with the English language in general) and silly (the physics of root beer floats). In addition to sharpening my mind and expanding my vocabulary, RQ widened my musical tastes while we were university roommates for a year, introducing me to Emerson, Lake, & Palmer and Adam and the Ants between our Queen albums. Over the decades since, she’s been a better friend to me than I’ve deserved.
RQ earned a master’s degree in English with a focus on composition and rhetoric. Her teaching experience has run the gamut from high school to university to correctional education. I know she has also written some lovely poetry, and has also written a fair bit of fiction, which I’ve not read (that I can recall).
There are loads of other things I could say about my beloved friend, but even with the physical distance between us now, I don’t want to risk RQ’s ire. Some things just don’t change.