Lower School Landlubbers Enjoy Pirate Presentation

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Visiting author Melinda Long with Lower School librarian Melissa Adair.

When visiting author Melinda Long announced to CCES Primer students that when she was their age, video games did not exist, there were gasps of disbelief. When she followed with the unbelievable information that there were no MP3 players either, there were groans of heartfelt sympathy. But she saved the most devastating information for last: there were only three channels on her family’s black-and-white TV! The Primers couldn’t contain themselves, and the loud chorus of “no’s” echoed through the Lower School commons.

But Long’s deprived childhood is a lucky thing for our students and other young readers around the world. With a lack of electronic entertainment, Long was so bored at the age of six that her mom suggested she write a story. And that first story was the start of a lifelong love of writing that would eventually lead to her award-winning book, How I Became a Pirate.

Long visited CCES on April 24, speaking to each grade in the Lower School. She shared with students the process of writing, editing, and illustrating, giving interesting facts along the way. Her books have been translated in over 16 languages, including Hebrew. How I Became a Pirate has also been translated into Australian, which Long says necessitated the changing of one word: “mom” was changed to “mum.”

The start of Long’s writing career was filled with rejection slips. After graduating from Furman University, the Greenville native worked as a teacher and began submitting stories to publishers. Only determination and stubbornness allowed the author to keep trying despite the regular refusals. It was twelve years before she found a publisher who agreed to publish her first book, When Papa Snores.

Long drew on her childhood fascination with pirates and buried treasure for what would become her most popular book, How I Became a Pirate. Again, Long had to be patient; six-and-a-half years passed from the signing of the contact to the publishing of the book. But the timing turned out to be fortuitous; her book came out just three months after the release of the blockbuster movie Pirates of the Caribbean. The movie generated tremendous interest in all things pirate, and her book quickly became a New York Times bestseller. The sequel to How I Became a Pirate, called Pirates Don’t Change Diapers, is also a favorite with her fans.

During Long’s talk, the students were given a chance to try out their “pirate speak”, beginning with a raucous “Ahoy there, matey” and following with such pirate vocabulary as “landlubber”, “scurvy dog”, “Jolly Roger”, “caterwauling”, and “bilge rat.”

Next up for Long is the much-anticipated third book in the pirate series. There will certainly be many CCES fans ready to read it when it is released.

Long’s enjoyable visit to CCES was summed up by one Primer. After the presentation, he sighed and said, “I wish I were a pirate.”