J200: Profiles of Grace Carpenter

Photo by Jacob Kriese

Quilts, professional darts, three ex-husbands, quilt restoration and fortune telling are not commonly discussed in the same conversation.

But Grace Carpenter, office services assistant at the School of Journalism, managed to tackle all of these topics when sharing her life experiences with an introductory reporting class. What is her philosophy to life?

“One foot in front of the other, that’s how I’ve lived my life,” said Carpenter.

— Maxx Rapaport, J200 student

The backstory:
Students in Kim Trager-Bohley’s J200 Reporting, Writing and Editing I class used a group interviewing approach to gather information for a broad biography about retired office services assistant Grace Carpenter.

As part of the profile assignment, students invited Carpenter, a 10-year employee at the School of Journalism who retired May 9, to visit class to talk about her interests. Each student asked one question at a time, building on the previous questions and answers.

From that, they wove a picture of a woman whose interests range from quilts to photography, and whose life has taken her from hardscrabble beginnings to life rich in interests and avocations.