The Mitten: Writer Spotlight: Anita Fitch Pazner

Dr. Pazner, riding the bus, White Rose, cousin Burgermeister, and castles: Author and SCBWI-MI Co-RA Anita Fitch Pazner

Charlie Barshaw coordinates our regular Writer Spotlight feature and interviews writers of SCBWI. In this piece, meet author and an Co-RA Anita Fitch Pazner

Your bio is sparse on young Anita. When did young you know you were a writer?

The first time I felt I had the knack for putting words on paper was during a 7^th grade English class. We had a sub. She gave us the first few sentences of a short story about a yellow crocus, and we had to finish the story. I loved it! And she read it out loud to the class as an example of a well thought out story.

When I got to high school we didn’t have a school newspaper. I went to the principal and asked if I could create one. Apparently, it’s hard to say no to me once I’ve decided to do something.

Anita deciding to do something

You’ve earned the letters after your name. What were your academic achievements?

My major academic achievement is my master’s in writing for children and young adults degree. I got the degree just so I could put those little letters behind my name.

I’ve always wanted to earn a doctorate degree, but they don’t offer one in writing in the U.S. I would have to get that degree in England. (Poor me!)

It’s the only way I could make everyone call me Dr. Pazner. It isn’t out of the question. Especially, if I win the lottery and get to live in a castle while I’m there.

You were in SCBWI for a long time before your picture book was published. I know, because I was there, too. You helped engineer the two Mackinac Island conferences, because you knew some people. What did it take to pull off not one, but two island weekends?

Anita and me
Mackinac 2014
She knew someone in costuming

I loved helping facilitate conferences. Getting to know the speakers. attendees and setting up activities have always been my jam. Yes, things often went sideways, but that was part of the fun.

And as you pointed out, I have a knack for finding people to help make the magic happen. If I remember correctly, the year you and I worked together, my go to phrase was “Hold on, I got a guy” whenever things went amuck. The guy was often a woman, but still.

I’ve always found most people want to be helpful. I spent time on the island with my kids for a couple of decades and being a bit curious, I got to know so many of the full-time residents on the island. They became my guys!

As much as I loved the Island events, I also enjoyed being part of two Downtown Detroit conferences. My favorite was the Humor Conference at the David Whitney Building. I brought in a local Detroit Comedian to talk about his process and do a bit of his stand-up routine at the end of the day. It was the perfect ending to a craft-filled conference.

Your first picture book, The Topsy-Turvy Bus, has a long origin story before it even became a book. Give us your pitch for “The Making Of…” How does the phrase Tikkun Olam inform your worldview?

Anita says, "Don't let the author drive the bus."

The first Topsy-Turvy Bus (the real bus, not the book) was commissioned by Ben Cohen from Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream fame. He drove it around during a political cycle with a big chart on the side showing people how much was spent on military versus education and health services.

This was back in 2007 and his non-profit that funded the project was called Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities. At that time the U.S. was spending 900 billion dollars on the military. Much of that funding was going toward nuclear systems that were capable of blowing up major cities twice over. (The statistic come from articles about the bus, the non-profit and Ben Cohen. Not from me.)

Ben, as I now call him even though we’ve never met, donated his bus to a non-profit environmental organization out east after the election was over. That organization was linked to one in the metro Detroit area, run by my friend Wren Beaulieu-Hack. Wren ran lots of programs. This included delivering food to food banks, and seeds and compost to anyone who wanted to plant a home garden.

I volunteered to help her make delivers during the pandemic, and she offered to pick me up in Detroit’s version of the Topsy-Turvy Bus to make those deliveries.

Now, I’m not one to enjoy diesel fumes from stinky buses so I was less than thrilled to take a ride on the real Topsy-Turvy Bus. That is, until she told me it ran on veggie oil. I’m not going to lie-- the French fry smells coming from the exhaust made me a little hungry.

And I may have said, “This would make a great picture book.”

But—yes, there is usually a but associated with everything I do. The most important part of the book is the phrase Tikkun Olam. In modern times, it basically means to repair the world with acts of kindness, charity and helping those in need.

Doing good deeds like delivering food to the needy or planting trees to combat deforestation are ways we repair our world. Since it’s a Hebrew or Jewish construct there are layers of meaning that date back a long, long time. I would have to do an entire essay to give you all the info I have and that still would leave room for more interpretations and debates.

After a non-fiction picture book, you switch to a middle grade novel-in-verse about historical Germany in the throes of authoritarianism. How did the character’s voices emerge?

I did switch. And doesn’t that make me sound fancy.

In reality, Words Matter is also non-fiction and fully illustrated. Just like my first book. The main difference is no one dies in The Topsy Turvy Bus.

I originally wrote Words Matter as a picture book, but the beheadings didn’t jive with the agents or editors. Go figure.

You asked me about the character’s voices. Their voices were easy for me to understand.

I had access to their diaries and letters--not just the White Rose Resistance leaflets they are famous for distributing. Honestly, I sort of had a crush on Hans while I was researching him. (Don’t tell my husband I was infatuated with a dude who would be over 100 years old. That’s some Twilight level stuff. Am I right?)

