Paul Spencer Sochaczewski: Redheads
Paul Spencer Sochaczewski was born in 1947 in Brooklyn along with grew up in suburban brand-new Jersey. His earliest memory will be climbing on to the kitchen counter, then the stove along with then atop the refrigerator, pretending of which was Mount Everest. As a child he liked baseball, writing along with creating his mother worry. Paul spent years developing international campaigns for ad agencies along with NGOs like WWF along with International Osteoporosis Foundation, while simultaneously pursuing his writing career, publishing Soul of the Tiger (1995), Redheads (2000), Sultan along with the Mermaid Queen (2009) along with An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles (2012). Paul currently runs writing workshops in more than 20 countries.
I wrote my first play at age eight about flying bears, aliens along with buried treasure. The first book I ever read without pictures was The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet by Eleanor Cameron. I guess I inherited the science fiction gene by my father, who introduced me to the greats – Frederick Pohl, Theodore Sturgeon, Isaac Asimov along with Robert Sheckley.
Did you have an epiphany in your youth of which foretold your life as a writer?
I realized I wasn’t not bad enough to play pro baseball along with would likely need an alternative job, preferably one where I could wear jeans along with t-shirts. My early preparation for a life of writing was everything I experienced while living within the suburbs within the 1950s. One formative experience I remember was how in primary school we had drills crouching under our desks within the event of a Russian nuclear attack. of which wasn’t until much later of which I started off to question the value of such an exercise. One of my main motivations spurring me to write in later years was the environmental destruction I was seeing around me.
What are your hobbies/interests?
Collecting unusual Ganesha images, cooking, gardening (especially tomatoes), Italian opera.
What’s your educational background?
I have a PhD in life experiences. I hold a BA in Psychology by George Washington University, whose famous alumni include Alex Baldwin, L. Ron Hubbard, Jackie O.
If you had to name your favourite writers, who would likely they be?
Tom Wolfe. Carl Hiaasen. Joseph Heller. Simon Schama. Tom Robbins. Bill Bryson. Paul Theroux (fiction only), Graham Greene. John Updike. Malcolm Gladwell. Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities along with Heller’s Catch-22 are black along with funny along with real.
How did you initially get interested in writing about Indonesia?
of which was a natural evolution of interests. Funny thing about writers, lots of them are (at least at the beginning) rather shy along with introspective, along with writing will be a way of going public while still semi-hiding. although of which takes courage to put your stuff out there, particularly personal stuff, since of which’s very easy for critics (along with everyone who buys a newspaper will be a critic) to turn the page, or worse, say “of which’s rubbish”.
When was your first visit to Indonesia?
In 1971 while living in Singapore along with working as Creative Director of an ad agency. They sent me for a short time assignment in Indonesia. Since then I have visited many dozens of the country’s islands, including many obscure eastern Indonesian islands. Ever been to Aru, Bacan, Kei, Misool, Wakatobi along with Halmahera?
I left Washington, D.C., where I went to college to go to Sarawak to work with the U.S. Peace Corps. I lived with tribal communities. I’m perhaps the only international conservationist to have hands-on experience in slashing along with burning the rainforest. of which’s how I got interested in tribal rights, rainforest destruction, along with greedy politicians.
will be there any some other book like of which?
Catch-22, although in a different context. One reviewer wrote, “Redheads does for the struggle to save the rainforests of Borneo what Catch-22 did for the struggle to stay alive in WWII.”
will be the book only about orangutans?
All the characters have red or reddish (or henna-tinged) hair. of which’s about tribal rights. Rainforest destruction. Fraudulent scientists. Big-ego although naïve international conservation efforts. Orangutan’s similarities (along with dissimilarities) with humans. Sex. Greed. I desire of which’s funny.
The usual rainforest experiences – wonder, boredom, lousy food, too much mixed alcohol (rice wine, Guinness, moonshine, brandy), discomfort, athlete’s foot, leeches, snakes, rain, more rain. I learned of which some things are so serious along with depressing of which you have to laugh. Also, of which sometimes fiction will be a better way of alerting along with influencing people to problems than often boring along with self-serving non-fiction. Just tell a not bad story!
What revelations about people did you come away with?
People are people, some not bad, some evil, most somewhere in between, just trying to get by along with hoping for a lucky break when they can find one. There does seem to be a law of inverse generosity. The less people have in life the more willing they are to share of which with you.
will be there a thread running through all your books?
of which ego along with greed are dangerous. They are inevitable. We have to deal with of which. Also, there just might be a way to develop, let’s say, a “deep ecology” relationship with nature.
Which field of research do you prefer?
The get-your-hands-dirty kind. Recently I went on a trip in northern Thailand that has a bunch of Thai palaeontologists looking for coprolites – fossilized dung of freshwater sharks of which lived 200 million years ago.
A bunch of adventure novels. I genuinely admire any writer who can just tell a not bad story. although the best book I’ve read so far This specific year was Tom Wolfe’s Back to Blood.
What writing project are you working on currently?
Ah, another Big Book. Sharing the Journey, a writer’s guide book on how to tell their personal story based on my writing workshops. I’ve also been working for 30 years on a brand-new novel, although won’t jinx of which by discussing of which publically.
Any words you want to leave us with?
Be very careful of the big international NGOs. They don’t need your cash along with will waste much of of which. Give money along with emotional support instead to the modest local NGOs in whatever domain you are interested in: battered women, literacy, the arts, animal welfare, conservation, child labour, peace. The modest guys have passion along with get things done.
Where can people learn more about your work?
My website: www.sochaczewski.com
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Paul Spencer Sochaczewski: Redheads
Paul Spencer Sochaczewski: Redheads