LASTING IMPRESSION
Authors’ legacy is sharing the power of a story.
Family of readers
Among the pages of my photo album are many snapshots of my parents, Harvey and Audrey Hirsch, smiling and full of life. Thankfully, the sadness of missing them is quickly replaced with pride that the works of art they created together live on.
Dad told me and my three sisters stories of growing up in the 1930s with a single mom who was too poor to buy him a book. He desperately wanted to read, and his longing for books explained why our childhood home was filled with so many of them.
After their marriage in 1955, my parents lived in Arizona, where Dad taught English at Arizona State University, then called Arizona State College. Mom, with my big sister Cheri in tow, managed the trailer park where they lived. One hot afternoon, as she and Cheri sat under a tree to cool off, Mom was inspired to write a children’s story about an elf named Tandy who was trying to find a home before winter. With the help of all the woodland characters, Tandy was able to do just that.
Dad loved the story, and my parents worked on it together. I was 8 when Dad got a new job and we moved to Michigan. Seeing snow for the first time, I felt a bit like Tandy the elf.
In 1971, children’s publishing house Platt & Munk Co. published their book A Home for Tandy, illustrated by twins Tim and Greg Hildebrandt. Those artists later illustrated the Star Wars movie posters.
I was 12 when I watched my parents smile at patrons of a local bookstore during their first book signing. They wrote many more books for children, and I continue their legacy by sharing my love of reading with others. Now in my 60s, I write and illustrate children’s books and volunteer as a reading mentor. There is no greater gift than seeing a child’s self-confidence grow when they learn to enjoy the power of words.
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