News From The Forest

Len had the pleasure of appearing at the Hannibal Free Library in mid-November to discuss his books and the inspiration that led him to create the Mr. Tout's series. He is pictured here with Hannibal Children's Program Director Nikki Shue, who is also a former journalism student from his days teaching at G. Ray Bodley High School in Fulton.

In October Len visited Christine Chatterton, left, Director of the Fulton Public Library to donate copies of The Naughty Gnomes and The Uninvited Guest. Having the books there is a special honor as Len spent 29 years as a teacher in Fulton. The library itself, which first opened in February 1906 is beautiful. The building is listed on the New York State and National Register of Historic Places.

It was a proud moment in mid-November when Len's books were on display during the open house for the new Alexandria Central School Library. Many thanks to Librarian Denise Haddock from this Purple Ghost alumni of the Class of 1975.

Len and his wife Barb visited Niagara Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world in late August. Their purpose? To do research for Book II of Mr. Tout's Magical Forest–Fall to the Forest, which starts at the renowned tourist attraction.

Junior high student Jared Gardenier, right, was the first person to read Len's first novel, The Uninvited Guest, back when it was in its infancy in early 2020. Len recently had the pleasure of meeting him and his mom to give him a copy of the finished product, which has been greatly expanded from the early days. His support and suggestions were greatly appreciated! Jared, a former student of Len's wife Barb, the librarian at Fairgrieve Elementary, is a big fan of fantasy and counts Len's all-time favorite novel, The Hobbit, among his favorites.

Len had the honor of presenting Mrs. Madge Coiro with a copy of The Uninvited Guest, the book he dedicated to the memory of her husband, Mike Coiro, his junior high English teacher. As a teenager Mr. Coiro was his greatest influence as a writer and a major reason why he eventually became an English teacher as he tried to follow in his enormous footsteps. As Len said in the book, he only wishes it hadn't taken so long to finally get started as an author, because he would love to have given Mr. Coiro a copy.

This wonderful lady, Amy Vogel, took the time to read The Uninvited Guest not once, but two times as Len worked his way through his first full-length novel. Her suggestions were greatly appreciated along the way.