About the Author - Avelina J. Gil (1917- ) has written more than three dozen textbooks, activity books, and teachers guides in English communication arts and literature for all grade levels since 1962. She has been a resource person in numerous seminars and workshops on teaching English communication arts and on writing textbooks and professional articles for publication. She completed the academic requirements for her doctoral studies in the University of the Philippines in 1972 with the distinction of having her oral defense of the qualifying examination waived by the Examining Board. She gained her Master of Arts degree in English, with highest honor, from the University of San Carlos in Cebu City, twenty years after earning her Bachelor of Science in Education degree from UP. She taught for 41 years, starting in the city schools of Zamboanga, Lucena, and Bacolod, and after the war, in the Philippine Normal College (now university), University of San Carlos, and University of the East (UE). After she retired from teaching at UE, she served as editor in chief of a publishing house from 1977 to 1988. Mrs. Gil's numerous achievements and contri-butions have gained recognition in the various awards she has received. She was honored with a National Centennial-Women Sector award in 1998, a Centennial Award for Education and Resource Developments in 1988, and a Distinguished Achievement in Education Award as Outstanding Textbook Writer from the UP Education Alumni Association in 1986. She was likewise a member of the Board for Professional Teachers of the Professional Regulating Commission. At present, Mrs. Gil leads a quiet life. Now 95, she spends much of her time at the computer. The older of her two sons lives in Negros Oriental and visits her frequently. The other is in the United States. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Narratives Old And New is a book of nostalgia for the days when I was a teacher and a contributor to professional magazines. This book is not meant to teach one how to write stories. Rather, it is a collection of stories I had written to illustrate points in grammar and composition in the textbooks I wrote. I hope you will enjoy reading the stories, and if you are a teacher, in using them in your teaching when you can. Author.