Original: As a freshman at Fitchburg State College , he had his first short story published when a college professor , Florence Conlon , sent one of his stories to The Sign , a national Catholic magazine , without his knowledge for $ 75 .
Simplified: As a freshman at Fitchburg State College , he had his first short story published . A college professor , Florence Conlon , sent one of his stories to a national Catholic magazine called The Sign .