Welcome to the Weekend With... Sheldon Greene

Last week I reviewed a wonderful book called Prodigal Sons written by Sheldon Greene. In my research of the author I discovered a man who is even more interesting and diverse than the characters and spies he writes about in his book. I consider it an honor that Mr Greene agreed to today's interview.

Tell us a little about yourself (where you grew up, family, etc.).

Greene: I’m a Mid Westerner, born in Pennsylvania and raised and educated in Cleveland Ohio; one of those “first in the family to get a college education” Americans. Cleveland gave me a great foundation for a life of learning and thought. They had an elementary school program called Major Work, which taught promising kids to think and be creative. I learned early on how important the character and quality of education is in making us what we are. I’m married to a psychotherapist, my one and only mate. We have a daughter, an artist who is married to a philosopher. They live in Philadelphia and are both educators.

You have an impressive background as an attorney, an author and as an executive of a wind energy company. I have a feeling that is just the tip of the iceberg.. Having served on Obama's national policy team for energy and as the world focuses on becoming more 'green', please tell us about wind energy. What advice would you offer the average person about using energy more efficiently or how we as individuals can make a difference?

At this time wind is the most economically viable alternative energy source. Coal fired plants are still the cheapest until you factor in the indirect costs of their impact on the environment and health. The problem with renewable energy is that it is not constant, because the wind varies. Wind and solar energy can’t be the dominant energy source, at least not until the cost of storing energy is significantly reduced. If and when that happens we will be able to capture the wind based energy, hold it and release it when is needed. One big problem is that while we have a national highway system, our energy highway, the grid, is antiquated and feudal. The Obama administration’s energy policy includes money for an energy super-highway system that is smart enough to deliver energy as needed. Hopefully we’ll have that in the next ten years.


As individuals we can help in two ways. The first is saving energy; turning off the lights, lowering the thermostat, buying energy efficient light bulbs and fuel efficient cars. The second is supporting our government’s efforts to achieve energy independence. This costs money, tax dollars and even somewhat higher energy costs, but money we spend now will in the long run create two million permanent, well paid jobs, reduce our dependency on foreign oil, and help to make us competitive globally.


Politics and immigration are probably not topics most book reviewers/bloggers would approach, but I'm always intrigued by the subject and so more willing to broach the subject. Having also served on Obama's policy team for immigration, and being well versed in government health and labor policies, what advice would you give to those who want to make a difference and be part of a change for the better for our country? And as many Americans have grown apathetic where government/politics is concerned, in your opinion can we as individuals really make a difference?


A sense of powerlessness and mistrust of government afflict much of our American society. There’s a reason for that. Our governments, state, federal, and local, do often spend too much money with too little result and the media magnify the failures. Even so, too many of us don’t make an effort to develop an understanding of the complex and interrelated issues that confront our country. (The subject of immigration, for example, touches every sensitive element of what makes up our society. The impact ranges from the insatiable demand for cheap, unskilled labor to the challenge of integrating and educating people of varied social and economic diversity. That just scratches the surface.


Lots of people relate strongly to a single issue but don’t integrate their personal concerns into a broader perspective. Others are satisfied just to get canned buzz-word opinions from the 24/7 TV media.) More of us need to engage and participate in ongoing political action movements. And we need make a habit of tapping the resources of the internet and the print media to develop a deeper comprehension of the issues; health delivery, education, energy, just to mention the ones currently on the front burner. We need to become an informed, participating electorate.

In your books you write about characters and times that are in transition, it is said that history often repeats and one can easily see cycles in history. One always hopes that we will never see another world war, yet one can see similarities in the past and the current climate. With the complex and compelling character's you have created, what wisdom do you think they would have for us?

The overriding message of Prodigal Sons is that we humans are blinded by ideology. Ideology is a distorted lens through which people view the world. Reality is kaleidoscopic. If people are to cope effectively with reality as it changes they need to look at it and sift it without preconceptions.

Prodigal Sons isn't your first book to deal with a post WWII, why is that time period and the people of that era inspiring for you?

The Twentieth Century alternated between colossal technological achievement and cataclysmic destruction. We experienced two World Wars, genocide, hundreds of smaller conflicts, the implosion of the colonial era, the rise and fall of Communism and Fascism, population explosion, the degradation of the world’s environment on the one hand and a multitude of life changing advances in health, communication, technology on the other hand.


What particularly interested me about Post War Germany, was the intersection of conflicting ideologies; Neo-Nazism, Zionism, Capitalism and Communism and the way the clash informed and animated the characters. The change agent in the book is love. If that sounds like a cliché, so be it. But for me, love, of other people, of the world, is the seminal component of the life force. It’s social gravity.

I haven't had the opportunity to read Lost and Found yet. Can you tell us what it's about?

A Holocaust survivor chooses between life in a small Western Pennsylvania town and reparations in Israel. Reviewers described it as gentle, funny, poignant, magical and deceptively simple. The book celebrates the small miracles of ordinary life. A rabbi discovers he can heal. Sterile people give birth. A mysterious bookstore burns. A cookbook divides the sisterhood. A stranger drops some money on a needy philanthropist. The Los Angeles Times Book Review gave it a Critics Commendation and said, "Greene is a born storyteller."

Your work is very complex yet seems so effortless. How much research and what types of research do you do?

Thanks. That’s a great compliment. I do lots of research so that the historical matrix underpinning the fiction is accurate. For example, the newspaper articles about Post War Nazi activities, the battle of Degania Aleph during the Israeli War of Independence are faithful to the contemporary accounts, to mention a few. I use whatever source is available; contemporary journalistic accounts, books, and of course the internet.

When did you first decide to start writing?

I started writing fiction in Law School and never stopped.

How do you navigate the actual story? (e.g. do you pre-plot it all out, get the main details and then flesh it out, divide up chapters, let the characters tell you their path, etc.) How long does it take you to complete one of your novels?

The novels germinate with a single image or notion. For example, one time I was having dinner in an Italian restaurant. Beside our table on a shelf was a sculpture. My interest in it evolved into my novel, Burnt Umber, about ten years later.


I start with a story, then progress to a detailed outline of the book embellished with historical background and character bios including their basic personality traits. Once the characters are alive in my head, they seem to do and say things their own way, and I become the medium for them. It’s a bit supernatural, like conjuring up a spirit.

When you get stuck on writing, what do you do to clear your mind and get back on track?

I take a nap.
Most great authors are also avid readers. While it is hard for us to imagine you have any free time with all that you do, are you an avid reader and if so, who do you enjoy reading?

I am an avid fiction reader and my tastes are varied. I could name at least fifty authors, each one different in style and subject matter. I’ve read every Le Carre and every Patrick O’Brian. A couple of recently read books that are quite different but equally compelling are; The Painter of Battles, by Arturo Perez-Reverte, and Olive Kittredge, by Elizabeth Strout.

Hope my questions aren't too different for you. I have found that while my readers want to know about an author's book they also like to know the person behind the writing and are often compelled to follow authors who are as intriguing as the characters they write. You definitely fit that bill.

These questions were great fun.

I want to thank Sheldon Greene for taking the time to answer my questions and sharing some of his insights with us. Please check out his website, http://www.sheldongreene.net/

And to read the review of his book, click here.