Running Head: INTERVIEW WITH DR.

POOLE

Interview with Dr. Leslie Kemp Poole

Courtney Witzman
University of Central Florida

INTERVIEW WITH DR. POOLE

Interview with Dr. Leslie Kemp Poole

Dr. Leslie Kemp Poole, author of Saving Florida: Womens Fight for the Environment in
the Twentieth Century, is an Environmental Historian specializing in American Environmental
History, Environmental Studies, History of Science, American History, American Womens
History, and Florida History. Though Dr. Poole is very passionate about the environment and
environmental history, this was not always the path she had planned on taking. Of her original
career plans, Dr. Poole says,
when I was in high school I got interested in journalism. I worked on the high school
newspaper So when I went to college, I went to the University of Florida, my goal
going there was to get into journalism, probably following that with a law degree. That
was my original plan. But when I got thereI really enjoyed the major [journalism]
and then I got a summer internship at the Tampa Tribune and I guess I just kind of got
hooked on Journalism (personal communication, September 16, 2015).
After earning her Bachelors degree in Journalism, Dr. Poole worked for many years as a
journalist. It wasnt until she returned to University of Florida to get her PhD that she knew she
wanted to write about women in the environment (L. Poole, personal communication, September
16, 2015). Dr. Poole wrote her dissertation on women in the environment and was then
approached by a publishing house about the possibility of turning her dissertation into a book.
After many years of working on this project, Saving Florida: Womens Fight for the
Environment in the Twentieth Century was finally published.

INTERVIEW WITH DR. POOLE

During our interview, I asked Dr. Poole what is was like transitioning from a journalistic
style of writing to writing a book. To my surprise, Dr. Poole said that she actually relied a lot on
her journalistic style of writing when she was writing her book (personal communication,
September 16, 2015). However, she had gotten so used to writing in an academic setting that this
transition back to journalism was still quite time consuming.
My biggest transition was when I went back to work on my PhD because then I had to
learn to write in an academic style which was seven years of relearning how to write in a
certain sense. Everything had to be fully footnoted and documented and at times that
could impede the narrative of it, but that it necessary for academia. So when I decided to
write the book, it was decided by the publishing house that it should be for the general
public, so then I had to put on my journalism hat again and I completely rewrote
everything and had to go back to my journalism and storytelling.
This process was very time consuming for Dr. Poole, which she talked about when I asked her
what her writing process was like.
I had to be disciplined. I would typically run errands, exercise, do everything in the
morning and then after lunch, my afternoons were just for writing. I didnt answer the
phone, I didnt do anything. There were no distractions. I would usually get a good 5-6
hours of good, pure writing in I rewrote every chapter probably four times. Edits would
come back and I would answer them as fast as I could. I was really trying to get it
finished.
While it may seem like the process of rewriting the same thing four or more times could
get a little discouraging, Dr. Poole says that this is one of the keys to being a great writer

INTERVIEW WITH DR. POOLE

(personal communication, September 16, 2015). According to Dr. Poole, a good writer is
someone who is open to criticism and is willing to rewrite and rewrite and rewrite. Dr. Poole
also believes that its important for a writer to get feedback from someone other than just their
editor: I had quite a few people reading [the book] and I think that helped. It wasnt just my
advisor reading, but I had other people reading through drafts of the book so any kind of input I
could get was great. This part of the interview reminded me of Rachel Spilkas Orality and
Literacy in the Workplace. In this reading, Spilka emphasized the importance of communication
throughout the writing process with your audience and with the other people working with you
on the project (1990). By stating the importance of sharing her work with her advisors and other
people from the general public throughout her writing process, Dr. Poole is practicing what
Spilka preaches.
On the same topic of feedback, Dr. Poole mentioned that sometimes, when writing, its
easy to make assumptions about the things your audience knows (personal communication,
September 16, 2015). Because of this, sharing your work with others is also beneficial because it
helps you, the writer, make sure that what youve written is easily translated and understood by
your audience. Andrea McKenzie discusses the importance of making sure you communicate
your ideas effectively in her article First Flight (2008). McKenzie recounts the experiences of
an engineering student who had the opportunity to present a set of his ideas to a group of older,
more experienced professionals in his field. However, this students presentation essentially
backfired because his approach and language were too technical (McKenzie, 2008) for his
audience. The student in McKenzies example made assumptions about what his audience knew
and failed to verify his assumptions before giving his presentation. Dr. Poole, on the other hand,

INTERVIEW WITH DR. POOLE

was able to avoid this kind of failure by sharing her work with members of her audience and then
making corrections or clarifying when needed.
In Why Communication Matters, Jennifer MacLennan puts a great deal of emphasis on
the fact that effective communication skills are needed in all fields and in all professions (2008),
something that was proven to be true by my interview with Dr. Poole. All of this back and forth
sharing between Dr. Poole, her advisors, and the other people she asked to read her book
involved a lot of communicating on everyones part (L. Poole, personal communication,
September 16, 2015). And, to make matters more complicated, all of this communication
happened completely over email. The fact that the success of this project relied so heavily on
communication between multiple parties really showed me the importance of developing my
communication skills while Im in school.
My interview with Dr. Poole showed me that writing in a professional setting is not an
easy or solitary process; its something that takes a lot of effort from many different people. I
learned that a good writer is someone who takes criticism with grace and who is willing to
rewrite their work as many times as necessary. I also had the opportunity to see some of the
topics we have discussed in class, such as the importance of communication when writing, at
work in the real world. Because of this experience, I think I have a better understanding of what
life after graduation and as a professional writer is really going to be like.

INTERVIEW WITH DR. POOLE

References
MacLennan, J.M. (2008). Why Communication Matters. In J.M. McLennan (Ed.), Readings for
technical communication (pp. 4-11). Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press.
McKenzie, A. (2008). First Flight. In J.M. McLennan (Ed.), Readings for technical
communication (pp. 15-28). Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press.
Spilka, R. (1990). Orality and Literacy in the Workplace. In T. Peeples (Ed.), Professional
writing and rhetoric (pp. 146-168). New York, NY: Longman.