Seabrook Resident Hooked on Writing

It is painful for anyone to lose part of who he is.  That is what had happened to me before I moved into Seabrook Village retirement community in Tinton Falls three years ago.  Like any mature adult, I had acquired many facets to my being through the years—daughter, student, wife, parent, teacher, traveler, and on and on.  But there is one important part of my identity that had remained constant—I was always a writer.  In 2008, I believed that part of me was gone—like an amputated arm or leg.  As things turned out, however, my life as a writer had not disappeared—it was only metamorphosing into something more brilliant and meaningful than ever before. The result is my newly-published historical novel, Freedom Passage.

For many years previously, I had a successful career as an author. Early on, I created hundreds of stories and articles for publications in various genres.  Many of these pieces were written during the four decades I lived in Fair Lawn in northern New Jersey, and were inspired by events in the lives of my family, neighbors, community, and the world.  In 1975, my first children’s book, Catch a Dancing Star, was published. Subsequently, I published on the average of a book a year for more than three decades.  Even while teaching for 15 years in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, I produced a book every summer.  My early works included some non-fiction such as Fiddler to the World, a biography of violinist Itzhak Perlman and Miss Dr. Lucy, the story of America’s first female dentist, but consisted mostly of novels for children and young adults, with popular titles like Ghost in the Garden, Erica for President. California Summer, and The Lancaster Witch. I loved letting my imagination go wild with stories of suspense or terror, or the many problems of growing up.

Then my focus changed. I had been teaching classes to help students improve their writing skills using a system called “the writing process.” I had created hundreds of exercises and instruction sheets designed to make writing fun and spark student interest in developing their skills.  A publisher, Prentice-Hall, put together a book using these exercises and my lesson plans.  It was titled Hooked On Writing and became an instant hit.  That was followed by six other writing texts at grade levels from elementary through high school designed to motivate young people to write well and also to prepare them for standard state testing. These texts, now sold by Wiley Publishers, are still being used in schools through the United States and Canada.  It has been a challenge and a joy to use the same imagination that had gone into my novels to help youngsters become competent writers in an exciting way.

At the same time, I was asked by another publisher to contribute to their series of books on American presidents.  I wrote Andrew Jackson (two versions at different grade levels), John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James K. Polk. This work led me into new areas of  in-depth historical research, which I found fascinating and absorbing. While this was happening, my husband and I moved to Sarasota, Florida, where I continued to write in a sub-tropical paradise in an atmosphere devoted to culture and the arts.

Then disaster struck.

Stay tuned to Patch next week for Part Two of Carol's story.