Village of Belle Terre residents have spoken, electing a newcomer candidate over an incumbent during a village election June 18.
In addition, there were 24 write-in candidates.
By Linda Toga, Esq.
THE FACTS: I am one of four children. My siblings are Joe, Bill and Mary. My mother died last month. About 15 years ago, she went to her attorney and had a will prepared in which she named me as executor.
Rather than divide her estate equally between her four children, my mother essentially disinherited my brother Joe and divided her estate equally between me, Bill and Mary. At the time she executed her will, the reason my mother gave for her decision to leave Joe out was that he ignored her and was never around when she needed help.
About 10 years ago, Joe moved to a house within a mile of my mother’s house and started spending time with her. He has encouraged his children to visit their grandmother and my mother and Joe’s wife and children have actually vacationed together. Since he lived closer to my mother than any of her other children, Joe became the one my mother relied upon whenever she needed assistance of any kind.
Over the years, Joe and my mother developed a very special relationship. I don’t know why my mother never revised her will but I am convinced, based upon her relationship with Joe and things that she told me, that she would want him to receive a share of his estate.
THE QUESTION: As the named executor, am I able to divide my mother’s estate into four equal shares so that Joe receives one-fourth of the estate? I feel terrible leaving him out but Mary and Bill are adamant that I must follow the instructions set forth in my mother’s will. Are they correct?
THE ANSWER: Unfortunately for Joe, Bill and Mary are correct. As executor, it is your responsibility to marshal your mother’s assets and to distribute them in accordance with the terms of her will. As much as you may want to include Joe, and as convinced as you may be that that is what you mother may have wanted at the time of her death, you do not have any discretion with respect to the distribution of your mother’s assets.
If you unilaterally decide to pass part of the estate to Joe, Bill and Mary will be well within their rights to ask the court to remove you as executor. They could also ask that the judge surcharge you so that you would be personally responsible for the funds that were diverted to Joe.
The only way you can pass a share of the estate to Joe is if Bill and Mary agree that Joe should share in the estate. If everyone is in agreement, it is simply a matter of you, Bill and Mary each transferring a portion of your inheritance to Joe. If Bill and Mary do not want to share, you can always give Joe some or all of what you are entitled to under the will. As long as Bill and Mary receive what they are entitled to under the will, they will not have a basis for objecting.
It is unfortunate that your mother did not review her will and revise it once her relationship with Joe improved. If she had gone back to her attorney, it would have been relatively easy for the attorney to prepare a new will for your mother in which all of her children were named as equal beneficiaries, or to prepare a codicil to her will that would have the same end result.
It is important that people understand that estate planning is not the sort of thing that is done once and forgotten. Wills and other estate planning documents should be reviewed periodically and changed to reflect changed circumstances. If your mother had revised her will or had a new will prepared that took into consideration her improved relationship with Joe, you would not be in the position you are now of trying to make things right.
Linda M. Toga provides personalized service and peace of mind to her clients in the areas of estate planning, estate administration, real estate, marital agreements and litigation from her East Setauket office. Visit her website at www.lmtogalaw.com or call 631-444-5605 to schedule a free consultation.
Voters in the Village of Poquott took a walk on the Bright Side June 18.
Tuesday night Poquott residents had the opportunity to choose among four candidates for two trustee seats on the village board. Incumbent Jeff Koppelson, who was aiming for a third term, and newcomer Tina Cioffi ran together on the Bright Side ticket and won, according to the village’s deputy clerk Cindy Schleider. Cioffi garnered the most votes at 208, while Koppelson had 207.
The duo ran against incumbent John Richardson, who was running for his second term as trustee, and Felicia Chillak, who gained 184 and 187 votes, respectively. Both were on the We the People ticket.
Koppelson complemented his running mate’s campaigning in an email.
“Tina did a great job campaigning and showed why her energy and personality will serve the village well,” he said. “Considering the size of Poquott, our margin of victory was pretty decisive so all of us feel that our message was heard and appreciated.”
With the village putting years of debate over the recently constructed community dock behind them, the incumbent recognized the amount of votes Richardson and Chillak received. The We the People candidates were proponents of the dock being put to a referendum and felt residents needed more of a voice in village regulations.
“John Richardson and Felicia did garner a lot of votes, so we are well aware that the village continues to be divided,” Koppelson said. “We’ve tried to be inclusive, but we hope that having Tina on the board will help build consensus moving forward. Bottom line, though, is that once again the election showed that a majority of the residents in Poquott approve of the work we’ve done and direction we’ve taken the village.”
