After 22 years of writing 'tiny portraits of everyday life,' columnist Leslie Snow retires

Leslie Snow didn't set out to be inspirational as a writer. "I just set out to be genuine."

She's both, though. Throughout her 22 years as a columnist for the Shopper and the Knoxville News Sentinel, Snow has been uplifting and encouraging her readers by writing authentically about ordinary life.

“I feel like my role is just connecting with people about our journeys," she said.

Snow recently retired, and her last column − a farewell to her readers − ran July 31. In one of her first weeks without a column due, Snow − accompanied by her Great Dane, Buttercup − reflected on two decades of writing about "the craziness of life" and "the joy of it."

'It was the thing I did for myself'

Snow often begins writing in the midst of a big life change, she said. Twenty-two years ago, this big life change was her youngest son starting kindergarten.

After her three children left for school, Snow would sit down, and she'd write. At first, it was "kind of in secret," she said. She eventually shared her work with then-News Sentinel family columnist Sherri Gardner Howell.

Snow's meeting with Gardner Howell turned out to be an interview, although Snow didn't know it at the time, she said. Then suddenly, Snow was a columnist, despite minimal formal journalism training.

But writing the column became a cornerstone of her routine, and understanding of self.

“I’ve just created this space for me. And it feels like my thing. I believe that writing this column was a reaction to … not knowing where my life was gonna go and sharing that with people," she said. "It was the thing I did for myself."

The process

For years, Snow's process as a columnist followed the same pattern: reflect on Monday and Tuesday, write on Wednesdays and edit on Thursdays.

“In my head, when I’m going through my day, I’m constantly finding those stories. I’m writing in my head all the time," Snow said. "I see this small thing and ... it strikes a chord with me emotionally, and then I know that’s the nugget."

The moment can happen in "that little bit of friction in your day," "that feeling of being at a crossroads," or when "something strikes you funny," she said.

The writing itself is often revelatory for Snow. “It’s a discovery process as well," she said. "I’m learning as I write."

The stories she shares can be vulnerable, but they don't always feel that way in the beginning. “The ultimate 'over-discloser' is kind of how I sometimes feel. Sometimes it’s a little embarrassing," Snow said.

"I think that what I do here feels really private, and then I put it out there and someone says something to me. I’m like, ‘Oh, you read that? That was a secret I was just telling myself in this little process.'"

'Taking tiny portraits'

Snow described her column topics as "real," "relatable," and "ordinary." But those aren't bad words to Snow. In fact, it's important to her to strike this chord in a world she feels tends to emphasize dissidence.

“I think that I’m just taking tiny portraits of everyday life, and I had that sense that we’re all in this together, but we forget it," Snow said.

"There’s so much in the news about division, and how separated we are, and how divided, and it’s not how I feel in my normal life. I feel like when I’m going down the road and I forget to put on deodorant, and I remember that I have some in my center console and I’m putting deodorant on in my car as I’m driving, like, yeah, everybody else does this too. This is not just me."

Snow is politically engaged, and spent time writing about politics and at WUOT working on news documentaries. But sometimes, people just want to hear something good, she said.

"When I meet people, nobody asks me who I voted for. They just wanna talk about the vegetables they’re picking out at the grocery store or how cute my dog is."

Snow's more serious topics unify people too. "I’ve shared some really big things …my sister passed away during COVID, my dad had dementia, and I’ve cared for him, I brought my parents here, I mean real things that are hard for people, and I’ve written about them," Snow said.

"And people write back and they tell me, ‘Thank you because I’ve done this too,’ or ‘I thought I was the only one.'"

"I think I write very small stories, and about just the tiny moments of our lives that come together, at the end I think they're the ones, they’re really the richest parts of our lives are just those everyday things. Just getting through."

The end of a journey, but not the end of writing

Snow is sad to let this part of her life go, but there's more writing in her future, she said.

“It’s hard to end a journey, but I was happy that I put my life out there, and that was mostly well received and that people could relate to what I’m writing," she said.

"I was pleased that people said…I was genuine, I was down to earth. I feel like I was. I really shared myself. I tried to be honest with people about what I was really feeling. So I’m pleased that that resonated with people.”

Hayden Dunbar is the storyteller reporter. Email hayden.dunbar@knoxnews.com.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: After 22 years of writing 'tiny portraits of everyday life,' columnist Leslie Snow retires