Positive Vision Network
Positive Picks Interview
Welcome to our
guest author
Ann Fritz Hackett
| With special guest Ann Fritz Hackett, business woman, modern philosopher and author of Where the White Oak Speaks |
PVN asks: Ms. Hackett, we love this book! What prompted you to
write a book like this?
idea for the book first came, I did my best to ignore it. My mind did its
best to discourage me – to stop me. However, the idea resonated so
deeply in my heart that I knew I had to try. To do that, I had to learn
to listen to and write from my heart, not my mind. I made a deal with
Ms. my mind and told it to suspend its judgment while I wrote three
one- Writing this book was a great surprise to me. I was a paragraph
math major in college and my career has been in business. When the
idea for the book first came, I did my best to ignore it. My mind did its
best to discourage me – to stop me. However, the idea resonated so
deeply in my heart that I knew I had to try. To do that, I had to learn
to listen to and write from my heart, not my mind. I made a deal with
Ms. my mind and told it to suspend its judgment while I wrote three
one- Writing this book was a great surprise to me. I was a paragraph
beginnings. When I started the first one, I immediately saw the
beginning and the ending of the story. That became Where the White
Oak Speaks. I did not set out to write a book for the world. I set out to
fulfill my heart’s desire. I had no intention of publishing it.
Eventually I shared it with my family and friends. Their enthusiastic
responses and encouragement helped me to have the courage to bring
the book to the larger world.
Question: With what is going on in the world, do you think your book
may be more important than ever?
Ms. Hackett: Many people have said that. I think there has always
been an important place for stories that touch our hearts, inspire us to
believe more is possible and help us to celebrate the simple and
profound gifts of life that surround us always and that are often visible
only to our hearts. Perhaps now we just appreciate it all the more.
And perhaps now we need our internal compass more than ever.
Our analytical minds are important, but we seem to have forgotten the
power and wisdom of our hearts. Our hearts enable us to discover
possibilities that seem impractical to our minds. Our hearts can see
through to the goodness in people and situations even when it is not
manifest in the moment. Our hearts reveal what we have in common
while our minds are busy documenting how different we are from one
another. It is important for children at these times to be able to see the
goodness in the world around them and to believe that more is
possible. Images bombard their senses. Perhaps in some small way,
Where the White Oak Speaks helps children develop an awareness of
their internal compass and its importance in navigating an increasingly
complex and interconnected world. And for adults perhaps the book
will liberate the wisdom of the child within to be a force in our
thoughts, lives and world.
Question: How did writing this book impact you?
Ms. Hackett: The book has been an eight-year journey of joy, wonder,
frustration, miracles, self-doubt and patience. Although my mind
came up with lots of good reasons to give up along the way, I didn’t. It
has helped me to realize how often we stop ourselves from reaching
our own dreams and in doing so limit what is possible. We are each
unique and can only be who we are. Success is not about external
manifestations. It is about becoming all of who we are. Daring to try
is the first big step. Not stopping ourselves is the last.
Question: What kept you going?
Ms. Hackett: In fact there were many times when I wasn’t sure I
would complete the book. Fear of failing was probably the force
within me that came the closest to stopping me. And yet each time
something kept me from giving up. My heart kept me connected to
the larger inspiration.
Question: It is interesting that one of the main characters is a boy who
is in a wheelchair and cannot speak or engage with the world around
him. How have your readers reacted to this character, especially
children?
Ms. Hackett: Many people have asked how I dreamed up Christopher
James and my only response is that as I was writing the story, he
walked onto the pages. My job in creating the book was to listen well
within myself. People have in general been quite taken with
Christopher James. I have received many letters and emails from
children and adults alike saying how important Christopher James is
to them as a character. I think the reason people are drawn to
Christopher James may lie in the fact that each of us harbors a thought
that some part of us is “imperfect”. It is somehow reassuring to
embrace the idea that even the “imperfect” part of us is worthy of and
capable of love and, with love and understanding, can be liberated.