On the Facebook page Poquott Life Matters, which Chillak administrates, she posted a message after the results were in.
“Thank you to all those who came out and supported John and I,” she wrote. “Unfortunately, we were 21 votes shy. Just know we will continue for what we believe.”
Paul Edelson ran unopposed for village justice and received 344 votes.
Teen volunteers at Gurwin Jewish Nursing & Rehabilitation Center Niara Magezi (Dix Hills) of Commack High School and Brennan Rosenblatt (Melville) of Half Hollow Hills East High School were presented with the Students Building Bridges award by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Long Island (JCRC-LI) at a ceremony held at the Gurwin Center on May 9.
The award recognizes community youth for their efforts to help create a more civil society and is part of the Yom HaShoah Holocaust Remembrance Program sponsored by the JCRC-LI and Suffolk County State Senate and Assembly Delegations.
Magezi, a junior at Commack High School, has been volunteering at Gurwin for the past three years. Her time spent with the residents and assisting staff on the nursing units has given her the opportunity to learn about the many paths in health care. She is planning for a career in the medical field, specializing in dermatology.
Rosenblatt first came to Gurwin as a high school sophomore, befriending many residents during his weekly visits, updating them on his very active life and sharing his experiences with them. Now a graduating senior heading to Georgia Tech to study engineering this fall, he says the time spent with his Gurwin friends is as important to him as it is to them.
This year’s Yom HaShoah Holocaust Remembrance Program featured guest speaker and Holocaust survivor Meir Usherovitz who recounted his life as a Jewish youth in Poland during World War II and his imprisonment in several Polish concentration camps, including the notorious Auschwitz.
Several Holocaust survivors from Gurwin Jewish–Fay J. Lindner Residences assisted living community were in attendance to meet Usherovitz and to help recognize the Gurwin volunteers and other student honorees.
SARATOGA SPRINGS: Following a historic 2018-19 season, Stony Brook University has claimed the Stuart P. Haskell, Jr. Commissioner’s Cup for the first time in school history, the league announce at its annual awards dinner at the Saratoga Hilton on June 6. University at Albany came in second place followed by UMass Lowell in third.
The trophy was accepted by SBU Athletic Director Shawn Heilbron.
“The Cup is coming home to Long Island,” announced Heilbron shortly after the event. “This belongs to our Stony Brook Athletics coaches, staff and — most importantly — student-athletes,” he said. Stony Brook is just the fourth America East school to win the Commissioner’s Cup. Past recipients have been the University of Albany, Boston University and the University of Delaware.
The Commissioner’s Cup annually recognizes the strongest athletic program in America East as determined by a scoring system that rewards a school for success both during the regular season and championship competition in the conference’s 18 sports.
At the same event, Stony Brook men’s track and field and cross-country member Michael Watts of Islip was named the 2018-19 America East Man of the Year.
Watts had a decorated career on the track and cross-country course as a Seawolf, winning two individual conference track and field titles while helping the cross-country team to two consecutive America East Championships in 2016 and 2017. The team captain also holds the program record in the 3,000 meters and garnered several All-Conference, All-IC4A and MVP honors throughout his career.
Most importantly, Watts was a leader in the community as well. On campus, he volunteered and was involved with a myriad of organizations including the Stony Brook PACK program, the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and PAWS. The Islip native also helped raise and allocate funds for numerous events and charities such as 9/11 Vets, the EJ Autism Foundation and the annual Midnight Run to help clothe the homeless.
Watts is pursuing his MBA in health care management, holding a 3.8 GPA. He received his undergraduate degree in 2018 with a 3.4 GPA in health science with a concentration in health care policy and management.
During his time at Stony Brook, Watts was put on the America East All-Academic Team, America East Commissioner’s Honor Roll, Dean’s List and America East Honor Roll. He was also a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, the Stony Brook Society of Distinguished Scholar Athletes and a recipient of the Joel Mitofsky Memorial Scholarship.
By Daniel Dunaief
Breaking up is spectacularly awkward, highly charged and, in retrospect, filled with humorous potential. Two people get together for a picnic, where a public scene might be difficult for the recipient.
“Want some tabouli? What is tabouli anyway?”
“No thanks, and I don’t know what it is. You ordered it, not me.”
“Good point, so, I was thinking. It’s probably a good time for us to separate.”