Anyway. I felt a connection with Sophie that transcends time and space. She was impulsive and moody at times. I may have been a bit that way in my younger years as well.

She loved to read, create art, be in nature and dip her toes in rushing rivers. And she wasn’t afraid to speak out. Most of all she was brave, braver than I imagine I could ever be.

I was privileged to be able to walk on the cobblestone streets she once stepped on. I was there with my adult children who were roughly the age she was when she died.

Many layers of bus

You’re co-Regional Advisor of the Michigan chapter of The Society of Book Writers and Illustrators. I’ve seen you mentioned as an illustrator. Do you dabble in art?

I dabble dabble do! I once worked as a photographer, so I like to think I have an eye for artistic work. I love to watercolor, and I occasionally play with other mediums.

But I only wish I could be an illustrator. Art was my love before words. Believe it or not, I was a shy child that spent a great deal of time alone.

I joined SCBWI in 2009. You seem to have been there all along in my memory, but you’ve been a member for quite a while. When they asked you to lead the group, you didn’t have to say yes, and you almost didn’t.

But now you’re co-running this two-peninsula juggernaut called SCBWI-MI. My question is: why? Why tackle a big organization of children’s book creators when most people are planning for retirement?

Yes, Charlie. I have always been a part of SCBWI—pretty much since the dark ages. And I never seem to age. Right, Charlie? Right?

(Insert the sound of crickets.)

Just to be clear, I avoided the Co-RA position the first time the opportunity came around. I hadn’t been published, and I knew I wanted to continue my education. There was too much about the craft of writing for children and young adults that I didn’t know. Publishing is its own beast of a business, and I would have felt like an imposter.

I took the time to perfect my craft as can be seen by my masterpiece, The Topsy-Turvy Bus. (That’s a bit of sarcasm for those who don’t know me as well as Charlie does.)

I eventually earned my MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and I jumped at the chance to work with Jodi McKay. Or maybe I was pushed. Either way, it is a challenging volunteer position.

But it’s a whole lot easier with Jodi on board. I truly am grateful for all the heavy lifting she does with the website and all the technical aspects. And we have a phenomenal leadership team working with us as well.

If someone out there is questioning whether they should apply for one of the open positions, I highly recommend doing so. We are super fun and as Jodi points out in the monthly email—We have cookies!!!

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our Illustrator Coordinators, Jen and Katie. They organize retreats and all sorts of fun stuff. As you know, the Illustrator Coordinator position is a lot.

Having the two of them working together has been a huge bonus for our region. I wish I had the space to thank each of our coordinators here personally, but I better get back to talking about me.

To answer your question, why now? I’ve always been about helping people, and I finally felt as if the time was right to dive headfirst into all aspects of publishing.

Even if that meant joining Jodi as SCBWI embarks on a new generation of leadership at the tippy top. And as far as retirement goes, I’m just getting started! I like to think I carry a greater sense of wisdom than I once did. But then again, I could be wrong.

Follow-up question: how? How has SCBWI-MI as an organization changed from the early days of 2010-2020, and beyond?

That’s a loaded question. Publishing has changed drastically since 2010. SCBWI has changed along with it. The new website and globalization of the organization has been the biggest change.

And the ability to hold three-day conferences like we did on Mackinaw Island are no longer possible due to restrictions put in place following the pandemic. Jodi and I hope that changes soon.

That’s the toughest part for me. I’m all about the big, theatrical events. Other than that, the organization is still all about helping fledgling and established writers find their people.

SCBWI-MI strives to provide more craft-driven webinars at a very low cost to members than they once did.

Another thing I want to mention is the free Shop Talks. The people running those are bringing in some pretty-great speakers. I hope more people make it a point to attend.

Donna Janell Bowman, how did this published author help you get your second title, Words Matter, published?

Donna and I graduate from VCFA together.

Post-graduation, she ran a six-week non-fiction, picture book course. Being the supportive friend that I am, (And modest, too!) I signed up for the class. I had actually been floundering after graduation. I missed the structure with reading lists, essays, and word count deadlines.

I needed motivation.

I was lost.

Soooo. I focused on Hans and Sophie and The White Rose Resistance and wrote it as a lyrical picture book. Unfortunately, due to the beheadings of the main characters the picture book version never sold. Go figure!

Donna’s workshop was the impetus for the non-fiction book.

You’re proud of your German heritage, even spent some time in Munich, where you were first inspired to write about Hans and Sophie. How fraught is your personal family history, being descended from a Jewish family who had to flee their homeland?

Interesting question, Charlie. I was born outside of Frankfurt, Germany into a Catholic/ Lutheran family. Mixed religious affiliations have always been a thing for my family. But there was always a connection to Judaism in that small town.

My grandfather’s first love was a Rabbi’s daughter, or so the story goes. His family owned the local restaurant and farmland. They even had pigs. As you can imagine, the Rabbi’s daughter and the pig farmer was not a story to be written, but the families remained close.

Fast forward to the 1930s and 1940s. Jews were being rounded up. Many escaped before they were taken. One night, my grandfather, in a drunken rant, painted “JEWS CAN EAT HERE” on the outside of his restaurant.

