Story 203: How a book about adultery changed my life

I never imagined that a book about adultery could change my life,

but one did.

It was the 1980's  and I was a student in Mrs. Rieff's 11th grade English class on Long Island. Mrs. Rieff had a reputation as a very tough teacher.  I really should have called her Mrs. grief because she was so difficult. Not only that but she was very pale and rarely smiled. Basically your worst nightmare.

I remember one incident when my friend Jeff who was in my class as well.   Mrs. Rieff returned a paper to him and said, "Mr. Stevens you really should write bigger."

He replied, "Mrs. Rieff maybe you've been teaching so long you're eyes are beginning to fail you."  She didn't miss a beat and answered,

"Maybe I should fail you." After that he just fell silent.  

For some reason Mrs. Rieff liked me.  I don't know why, but maybe it had something to do with the time I wore a blue long-sleeved Metropolitan Opera t-shirt to class. I didn't know it at the time but she was a big opera buff.

Mrs. Rieff said to me,"Mr. Levine that shirt really makes a statement."

I thanked her, but I really didn't know what she meant, and I don't even like opera I just got the shirt for free from my parents, but I decided to wear it a few more times just to curry favor with Mrs. Rieff, and maybe a better grade.

One day she assigned a very challenging homework.  We were to write a poem about the book The Scarlet Letter, and I had no idea what to do. I'm not even sure if I ever wrote a poem before.  Let alone one about adultery,

Back then, I worked as a page at my town library. It was a great job. One of the longest I had ever held for many years, and I had a lot of friends there.  The only downside was that it didn't pay a lot, My philosophy was they pay me minimum wage so I would do minimum work. Instead of shelving books I would spend a lot of time reading in the stacks.   

We also had lot of fun playing practical jokes on each other. We would do things like put someone's name on 10 book carts to shelve and then watch their reaction. 

One of my favorite things to do was to create books and then put them into the card catalog.  My friend Derek used the typewriter in the reference section to create a few.  I don't know if any of you are Star Trek fans (The original with William Shatner) one of my favorites. We wrote a book called "How to create an M-5 computer that not even Captain Kirk Can  Destroy."  I got a kick out of the fact that the book was in the card catalog for many years.  Sadly, the catalog was replaced by a digital version. A lot harder to hack, but at least I have the memories.

But this day I wasn't fooling around. Instead I was sitting in book room sorting books and thinking about the assignment.

I started to hum "Her name was Hester she wore a letter ." and then it hit me.   "That sounds like Barry Manilow's song Copacabana."  

I handed in my poem the next day entitled "A Day in the Life of Salem Mass." Next to it I added. (To be sung to the tune of "Copacabana")

I didn't think about it too much, but Mrs. Rieff spotted it immediately.

She said, "Mr. Levine, please come to the front of the room. I want you to read your poem."

"Oh no."  I thought to myself.

But that's exactly what I did.

Here's how it goes. I still remember it even it has been over thirty years.


Her name was Hester
She wore a letter
But that was 300 years ago in a place I didn't go.

His name was Dimsdale, he was a reverend.
and wore a letter too, but he wasn't very true.

And there was Pearl she was a girl, 
beautiful beyond a mother's dream or so it seemed.

Music, adultery and passion were never a fashion in
Salem, Mass.

I left out the part about "Don't fall in love.

After I finished the class burst into applause. I was very proud and pleasantly surprised that no one booed or heckled my poor singing voice.  I never imagined that one poem would one day spawn many more.

That first poem started it all. For the next 35 years, I would write when I felt inspired. I would write about a bad breakup or a good relationship, or something happened in the news, because those experiences all affected me emotionally.

As you can imagine, after 35 years, I had a large body of work, and I decided I wanted to publish it. The problem is, I had no idea how to do that either, so I began a journey to learn how. 

I  spent countless hours watching videos and reading books on self-publishing/editing, and after a year I published my first book.

I was very proud of that book despite the many spelling errors in the first edition.  I gave copies to all my family, friends, and co-workers.  and I am happy to say it is on the shelves in ten different libraries.

Including the Manhasset Library right next to Bill O'Reilly's in the local author section. Although my book is a lot less conservative.

Finally, after a few more weeks my first book is now in two branches at my hometown library.  I am very proud of that fact and tell others that I have gone from the guy who shelves the books to the person who writes the books.

The only thing that bothers me is that I never thanked Mrs. Rieff. She died a few years ago. Too often, we never take the time to let the important people in our lives know how much we appreciate them.

It occurred to me that you don't have to wear designer clothes or have a shirt with a special message to make an impression or be special, but rather you should wear your heart on your sleeve and let others know that they are special.

And I know in my next book I will acknowledge Mrs. Rieff for  choosing my poem and starting me on my journey to be a writer, and to all the people who help others and Mrs. Rieff I would like to say "Thank you." and I mean that from the heart.