What the mind thinks of as “imperfect”, the heart sees through to the
truth of perfection and wholeness within. To me that is the
symbolism and broad appeal of Christopher James.
Question: How about Mr. Brewster, the elderly gentleman who has a
magical way of knowing things – how have readers reacted to him?
Ms. Hackett: Mr. Brewster is a favorite for many people. I think he is
part of the reason that the book has turned out to have such cross-
generational appeal. Here is an elderly man who is not “old”. He is
wise, humorous, vital and relevant in the world. At a time when the
elderly in many parts of our society are not honored but hidden, Mr.
Brewster
holds out different possibilities. I have been deeply moved by the
letters from grandparents and parents who have written to tell me
how the book reconnected them with their childhood – that time in
their lives when they knew more was possible – and caused them to
reminisce about the real life “Mr. Brewster’s” who had been important
at various stages of their lives.
Question: One is left with a feeling of perfection about life when you
finish the book that often eludes us in real life. What is your
perspective?
Ms. Hackett: I appreciate the question because it drove me to a deeper
insight about life, revealed symbolically in the book. In the story,
there actually are important elements that are far from “perfect”: as
the book opens, Jacob’s best friend has just moved away, leaving a
large, lonely hole in his life; Christopher James is hardly “perfect” in
conventional terms; and in the end of the book, Jacob is confronted
with profound loss. However, it is also true that one is left with a
feeling of peacefulness; a feeling that all is well. The resolution of
these apparently disparate views may lie in the fact that in the book
we see the world through Jacob’s eyes, a child’s eyes. His journey is
laced with potential challenges, obstacles and despair – just like real
life. However, Jacob’s innocence and open heart allow him to discover
new possibilities and larger truths. He brings this perspective to
apparent difficulties and in doing so transforms his experience of the
situation into one of perfection. The reader experiences this well; that
all is as it needs to be in every moment. Perhaps the power of children’
s literature lies in its ability to remind us of the true possibilities of life;
possibilities that need not evade us as adults in the “real” world. Our
experience may depend more on us than we realize.
write a book like this?
idea for the book first came, I did my best to ignore it. My mind did its
best to discourage me – to stop me. However, the idea resonated so
deeply in my heart that I knew I had to try. To do that, I had to learn
to listen to and write from my heart, not my mind. I made a deal with
Ms. my mind and told it to suspend its judgment while I wrote three
one- Writing this book was a great surprise to me. I was a paragraph
math major in college and my career has been in business. When the
idea for the book first came, I did my best to ignore it. My mind did its
best to discourage me – to stop me. However, the idea resonated so
deeply in my heart that I knew I had to try. To do that, I had to learn
to listen to and write from my heart, not my mind. I made a deal with
Ms. my mind and told it to suspend its judgment while I wrote three
one- Writing this book was a great surprise to me. I was a paragraph
beginnings. When I started the first one, I immediately saw the
beginning and the ending of the story. That became Where the White
Oak Speaks. I did not set out to write a book for the world. I set out to
fulfill my heart’s desire. I had no intention of publishing it.
Eventually I shared it with my family and friends. Their enthusiastic
responses and encouragement helped me to have the courage to bring
the book to the larger world.
Question: With what is going on in the world, do you think your book
may be more important than ever?
Ms. Hackett: Many people have said that. I think there has always
been an important place for stories that touch our hearts, inspire us to
believe more is possible and help us to celebrate the simple and
profound gifts of life that surround us always and that are often visible
only to our hearts. Perhaps now we just appreciate it all the more.
And perhaps now we need our internal compass more than ever.