His cousin the Burgermeister (Yes, most people were related in tiny towns back then.) gave him a fine and made him paint over his words.

But wait. There’s more.

On a trip back to visit my grandparents grave, I stumbled over a little-known fact. The town I’m from was the only town in Germany that refused to dig up and desecrate the Jewish graves under Hitler.

They removed the headstones but left the bodies intact. Today, there is a plaque that lists the names of the people buried there.

“From there, I was linked with illustrator Sophie Casson.” How much collaboration was there between the artist and the writer?

There wasn’t a lot of collaboration. I got to see and comment on Sophie’s images, but there weren’t many things I wanted changed. Most of our communications went through Groundwood.

The only thing I really insisted on was the addition of the Ulm Sparrow. It was everywhere in Ulm, and I felt it needed to be in images of the city where Hans and Sophie lived. I needed it there for authenticity.

After having visited Ulm, I couldn’t imagine the book without the sparrow with a twig in its mouth. Sophie and I have since been in contact with each other and we both have connections to that time and place in history. Her images are emotionally charged. They are incredible.

I wasn’t as careful with my words as I should have been. I often tackle topics that allow me to work through issues. Realizing the power of words is instrumental in personal growth. Words have an energy all their own with the ability to lift us up or to cause harm. And they linger. How many times have we replayed the words carelessly thrown our way over and over in our minds?

A collage of young Anita

Words Matter isn’t just a title. What have you learned as you promote your second book?

The White Rose’s story made me stop and think about the words I use. As you know, sarcasm was my first language. I’ve learned to temper that a bit. Not everyone has a wicked sense of humor that appreciates my words.

I’ve tried to install a filter and explain my point of view in a way that isn’t insulting. I let people know that I’m speaking from my own personal vantage point. The following paragraph is an example of that vantage point.

We live in a point in time when lies and propaganda invade every aspect of our world. We are constantly bombarded with it. It’s put forth to divide us and turn us against each other. Spreading fear is one of the easiest weapons used to destabilize a country. I would love to see grassroots organizations rise up and refuse to be taken in by this type of attack. Hans and Sophie chose to do what was right because they believed in the goodness in the hearts of the German people who were swayed by fear. I also believe in the goodness in the hearts of people. My well-traveled mother once said, “Most people all want the same thing--a safe place to live, raise our families and prosper.” I know it sounds simple, but that is most people’s core desire. How they get there is an entirely different topic.

“I’m working on a science-based middle-grade novel set near a nuclear power plant. It’s been in the works for over a decade.” With the discovery of the radioactive wasp’s nest, do you feel an added urgency for your book?

Holy crap! There’s a radioactive wasp’s nest? I know there are kids with radioactive teeth in Florida, but wasps? Hold tight. I’m asking lord Google.

I see there’s an article in The New York Times. The four wasp’s nests were found in a former nuclear weapons production facility—hydrogen bombs to be exact. But not to worry, the Department of Energy said there wasn’t a leak. It was just some left over residue found in mud and lake beds.

And the clean-up should be completed by 2065. (Insert shocked emoji.) The article also said the current administration plans to reopen the facility to create more bombs. I have thoughts. Many, many thoughts on the subject, but I’m utilizing my filter for this interview.

To answer your question. I’ve always felt an urgency to finish the book set in the shadow of nuclear facility. Life got in the way.

I visited the Fermi II Nuclear Facility when I was in college. (Yes, Charlie. That was before the dawn of time—before the internet existed.) The experience was overwhelming. The sheer size and magnitude left me feeling full of dread.

Then Chernobyl melted down and the Fukushima disaster happened. I channeled those feelings into my main character. My biggest struggle with this book is balancing fear, grief and humor. I know--weird combination.

From Angie Azur's post
https://teazurs.blogspot.com/

Do you satisfy your Inner Princess by staying in castles in Europe?

Inner Queen, actually. And yes, I do so enjoy a good castle visit.

Anita earned an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) You’ve hinted that there are some madcap escapades while in Vermont? Care to plead the Fifth?

What happens in Vermont, stays in Vermont!

What’s next?

I’m planning a book launch for Words Matter!

I would love to see everyone there. No purchase necessary. It’s a celebration of WORDS.

Sunday, September 14

5-7 p.m. (After the Lion’s Game)

@The Road Less Traveled Bookstore

Downtown Farmington, Mi

There will be free Words Matter swag, food and bevies and I’ll be holding a free raffle for attendees to win cool stuff, including signed books by authors who are writing about important topics. And there will be young men in lederhosen—who doesn’t want to see that?

As with most things I do, there will be a theatrical aspect to the launch. If you are planning on attending, shoot me an email through my website or my SCBWI or personal emails.

Let me know if you are a librarian or educator. I’ll have something special to celebrate the tireless work you do.

Once that’s done, I’ll continue writing about the people and places I love, and the things that scare me most!

I’ll also be finding a way to publish my graphic novel. It has so many things in it I love to read about—romance, relationship drama, a possible vampire, gardening, and a dead body! Sure wish I had learned to illustrate!

Don’t worry, Charlie. It’s young adult, not a picture book. I’ve learned my lesson about having dead characters in picture books!