Spotlight On Writers
Michael Natt
- Where, do you hail from?
I was born and raised in The Bronx, New York but I have lived in The Twin Cities, Minnesota most of my adult life.
- What is the greatest thing about the place you call home?
Home for me is living with my wife of 45 years, my daughter, and my six-year old granddaughter. I love my wife and daughter, but my greatest joy is being part of my granddaughter’s life on a daily basis, and watching her grow up as a healthy person.
- What turns you on creatively?
I was a distance runner for many years until I got a knee replacement, now I am a distance walker. I get most of my better ideas for stories on my ten-mile Saturday morning walks. I guess that the endorphins still flow when you walk!
- What is your favorite word, and can you use it in a poetic sentence?
My favorite word is “Violet”, which is my granddaughter’s name. I am going to cheat a little on this response, and use the word “girls” instead of “Violet.” This is a fragment of a poem that I wrote after visiting the Empire State Building as a 4th grader. I submitted this poem to Our Town magazine in 1962, and it became my first published work:
The people looked like ants
The cars and buses like toys
A sight to be seen by all girls and boys.
- What is your pet peeve?
This brief story that I wrote called “Defects” describes my pet peeve pretty well:
Defects really bug me. I have a bunion on my left foot that twists my big toe several degrees out of alignment. My AOL Calendar notifications didn’t work properly for several months. The numbers 3, 6 and 9 don’t work on my microwave oven. I have once or twice actually spoken to it and said, “Why don’t you do what you are supposed to do?” I have visions of the late commentator Andy Rooney from 60 Minutes doing one of his spiels on this topic. However, defects reminded me that we live in an imperfect world. Maybe some numbers on my microwave oven don’t work, but I manage to heat up my food every day using the numbers that do work.
- What defines Michael Natt?
I retired as a Project Manager in 2017 in order to become a health and fitness professional. The very day I retired I started my Facebook Healthy Living group which became my Facebook page. Healthy Living has been my writing repository for the past 2 ½ years. I started to branch out and submit my writings to Spillwords and other publishing sites this year.
Most of my stories deal with some aspect of healthy living; even if it means exposing my own flaws as exemplified in my story Broiled Flounder.
To me, healthy living encompasses five areas: spiritual, psychological, physical, relational and purpose. I want to grow in these areas and model healthy behavior to others so that I can help my clients and my readers become the best version of who they are.
- Grandparents’ Day - July 23, 2023
- My Bar Mitzvah - June 13, 2023
- Half Marathon Man - November 13, 2022
