by Kathleen Reynolds, first published in The Book Beat, Napa Valley Register, January 5, 2022
When the copyright page of a book contains a disclaimer that includes the phrase, “Characters have been combined and changed to no longer bear resemblance to reality,” the reader knows something juicy is inside.
When that book is written by the former principal of Browns Valley Elementary School, Lenore Hirsch, residents of Browns Valley may start guessing identities and comparing notes.
Such is the case for Hirsch’s latest book, “Schooled: Confessions of a Rookie Vice Principal,” (November 2021, Laughing Oak).
The story is set in the Bay Area and follows the daily highs and lows of Cynthia, a new vice-principal of Hamilton Middle School, for a year. Cynthia must learn to deal with a smarmy principal, who offers no guidance in her new role, and decide whether dating a teacher could lead to love or be a Human Resources disaster. Through it all, she balances her compassion, discipline, and wisdom with the needs of the children in her school.
“I combined traits of more than one person for several characters, although I did have a principal once who may resemble the one who got a little too friendly in the book,” said Hirsch, who was at Browns Valley for 17 years. “Similar to the character in the book, I started as a vice principal.”
The book is a fictionalized account pulled from many actual experiences, although it’s difficult to characterize.
“It’s a novel, but it’s the closest I’ll ever come to writing a memoir,” Hirsch said. “Writing has always been easy for me. Although I worked on my high school literary magazine, I never felt I had creativity until I took a few creative writing classes at Napa Valley College.”
“I like to tell factual stories through fiction. Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors who does that. Her books have humor as well as sad material.”
Hirsch has written other books. “My Leash on Life, Foxy’s View of the World from a Foot Off the Ground,” was her dog’s 2013 memoir about the illness and passing of Hirsch’s husband. In 2018, she published “Leavings,” a collection of poetry, and “Laugh and Live, Advice for Aging Boomers,” humorous essays about aging.
After growing up and attending college on the East Coast, she worked in San Francisco and knew the Bay Area was where she wanted to be. She taught first in Pleasanton as a resource specialist teaching special education. She became a middle school vice principal in Castro Valley and then an elementary school principal in Fremont. Hirsch loved visiting the Napa Valley and applied for the principal position at Browns Valley Elementary. She stayed at the school for 13 years before retiring.
Hirsch was one of the founding members of the Napa Valley branch of the California Writers Club, which currently has more than 20 members. She has two writing critique groups that meet weekly to share what they’ve written.
“I’d share half a chapter of the book as I was writing it, so as not to overwhelm them. From start to finish, the book took two and a half years to write, and there were 20 versions of it.”
Having many ideas from her groups was great, Hirsch said, but it wasn’t always easy to sort through them. From the various comments and suggestions offered, she altered her book only with the notes that stayed true to her vision of how the book should read.
Although she’d written professionally for years as a guest blogger about both education and food, written articles for the Napa Valley Register and other publications, including travel and poetry pieces, finding a publisher for this book was another hurdle. How did she do it?
“My biggest challenge with ‘Schooled’ was that there were no other novels like it. I knew what I wanted this to be and some of the feedback I received was that this wasn’t the format for a novel. My concept for the book was to tell an entertaining story about one year of this person’s life. I wanted to educate people about what goes into being an administrator. The advice was a good learning experience for me, but I knew what I wanted to do.”
“I hired out portions of the book for cover design, a copy editor, and a developmental editor. Editors and designers charge a fee for different levels and lengths of a book.”
Hirsch says her next book will be a collection of short stories.
“It won’t be another novel. I had fun writing what I remember, but one was sufficient.”
Hirsch will discuss “Schooled” with Napa County Superintendent of Schools, Barbara Nemko, during a virtual author event offered by Bookmine on January 13 at 7 p.m. Details are on the bookstore’s website (www.Napabookmine.com).
She anticipates having a lot to talk about with Nemko, as “Schooled” details the day-to-day activities of a vice-principal of a middle school. While many of the events are amusing, some of the interactions are poignant, too.
“I anticipate reading a short passage from the book, maybe about special education and the challenges it presents and then discussing it with Barbara. Another area I’m interested in is project-based learning, rather than just reading a classroom lesson.”
Right now, she’s educating herself on how to advertise on Amazon and writes about that adventure on her website, along with tips to help new authors (www.lenorehirsch.com).
