Life Magazine put out a call for entries from people who had attended the Woodstock Festival. Wanting to get something published, I wrote down a bunch of memories from my experiences as a 12-year old and mailed them in. After many weeks, I received a letter saying that my essay had been selected! I was elated—my first published writing!
The magazine hit the newstands and I rushed out to buy a copy. I went through the long article page by page, until I finally found saw this heavily-redacted version of my essay!