“Um, what, excuse me?”
The lip quivers, the breathing becomes short and erratic and the eyebrows, shoulders and neck all droop at the same time.
“No, yeah, I mean, you’re great and this has been a total blast but, you know, it’s just, I don’t know, it’s not working for me.”
“A total blast? You’d call this a total blast? Besides, nothing is perfect. I know my family can be difficult and I know I wake up with bad breath and I do, on occasion, correct your speech, but we can work around that. Don’t you want to try to make it work?”
“I’m thinking that it’s probably time to do other things. I’m thinking of moving to Vancouver and you hate the cold.”
“Vancouver? Really? Wait, have you been seeing other people? You and my sister get along a little too well. As soon as you start dating her, she won’t be interested. I know I share genes with her, but she’s a horrible person who has ruined my life over and over again.”
“No, really, this has nothing to do with your sister. I wouldn’t do that to you or myself, especially after what you just said.”
“Oh, so, now there’s something wrong with my sister? At least she’s not dumping me.”
“No, no, I think we have a great friendship and I’d like to stay in touch.”
“You’d like to stay in touch? After all we’ve been through, you’re offering me your friendship? You’re not even that good of a friend. You rarely listen and you forget all the important dates in the year and you always want to go to the same restaurants, even though we have so many other choices.”
“Right, exactly, I’m so boring, so maybe you’re ready to be done with me?”
“Why do we have to end it now? It’s not like I was expecting to marry you. I can’t imagine having a younger version of you in the house. You can somehow shoot baskets from all over a gym floor that land in a hoop, but you have no ability to throw the dirty T-shirt you wore to play basketball into a much larger hamper that’s also closer to the ground, even though you roll the shirt into a ball.”
“I agree. You could do so much better.”
“I’m sure there are plenty of better people out there, but we had some fun, right? We were supposed to go to that dinner next Saturday with the Smiths. They’re your friends, so maybe we should see what works between now and then?”
“It’s OK, I already canceled that.”
“What? That horrible person Jessica Smith knew you were going to break up with me before I did? How could you do this to me?”
“Sorry, I didn’t tell them anything. I just said we couldn’t make it.”
“We couldn’t make it because you were going to break up with me today over tabouli. You’re an idiot.”
“Right, well, maybe we shouldn’t stay in touch?”
“Oh, so now I’m not good enough to be your friend?”
“I’m going to be a boring idiot elsewhere.”
“Wait, you’re leaving me?”
“Yes, and I’ve googled ‘tabouli.’ It’s a Lebanese salad with vegetables, wheat and parsley, just so you know.”
By Leah S. Dunaief
One of the best plays I have seen on Broadway is the drama, “The Ferryman.” Written by Jez Butterworth, directed by Sean Mendes and playing at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre only until July 7, it is so deserving of winning four Tony Awards, including best play, and should not be missed. The story is about a large Irish family in rural County Armagh in Northern Ireland and conjures up Tennessee Williams and “August: Osage County” for its familial interactions of love, lust, betrayal, anger, contradictions, secrets, repression and murder. But it is so much more.
It is historic, being set in 1981 at the height of The Troubles involving the British, loyalist Irish Protestants who want to remain in the United Kingdom, and nationalist Irish Catholics, including the Irish Republican Army, who want a united Ireland.
It is a story about storytelling as three generations live under one roof of a large farmhouse and slowly reveal much about their own histories. It is about human kindness, as personified by the appealing leading character, farmer Quinn Carney, husband and father of seven children ranging in age from 16 years to nine months. He houses and employs Tom Kettle, an Englishman, whose mind is not all there, as his handyman; and Caitlin, wife of Carney’s long-missing brother and her son, Oisin, as well as aged aunts and an uncle. Yet Carney is also a former active member of the IRA, with its brutality and bloodshed, which he has ultimately rejected. It has homey fairy tales and classic epics in the mix, hopeless love, and lots of barroom talk and drinking, happy celebrating and passionate confrontations. Amid all that activity, with a cast of well-defined characters, it has genuine, laugh-out-loud humor.
The play is also remarkable for its length. It runs three and a quarter hours with only one 15-minute intermission after Act 1 and a three-minute dimming of the house lights following Act 2. Yet not for a minute, for me and my companions, did it keep from being riveting as it pulsated with suspense interspersed with hearthside family goodness that is set against the background report of Irish Republican hunger strikers dying one by one in a Belfast prison.
