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This week I had the distinct pleasure of visiting two schools in Washington Township, NJ, a charming little community in the northwest corner of the state. According to Wikipedia, Jean Shepherd, author of The Christmas Story, once lived here. I didn’t see any leg lamps in any windows or kids with tongues stuck to poles, so I can’t confirm that fact. But I can confirm that the kids of Port Colden Elementary and Brass Castle Elementary schools are a welcoming and inquisitive bunch, and about the best audience an author could imagine. It was Dr. Seuss’s birthday, otherwise known as Read Across America Day, and the kids were decked out in homemade shirts and hats celebrating the late, great master of Whos, and Yooks, and Sneeches, and Zooks. Too many people complain about how kids have no attention spans. Not so with this crew. They sat quietly and cross-legged in the Auditoria (or perhaps it was a Cafetorium?) and locked eyes with me as I gave a presentation on writing. I could see what they were thinking:
“Entertain us, old man. Tell us something we don’t know, because we are culturally refined and our intellects are not to be trifled with.”
When I finished, they hounded me with brilliant questions. I hope I lived up to their expectations. Don’t believe it? Proof lies in this collection of photos from the kind folks at Lehigh Valley’s Express Times. My favorite question?
“What happens at the end of The Only Ones?”
I informed the young man (probably a junior blogger angling for an unprecedented scoop) that I can’t give out such spoilers, especially since the book doesn’t hit shelves for another six months. But I respect his guts and his willingness to get right to the point. To reward that, I am offering a teaser. The Only Ones ends like this:
…him.”
Intrigued?
I love this! Awesome “T” too, Mr. Starmer. When can you visit Brooklyn and charm us with your tales?
Amelie? When did you learn to type? Quite eloquent. You can’t see the writing on the T. For the record, it says: “Trust Me. I’m a Doctor.” Which is a line I’ve used for my entire life. It was a generous gift from the fantastic teacher who set up the event.
The children were inspired, you held their attention and they can be a rowdy crowd when they are not drawn in by the presenter. My class will be writing creative stories about the magic of Leprechaun’s beginning Monday and thanks to your presentation they are very excited to be authors. Thank you for sharing your love of writing and your earliest writings!
Thanks, Ruthie! It was a blast. I hope to come back some day. Drop on by the site and let me know how the Leprechaun tales turn out.