“What I enjoy is mentoring others.”
Once an educator, always one.
first published in Napa Valley Register, February 19, 2014
Foxy, the dog, tells his own story, and in the process, reveals a great deal about the couple who adopted him in “My Leash On Life: Foxy’s View of the World from a Foot Off the Ground.”
In the introduction, Foxy acknowledges getting help in writing the book from “his human, Ellie,” as he refers to Lenore Hirsch, a retired Browns Valley Elementary School principal and columnist for the Napa Valley Register. After all, “paws can’t type.”
Hirsch will be at Copperfield’s Books, 3740 Bel Aire Plaza in Napa, for a meet-and-greet to discuss the book Sunday, Feb. 23, from 3-5 p.m.
As a dog with his own blog and business cards, Foxy has become a celebrity in north Napa where he is affectionately greeted by dogs and people at Alston Park and Starbucks. “No dog can buy this book, so two-legs, please take it home and read it with your favorite canine,” Foxy instructs his readers. “The cats in the house probably won’t be interested, but your special dog will curl up with you and help you to appreciate a story that he wishes he had written himself.”
The 156-page paperback, published by Laughing Oak in October, gives dog owners entertaining insights into what their pet might be thinking as Foxy shares his often humorous “dog’s-eye view” of life.
Not only does Foxy shed light on the inner workings of a dog’s mind, he lets readers know that their pets have a deeper understanding of them than they might suspect. For example, he explains that dogs can detect anger and fear by the smell that humans emit when feeling these emotions.
Like all dogs, Foxy finds human behavior baffling.
“You humans don’t have the common sense to bury what it precious to you,” Foxy observed. “How do you stand on those two legs all day and not get really tired?”
He views the way human greet each other by shaking hands instead of sniffing body parts, as dogs do, as impolite. No dog would ever display such rudeness and lack of curiosity when greeting another dog.
Before Foxy is adopted by “his humans, Jay and Ellie,” he has some harrowing experiences that leave him fearful of people, noises and sudden movements. It takes time for him to develop trust in humans and other dogs, but he comes to enjoy life with the active couple.
The security he finds with them allows Foxy to throw himself into all the pleasures that come with being a dog — the sniffing, barking and exploring. He shares his visits to dog parks, beaches, kennels, hotels, coffee shops, schools and veterinarians.
Readers are given a hint of approaching tragedy when Foxy notes that Jay has stopped taking him for walks to Starbucks. Instead, Jay seems to sleep most of the time and Ellie’s face is frequently wet with tears.
When Jay is taken to the hospital, Foxy is sometimes allowed to visit as long as people don’t object to his presence. Told from Foxy’s viewpoint, the story of Jay’s death is all the more poignant by what is left unsaid.
The book does not end when Jay is no longer with them. Strengthened by their connection to each other, Ellie and Foxy help each other heal from their mutual loss. There are more adventures ahead for them.
“Foxy and I have been through a lot together. He’s been a great companion,” said Hirsch.
From the minute Hirsch first saw her part Sheltie Cavalier Spanish and part “mystery Heinz 57” canine friend, 10 years ago, Foxy has given her reasons to chuckle.
Now, at age 13, Foxy has developed a heart condition so he and Hirsch have shortened his walks to avoid overtaxing him.
“I was always playing with the material for this book but not going ahead with it,” Hirsch said. “One day I realized that my dog was getting old and I might not ever be able to get it done in his lifetime if I didn’t proceed.”
Hirsch purposely limited Foxy’s vocabulary as he narrated the story. Foxy describes what things look like because he doesn’t know the names. Part of the fun, throughout the book, is figuring out what Foxy is describing. In the Grand Canyon Foxy encounters a “big four-legged guy with horns on his head.
“What a delightful book!” wrote Jean C. Ryan in an Amazon review. “Clearly, Lenore Hirsch understands Foxy on profound levels, and her ability to effortlessly translate this understanding is a gift to the rest of us. Her compassion and respect for this dog are evident, and the humorous anecdotes were spot-on. A dose of Foxy’s reflections on the world is just the tonic we need.”
Hirsch worked with D. Patrick Miller of Fearless Books to bring her book to its final stages. “He (Miller) was wonderful to work with,” she said. “He is like a kindly professor. He knows a lot, and is willing to share it in a way that doesn’t make you feel ignorant.”