There are even live animals in the form of an affectionate goose, a feral rabbit and a real, sweet baby. Artfully they all come together to deliver a memorable play and to live in the minds of the viewers well past the end of the performance.
The prologue, set against a crumbling, graffiti-splayed urban wall, sets the sinister mood with an encounter between craven Father Horrigan and Muldoon, a major figure in the IRA. And every subsequent scene in which the priest appears seethes with tension. He delivers the news that Seamus, Caitlin’s missing husband, has been found face down, preserved by the acid in a bog, hands tied behind him and a bullet in the back of his head. The mystery of his disappearance deepens because he was not involved in The Troubles.
There is an Aunt Pat and Uncle Patrick, as well as an often mentally absent Aunt Maggie, whose roles are largely to unveil past history even as their passions define them as three dimensional characters within the family and their country. Their narratives give their lives shape and substance.
With the discovery of the body, the past meets the future as Muldoon attempts to contain the truth of the missing husband’s murder from emerging. In the process, other truths seep out in the appropriately furnished great room of the farmhouse that serves as the only site where all subsequent action takes place.
In the beginning, the viewer is puzzled as to who the family members are and their relationships to each other, which create an air of mystery. As the plot develops, the answers powerfully emerge, carrying us along, absorbed and engaged. And while the plot is masterfully orchestrated, I don’t want to give away the most important details in the hope that you will still get tickets and join me in your admiration for a remarkable play.
By Daniel Dunaief
Long Island’s opioid-related use and poisoning, which nearly doubled from 2015 to 2016, was higher among lower income households in Nassau and Suffolk counties, according to a recent study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Looking at hospital codes throughout New York to gather specific data about medical problems caused by the overuse or addiction to painkillers, researchers including Fusheng Wang, an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Stony Brook University, George Leibowitz, a professor in Stony Brook’s School of Social Welfare, and Elinor Schoenfeld, a research professor of preventive medicine at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook, explored patterns that reveal details about the epidemic on Long Island.
“We want to know what the population groups are who get addicted or get poisoned and what are the regions we have to pay a lot of attention to,” Wang said. “We try to use lots of information to support these studies.”
The Stony Brook team, which received financial support from the National Science Foundation, explored over 7 years of hospital data from 2010 to 2016 in which seven different codes — all related to opioid problems — were reported.
During those years, the rates of opioid poisoning increased by 250 percent. In their report, the scientists urged a greater understanding and intervening at the community level, focusing on those most at risk.
Indeed, the ZIP codes that showed the greatest percentage of opioid poisoning came from communities with the lowest median home value, the greatest percentage of residents who completed high school and the lowest percentage of residents who achieved education beyond college, according to the study.
In Suffolk County, specifically, the highest quartile of opioid poisoning occurred in communities with lower median income.
Patients with opioid poisoning were typically younger and more often identified themselves as white. People battling the painkilling affliction in Suffolk County were more likely to use self-pay only and less likely to use Medicare.
In Suffolk County, the patients who had opioid poisoning also were concentrated along the western section, where population densities were higher than in other regions of the county.
The Stony Brook scientists suggested that the data are consistent with information presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has found significant increases in use by women, older adults and non-Hispanic whites.
“The observed trends are consistent with national statistics of higher opioid use among lower-income households,” the authors wrote in their study. Opioid prescribing among Medicare Part D recipients has risen 2.84 percent in the Empire State. The data on Long Island reflected the national trend among states with older residents.
“States with higher median population age consume more opioids per capita, suggesting that older adults consume more opioids,” the study suggested, citing a report last year from the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Nationally, between 21 to 29 percent of people prescribed opioids for pain misused them, according to the study, which cited other research. About 4 to 6 percent of people who misuse opioids then transition to heroin. Opioid costs, including treatment and criminal justice, have climbed to about $500 billion, up from $55.7 billion in 2007, according to a 2017 study in the journal Pain Physician.
The findings from the current study on Long Island, the authors suggest, are helping regional efforts to plan for and expand capacity to provide focused and targeted intervention where they are needed most.
Limited trained staff present challenges for the implementation of efforts like evidenced-based psychosocial programs such as the Vermont Hub and Spoke system.
The researchers suggest that the information about communities in need provides a critical first step in addressing provider shortages.
New York State cautioned that findings from this study may underreport the burden of opioid abuse and dependence, according to the study. To understand the extent of underreporting, the scientists suggest conducting similar studies in other states.
