Richard Michelson is the author of the new children's picture book Fascinating: The Life of Leonard Nimoy, a biography of the Star Trek star. Michelson's many other books for children and adults include the work of poetry More Money Than God. He is the owner of R. Michelson Galleries and served as the poet laureate of Northampton, Massachusetts. He lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.
Q: You write that you knew Leonard Nimoy well. Why did you
decide to write a biography of him for kids?
A: The surprising thing to me is that I didn’t think to
write this book earlier…
I’d facilitated numerous press interviews [with him] over the years and
knew everyone was interested in his life. I’d written many other picture book
biographies, and Leonard and I often discussed my works in progress. He even
recorded my book Too Young for Yiddish.
And yet, it wasn’t until I’d watched the documentary Leonard Nimoy’s Boston, originally conceived by his son, Adam, to
capture Leonard’s story for the grandkids, that I realized Leonard’s life story
was as remarkable as any I’d written about, and would be perfect to inspire the
“next generation.”
I did not know Leonard would pass away only three months
later. I am glad I didn’t wait!
Q: How would you describe Nimoy's feelings about his most
famous role, Spock?
A: Leonard loved the character of Spock and he often said
that if he could choose the one role to be identified with, it would be that of
Spock.
As I explain in the book, Leonard brought much of his
personal history to the role. He parents were Jewish immigrants who escaped
pogroms in Ukraine and Leonard often felt like an outsider in his own
neighborhood.
The famous Vulcan hand gesture also stems from an experience
that Leonard had as an 8-year-old boy in temple.
There has long been a rumor that Leonard resented the
character, but this began with his poorly titled autobiography, I Am Not Spock
(which was followed years later by a second biography titled I Am Spock!).
Those who actually read the first book, however, understood
that Leonard was not rejecting the character, but rather commenting on the odd
experience of meeting fans and being introduced to their kids as “Spock,” even
when he was not “in costume,” which couldn’t help by confuse the children.
But Leonard always appreciated his fans, and the
opportunities that Spock gave him to enjoy life and pursue his many interests.
Q: How did you choose the title of your latest poetry
collection, More Money Than God (also the title of one of the poems), and what
does that title signify for you?
A: More Money than God is the title of one of the poems in
the book, and I felt that poem encompassed may of the overriding themes in the
book—the death of a parent, wrestling with belief, how we deal with
grief, and the beauty, solace and hope that art can provide.
Plus the title is funny (I hope. It is meant to be), and
life without humor is a poor prospect indeed.
This is all better stated by the amazing Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Richard Wilbur, who was kind enough to say that my poems show “how
the sweetness of life can be sheltered from the terrors of our time.”
Q: You write your poetry in different forms. Are there some
you particularly prefer?
A: I write in both form and free verse—one is not
necessarily easier than the other-- sound and rhythm is integral to both. The
poem will generally tell you what it needs during the writing of it.
But I do tend to work in series—I might write in a loose
sonnet form for a few months, and then change direction toward a longer
narrative. I will happily use whatever “tools” are available to make the words
work!
Q: Much of this poetry collection deals with history,
especially family history and the legacy of the Holocaust. Why have you chosen
that as a topic on which to focus?
A: One’s concerns are one’s concerns, and I can only write
about the issues that are daily in my consciousness. I am a political being and
my view of life was forged early on.
When I was born, my neighborhood in East New York, Brooklyn,
was 90 percent Jewish and harboring the shadow of the Holocaust. A short 12
years later it was 90 percent African-American, and would soon be majority
Latino, sparking my life-long interest in historical, racial and economic
issues.
While writing for children I do generally “choose” a subject
or have a question in mind before I begin, and then I search for the words that
will best bring it to life. In writing for adults, however, I most often start
with a word or phrase…
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I have a new children’s book out in Spring 2017 with the
illustrator Karla Gudeon called The Language of Angels: A Story about the Reinvention
of Hebrew, which is about how one man and his son took a language that hadn’t
been in daily use (aside from prayer) for 2,000 years and brought it into the
modern world.
What an amazing achievement! Children (and adults) will have
a new understanding of how words are made, and how meanings evolve.
For an adult audience, I am also working on a new book of
poetry to follow More Money Than God.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Well, since it is the question I get asked more than any
other, I will say that, no, I am not Leonard Nimoy’s son and yes, I have been
told that we look alike.
I also want to mention the amazing illustrations [for
Fascinating] by Edel Rodriguez…
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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