A Global Writing System For A Global Age Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

pg 1 Chapter One: Early Childhood Page 2 pg 3

Although I was born in New York City... I was never raised there. In fact, I feel rather foreign in New York City. It is not my home. I am a Californian in my soul. When I was six months old, our family moved to Corning, New York...a small city in the northern part of New York state...

Above: We moved from New York City to Corning, New York.

We lived in Corning until I was 8 years old. My father worked as a physicist at Corning Glass Works, which is a well know American company that produces glass. The entire town of Corning revolved around the Corning Glass Works in 1951.

Above: We visited the Corning Glass Works Museum regularly as children, watching glass blowers create beautiful glass vases and bowls.

Southern California is my home...
because at age 8, my family moved to Newport Beach, in Southern California. We lived in a suburb of Newport Beach called Corona del Mar, a beautiful little village on the ocean about an hour south of Los Angeles. In 1959, Newport Beach was a true paradise, with warm, dry weather, and not too many people. There was open land with groves of orange trees, palm trees and Eucolyptus trees, and sprawling beaches and a beautiful harbor, bay and peninsula. Today, in the year 2014, the city of Newport Beach, although still lovely, is like an extension of Los Angeles, with multiple freeways, smog, and lots and lots of traffic.

As an adult, I chose to move south to San Diego, California. I live in a suburb of San Diego called La Jolla, which is a university town. It is quieter, with fewer people. La Jolla is only a half hour from the Mexican border. Salk Institute and UCSD are also in La Jolla.

Moving to Southern California had a direct influence on the development of Sutton Movement Writing. In California I was influenced by Disney animation, Hollywood's theater and dance, and the free inventive spirit that is oftentimes connected with California. They say that there are a lot of inventors here. There is a feeling of openness and acceptance in the west that seems to be different than in the eastern United States. Maybe it is because the weather is less restrictive, which creates less restrictive thinking - who knows! SiliconValley is in Northern California, one of the birth places of the personal computer and other technologies. You wouldn't believe how many inventors I have met in the supermarket (and most of them are web designers too- ha! ;-)

Valerie Sutton	A Global Writing System For A Global Age Autobiography, Valerie Sutton, Inventor Sutton Movement Writing & Shorthand For more information about this book, write to: Valerie Sutton Sutton@SignWriting.org Center for Sutton Movement Writing, Inc. an educational 501c3 non-profit organization Box 517 •La Jolla • CA • 92038-0517 • USA SignWriting.org • SignBank.org • DanceWriting.org • MovementWriting.org