Scientists are increasingly looking to the field of informatics to analyze and interpret large data sets. The lower cost of computing, coupled with an abundance of available data, allows researchers to ask more detailed and specific questions in a shorter space of time.
Wang said this kind of information about the opioid crisis can provide those engaging in public policy with a specific understanding of the crisis. “People are not [generally] aware of the overall distribution” of opioid cases, Wang said. Each hospital only has its own data, while “we can provide a much more accurate” analysis, comparing each group.
Gathering the data from the hospitals took considerable time, he said. “We want to get information and push this to local administrations. We want to eventually support wide information for decision-making by the government.”
Wang credited his collaborators Leibowitz and Schoenfeld with making connections with local governments.
He became involved in this project because of contact he made with Stony Brook Hospital in 2016. Wang is also studying comorbidity: He’d like to know what other presenting symptoms, addictions or problems patients with opioid-related crises have when they visit the hospital. The next stage, he said, is to look at the effectiveness of different types of treatment.
A resident of Lake Grove, Wang believes he made the right decision to join Stony Brook. “I really enjoy my research here,” he said.
The results are as follows:
Unity Party candidates
- Margot Garant (Incumbent) 1519
- Stan Loucks (Incumbent) 1387
- Kathianne Snaden 1383
Residents First Party candidates
- John Jay LaValle 1013
- Thomas Meehan 1230
- Tracey Stapleton 1009
Two separate restaurants and bars in Port Jeff told two different stories the night of June 18, election night in the village. In Tommy’s Place, where the Residents First Party candidates learned of results, the air buzzed with cool conversation throughout the room, offering condolences and thinking about next moves.
In Old Fields Restaurant, with the Unity Party candidates, the room exploded with noise once the results came through. Mayor Margot Garant stood up on a chair, her brow sheened in sweat from the packed bar area and addressed the crowd.
“I have chosen unity and community for the last 12 years, and I’m so proud that everyone who lives here, who comes and plays in our parks, who visits our restaurants, who comes and visits for a day is always welcome and always will be welcome in this village,” she said to cheers of the gathered crowd. “I am going to tell you right now, every store that’s vacant, let’s get it rented tomorrow.”
Mayoral challenger John Jay LaValle was considerate once the results came through, saying they ran their case on the issues.
“This was going to be a race of a referendum on Donald Trump or a referendum on the uptown and downtown of Port Jeff and unfortunately that was their game; we were focused on uptown and downtown,” he said.
He said he wishes the best for Garant, adding he hopes she focuses on uptown revitalization and starts working with business owners to get businesses back into downtown.
“Stan Loucks and Kathianne Snaden are real class acts, they ran a nice race and I really gained a good deal of respect for them,” he said. “At the end of the day we’re all residents and we want to see Port Jefferson succeed
and thrive.”
Incumbent trustee Loucks said the vote was a mandate to move forward with current plans.
“The village has spoken, I think the village is happy with the administration, and they came out today to support them,” he said. “They know we are on the right track, and I think in two to three years we will have proven it to them.”
Newcomer candidate Snaden was close to tears as she spoke to the crowd in Old Fields, saying she looks at Loucks as a father figure and Garant as a “wonder woman.”
“Thank you to everyone who believed in me and supported me” she said. “I plan to do what I said all along, and that is to be the voice of the families in the village.”
Trustee candidate Tracey Stapleton said she wishes the best for those elected, and that hopefully the village can come together after what was a divisive time for a few months.
“I hope everyone can be a little together now,” she said. “Just work to get Port Jeff on a good path.”
Garant has been mayor of Port Jeff for close to a decade, and in that time has been head of the village through numerous hurdles, from Upper Port being declared with blight to the settlement with the Town of Brookhaven and the Long Island Power Authority over the Port Jefferson Power Station.
LaValle was councilperson and supervisor of the Town of Brookhaven from 1996 to 2005. Afterward he became Suffolk County Republican Party chairperson, advocating for Republican causes for over a decade before stepping down at the beginning of this year.
The Port Jefferson Village Center bustled with activity June 18 as thousands braved the rain, streamed through the doors and huddled over election ballots.
This year’s mayoral race has been contentious, as camps of supporters for Garant and LaValle butted heads over a number of issues, including the blight in Upper Port, empty storefronts downtown and the tax assessment settlement between the Town of Brookhaven and the Long Island Power Authority over its Port Jefferson Power Station.
