David Michael Slater teaches in Reno, Nevada, where he lives with his wife and son. He is an acclaimed author of over 20 works of fiction for children, teens, and adults. His work for children includes the picture books Cheese Louise!, The Boy & the Book, and Hanukkah Harvie vs. Santa Claus; the early chapter book series Mysterious Monsters; and the teen series Forbidden Books. David's work for adults includes the comic-drama Fun & Games, which the New York Journal of Books called “hilarious.” David’s newest book, We’re Doing It Wrong, is an honest and insightful analysis of the issues afflicting American public schools, but any Canadian educator and beyond can get a lot of value from the challenges raised and solutions provided. The testimonials are truly persuasive, and I was lucky to get an advanced copy to prepare for his P3.
This was the first recording of The Personal Playlist Podcast where all three song choices were live performances. Neil Young said that, “Live music is better.” There certainly is something to hearing the audience and feeling a part of something bigger when you are there, but a recording of a live show has a lot of layers, too. It evokes a shared experience, and it’s nice to feel a part of something even where you’re not there to experience it first hand. You still get to catch cool, authentic and unscripted moments. This podcast, has a lot of those.
Spending this time talking to David about his books in general and diving into some of the details of his new book for teachers, parents and administrators was a great. He shared a concise version of how he became a writer, and we learned a lot about why his song choices are deeply connected to who he is. That was one of the many highlights of reuniting with an old camp friend though this podcast. Music is a powerful channel to the whole person.
David’s nostalgic song is one for which there are 121 versions. Covered by many artists including Jimmy Cliff, Ray Charles, Sonny and Cher, Richie Havens, and Nancy Sinatra, the song was written by Johnny Nash and released in 1972. It is also the title of a remarkable book by Dr. Wayne Dyer. This encouraging song becomes new with every recorded interpretation, but the one David played over and over for his roommates came from an Irish band. He was studying abroad in Sydney, Australia for a semester in 1991 and describes, “...inflicting it on his American roommates all six months long.” David said he played it “endlessly”. Here's the band Hothouse Flowers performing David's favourite version of I Can See Clearly Now on The Late Late Show:
David expressed that any Elton John track would work for his identity song. “I picked this one because not everybody knows it, and it’s just as good as most of his eternal classics.” David relates to those who describe Elton John’s music as the soundtrack to their lives. He recounted, “I was on my way to camp....I remember standing at the rack of tapes at Record Mart [in Pittsburg], and I saw the Elton John tape....” That summer, he wore out Too Low for Zero, playing it endlessly in his cabin and gaining fans along the way. That was his gateway to discovering all of Elton John’s music, and he reports that he has, “...literally not stopped listening to through any phase of my life...” This is one of the songs that David finds remarkable to not be among the artist's most famous. Here is I Need You to Turn To by Elton John from the album Live in Australia:
David didn’t set out to be an author. He began by writing a play after being inspired by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by playwright Tom Stoppard. While that propelled him to write a play, he didn't pursue it again until graduate school. After being exposed to a life-altering Argentinian author, Jorge Luis Borges, David was inspired to become a writer. It began with short stories, which he submitted to “obscure literary journals”. A few were accepted, and it went on from there. He learned early that success as a writer requires perseverance and a thick skin. Slater exercises a lot of autonomy in his works noting, “I basically write whatever I feel like.” Joking that his writing career has had very little strategic planning, David added, “I like to try all of the different types of writing and aim at all the different types of audiences.” I wondered if his experiences with all of the genres has helped him write this book for teachers with so much candour, insight and care. "With this book...it just felt like common sense..." It has already received a lot of positive testimonials from professors and other educators, including me.
David’s final song on the playlist is a motivational song to him because it is steeped in story. Harry Chapin’s songs are inspirational and, for Slater who referred to this song as a representative choice for this artist. David said,"..the writing, the storytelling, it’s just phenomenal how compact he crams these full short stories into these songs...with characters that feel real and fully developed that live an entire life in a song.” Slater added, “The way he ends his songs..when I teach kids I call it a clincher....the last lines that give you chills...” Before being killed in a car accident in 1981, Chapin was credited as the most politically and socially active performer and was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Here is Harry Chapin’s A Better Place to Be:
You can learn more about David and his work through is website or find him on Twitter. Most of his books can be ordered through Amazon or at Barnes and Noble, where We’re Doing it Wrong is being launched on April 28th. David shared, “Really, my greatest hope for this book is not that my ideas take over the world, it’s that the people that make these decisions understand that they are leaving out the critical voices of teachers…” His ultimate vision through www.weredoingitwrong.com, his beyond-book venture, is “...bringing teacher’s voices forward,” and taking the conversation beyond the book. Teachers can engage by sharing ideas, writing blog posts, anecdotes, memes, book reviews, and interviews! You can listen to the We’re Doing It Wrong Podcast. Hear more from David there and, hopefully, on VoicEd Radio beyond this occasion.
