Tim Brennan, an English teacher at Southland High School in Adams is an inspiration to writers in this area. He has had two plays published and he was a finalist in the New York Mills Great American Think Off Contest.

His most recent play, "Bedtime Stories" will be playing at the Rochester Repertory Theater for three weekends, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and July 25-27. The play is 10 min. long and it will be presented along with five other 10-minute plays by local authors whose plays were picked.

Brennan wrote "Bedtime Stories" in one evening after he had the rules for the play contest sitting around for a couple months. The play is based on a mother and daughter talking before the daughter leaves on a date. Brennan had to keep the play limited to ten minutes but he says he would like to expand it to three scenes.

"I wrote a one act play a couple years ago called The ABC's and had my students put it on in Adams. I have taught school since 1983. I live in Austin and I do a lot of my writing during my down time at school. I have found I do have a gift for writing because I have been getting results with the plays and being a finalist in the Think Off. The Great American Think Off essay I wrote at school in one evening. The title for this year's debate was "Is the Pen Mightier than the Sword? I wrote about the pen being mightier," Brennan said .

The Great American Think Off was held June 12 and it was held in the evening at the New York Mills high school auditorium. It is actually a debate where the four finalists defend their positions. There were six questions asked to the panel in the first round, four in the second and the audience voted for the winner.

"There were 300 people in the audience. It is New York Mills' big whoop-de-do celebration. They had a parade and I was on a float with the other three finalists and my sons got to ride with me. It was a lot of fun," Brennan said .

Brennan said the contest was mentally taxing and he used common sense and his personal experience to stress his side of the debate.

"I thought of it more as a morality question and looked at it from a historical view point. I know that if I had done this contest before 9-11, I would have won with the pen being mightier then the sword. People who have written their thoughts down are still being read. People who defend with the sword are now dead," said Brennan.

Sheila Donnelly can be reached at 434-2233 or by e-mail at :mailto:newsroom@austindailyherald.com