Garant said she was looking forward to another two years as village head.
“I’m elated I get to work two more years for the village,” she said. “Just want to thank the people who trusted me, I wish my opponents well, and we’re going to carry on.”
Reviewed by Melissa Arnold
Dave Dircks of Stony Brook loved sharing bedtime stories with his children when they were small. But the stories his kids liked the most were the ones Dircks dreamed up himself, with zany characters and subtle lessons.
As a professional illustrator and advertiser, Dircks, 56, has spent his career painting and drawing for other people. But in April, he published his own book for children, “Astronaut Arnie.” The timing is perfect as it ties in with the upcoming 50th anniversary of the moon landing.
The story follows Arnie as he sets out to visit Mars, only to fall asleep in his spaceship. When he wakes up, he’s shocked to learn he traveled farther than he planned — a lot farther. Paired with Dircks’ vibrant and detailed illustrations, the story is both educational and entertaining.
I recently had the opportunity to interview Dircks about his latest venture.
Did you always want to be an illustrator and writer?
It developed. There were seven kids in my family growing up, and our parents were so busy caring for us that we were responsible for our own entertainment. Many of us sought our own creative outlets, and I was often in the basement building things or drawing. I seemed to excel in math, music and art, so from a very young age I made friends and impressed teachers by drawing for them. That was the thing I did really well, and it was what made me come alive. I studied at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, which honed my skills in illustration.
Did you work in the field right away?
When I graduated college, I worked as a commercial illustrator doing book covers for Scholastic and other companies, as well as magazine illustrations. When I got married, we got pregnant right away and I needed to find a way to make enough money to support my family. I went into accounting for a while and made a good living, but eventually ended up in advertising and marketing. For 24 years I’ve owned my own agency, Dircks Associates in St. James, that’s more of a creative boutique.
When did you start to think about storytelling?
When my kids were young, my wife would always read to them and encourage me to do the same. But what I preferred to do was come up with my own stories, to turn out the lights and open up their imaginations.
Is that where Astronaut Arnie came from?
At the time, he didn’t have a name, but I had a story about an astronaut that kept oversleeping on his journey to Mars. It was a way for me to teach them a bit about the solar system while still being funny and goofy, which my kids liked. Arnie has great ambition, but he’s also imperfect, and they really responded to that.
Would you say that’s the message in this book?
Sure. It’s about having flaws, but learning to make the most of it instead of getting angry or upset. It also shares some basic facts about the planets and space in a way that’s engaging.
What made you want to develop this story into a book?
My brother, Rob Dircks, has written and published his own books. I illustrated a book of his called “Release the Sloth” which did pretty well, and then a children’s book called “Alphabert! An A-B-C Bedtime Adventure.” After that, my daughter Sam reminded me of the astronaut story and encouraged me to illustrate it. It was probably the most developed of all the stories I told my kids, and it was a favorite.
Rob ended up starting his own publishing company, called Goldfinch Publishing, and “Astronaut Arnie” was published through that.
Where did Arnie get his name?
I have a house in Vermont, and the guy who shovels the snow for me is named Arnie. He’s kind of bulky, with a big mustache and a very calm personality. He seemed to have a real peace within himself, and it inspired me. So the name and some elements of Arnie’s character come from a real person.
What’s the recommended age range for this book?
I’d say anywhere from 2 to 8 years old. I’ve enjoyed getting feedback from preschool classes. One school in Andover, Massachusetts, was read the book by their teacher, Mrs. Bagge. The students drew pictures of their favorite pages, and I sent them a video about the publishing process. It’s nice to have a little back-and-forth with my target audience.
How can we purchase your book?
“Astronaut Arnie” can be purchased at Book Revue, 313 New York Ave., Huntington, amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com.
What next for you?
My daughters have been lobbying for me to publish their second-favorite story, which is informally titled “The Princess and the White Carnation.” It’s about a princess who has no friends because her parents won’t let her leave the castle. But every morning, she wakes up to find a white carnation on the window sill. She saves them all, and then one day sneaks out with the flowers and gives them to children in the village. It should take about a year to make it into a book.
Dave Dircks is an author, illustrator and creative entrepreneur whose work has been featured in books, magazines, album art and advertising for over 30 years. In addition to commercial art, his paintings have been exhibited in New York City and his native Long Island. Visit his website at www.goldfinchpublishing.com/authors/dave-dircks.
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