Our analytical minds are important, but we seem to have forgotten the
power and wisdom of our hearts. Our hearts enable us to discover
possibilities that seem impractical to our minds. Our hearts can see
through to the goodness in people and situations even when it is not
manifest in the moment. Our hearts reveal what we have in common
while our minds are busy documenting how different we are from one
another. It is important for children at these times to be able to see the
goodness in the world around them and to believe that more is
possible. Images bombard their senses. Perhaps in some small way,
Where the White Oak Speaks helps children develop an awareness of
their internal compass and its importance in navigating an increasingly
complex and interconnected world. And for adults perhaps the book
will liberate the wisdom of the child within to be a force in our
thoughts, lives and world.
Question: How did writing this book impact you?
Ms. Hackett: The book has been an eight-year journey of joy, wonder,
frustration, miracles, self-doubt and patience. Although my mind
came up with lots of good reasons to give up along the way, I didn’t. It
has helped me to realize how often we stop ourselves from reaching
our own dreams and in doing so limit what is possible. We are each
unique and can only be who we are. Success is not about external
manifestations. It is about becoming all of who we are. Daring to try
is the first big step. Not stopping ourselves is the last.
Question: What kept you going?
Ms. Hackett: In fact there were many times when I wasn’t sure I
would complete the book. Fear of failing was probably the force
within me that came the closest to stopping me. And yet each time
something kept me from giving up. My heart kept me connected to
the larger inspiration.
Question: It is interesting that one of the main characters is a boy who
is in a wheelchair and cannot speak or engage with the world around
him. How have your readers reacted to this character, especially
children?
Ms. Hackett: Many people have asked how I dreamed up Christopher
James and my only response is that as I was writing the story, he
walked onto the pages. My job in creating the book was to listen well
within myself. People have in general been quite taken with
Christopher James. I have received many letters and emails from
children and adults alike saying how important Christopher James is
to them as a character. I think the reason people are drawn to
Christopher James may lie in the fact that each of us harbors a thought
that some part of us is “imperfect”. It is somehow reassuring to
embrace the idea that even the “imperfect” part of us is worthy of and
capable of love and, with love and understanding, can be liberated.
What the mind thinks of as “imperfect”, the heart sees through to the
truth of perfection and wholeness within. To me that is the
symbolism and broad appeal of Christopher James.
Question: How about Mr. Brewster, the elderly gentleman who has a
magical way of knowing things – how have readers reacted to him?
Ms. Hackett: Mr. Brewster is a favorite for many people. I think he is
part of the reason that the book has turned out to have such cross-
generational appeal. Here is an elderly man who is not “old”. He is
wise, humorous, vital and relevant in the world. At a time when the
elderly in many parts of our society are not honored but hidden, Mr.
Brewster
holds out different possibilities. I have been deeply moved by the
letters from grandparents and parents who have written to tell me
how the book reconnected them with their childhood – that time in
their lives when they knew more was possible – and caused them to
reminisce about the real life “Mr. Brewster’s” who had been important
at various stages of their lives.
Question: One is left with a feeling of perfection about life when you
finish the book that often eludes us in real life. What is your
perspective?
Ms. Hackett: I appreciate the question because it drove me to a deeper
insight about life, revealed symbolically in the book. In the story,
there actually are important elements that are far from “perfect”: as
the book opens, Jacob’s best friend has just moved away, leaving a
large, lonely hole in his life; Christopher James is hardly “perfect” in
conventional terms; and in the end of the book, Jacob is confronted
with profound loss. However, it is also true that one is left with a
feeling of peacefulness; a feeling that all is well. The resolution of
these apparently disparate views may lie in the fact that in the book
we see the world through Jacob’s eyes, a child’s eyes. His journey is
laced with potential challenges, obstacles and despair – just like real
life. However, Jacob’s innocence and open heart allow him to discover
new possibilities and larger truths. He brings this perspective to
apparent difficulties and in doing so transforms his experience of the
situation into one of perfection. The reader experiences this well; that
all is as it needs to be in every moment. Perhaps the power of children’
s literature lies in its ability to remind us of the true possibilities of life;
possibilities that need not evade us as adults in the “real” world. Our
experience may depend more on us than we realize.
| ORDER Where the White Oak Speaks |
