Secrets of Paul Fleisher: The Man Behind the Book by Michele Jahncke

Last summer, I had the idea to include a short biography of each author I use with my living science curriculum. So I approached Michele Jahncke to see if she would be interested in writing them, and thankfully she said yes! Now you can find a lovely biography of every one of them on this website and inside the guides. Each one is so fun to read, as Michele included fun details that are particularly fascinating to the Charlotte Mason community.

Today, Michele brings another special treat. She joins us to share her conversation with Paul Fleisher, author of Secrets of the Universe and one of the CM community’s FAVORITE living science writers.

Mr. Fleisher asked to be alerted when this article is published, so I encourage you to leave a comment below. Let him know what his work has meant to your family.

Writing short biographies of the science authors used for Sabbath Mood Homeschool’s Living Science Guides was no easy task. While researching Mr. Paul Fleisher, you can imagine my surprise to find that he only lives five short hours away from me! If it weren’t for a global pandemic, he would have found a geeked out fangirl persistently ringing his front doorbell. Since he was spared that scene, Mr. Fleisher graciously granted a barrage of emails and a phone conversation to allow me to explore more of his life as well as the lifecycle of his much sought-after book, Secrets of the Universe, the foundation of the Living Science Guide: Physics for forms 3 & 4.

Secrets of the Universe was the first book that Paul wrote. Its conception was the idea of sharing some of the science and exploration he was doing alongside his pupils with a broader audience. When he dedicated it “to all his students past, present, and future” little did he know that the future would be comprised of many homeschool students. Secrets was first published by Athenium in 1987 as one complete book. Lerner Publishing, out of London, would later pick it up and divide it into five books making the Secrets of the Universe Series. Recently, I saw a first edition online going for $150.00! Asked what he thought of that exorbitant price tag, Mr. Fleisher was quick to reply, “Kinda ridiculous” lamenting a little that he had no more. When Nicole Williams first recommended the book, quick thinking home educators inundated him with email requests, and he generously sold every copy he had at list price.

For those of you who missed the stampede to purchase the book directly from the author’s hands and don’t want to pay a king’s ransom, there is good news. Living Book Press has printed a current edition of the glorious unicorn with updates and revisions.

Mr. Fleisher was thrilled to tell me that the original illustrations by Patricia A. Keeler are back and he thinks the current edition is “substantially improved both in content and style…” He would also like to credit his friend, Donna Fout, who passed away last year, saying “she read and edited my original manuscript before I sent it off to my first publisher. For beginning writers, having a reader like Donna who will give you honest, direct feedback and tell you what needs to be improved, rewritten, or discarded altogether is a tremendous gift.”

Paul Fleisher has never lost his sense of wonder. As a young boy he spent a multitude of hours outdoors exploring the countryside along with his brothers. With them he became an Eagle Scout, learning practical outdoor skills such as canoeing, lifeguarding, and knot tying along with important leadership skills, all of which show up in his character and his future. He was a finalist in the 1966 International Science Fair with an experiment in the realm of psychology. Paul wanted to see if rats learned a task more quickly if trained in an enriched environment with a variety of toys and activities, as opposed to a sterile environment with no distractions. Those rats did learn faster in the enhanced environment—“but not quite to the standard of statistical significance.” Still, the philosophical underpinning that we know of as atmosphere, would guide him in creating living classes on topics such as sound and music, design, justice, and codebreaking. His early life lessons, varied interests, and the atmosphere of his own home, would all come into play as he continued to write and teach all the way up through adult education and beyond.

As an author, some of the joys he found were the opportunities to explore topics that he was curious about, visiting interesting places for his research, and meeting people doing fascinating science and engineering as well as other topics. One of Mr. Fleisher’s favorites, The Master Violinmaker, had its genesis when he invited the father of two of his students to talk with his class about violin craftsmanship. Always wanting to share with others, it became a fun and fascinating collaboration with his friend and photographer David Saunders, and the fiddling artisan father to create that title.

Another favorite of the many books that Paul wrote is Brain Food: Games That Make Kids Think. This is a book of multi-cultural, cooperative games that was created with the help of his students, who tested every one of the games in the book—rejecting some and even creating games of their own to include.

­­­­­­­­­­“He not busy being born is busy dying” is a line from Bob Dylan’s song, “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding),” and a fitting mantra for Paul Fleisher. As an advocate for peace and social justice since his teen years, he has always been at the forefront of informing others about the most dangerous challenges for the human race. Paul continues to volunteer teaching youth activism and conflict resolution and is a promoter of racial and economic justice.

This busy man has always enjoyed playing a variety of music. He grew up playing woodwinds and rocked the guitar in a duo with his brother. He now plays Balinese music with a group ensemble that has performed at the Smithsonian and the Indonesian Embassy as well as community events. Gamelan music is mentally and physically challenging, played on instruments unfamiliar to most Americans, and like all music, is mathematical. Performing as part of the group, Gamelan Raga Kasuma, also gives him the opportunity to do more of what he loves best, meeting interesting people while always learning and teaching, giving and getting new cultural experiences.

The awards Mr. Fleisher has won are too numerous to include here. I will name the Thomas Jefferson Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Natural Science Education from the Virginia Museum of Natural History as well as the Virginia Education Association Award for Peace and International Relations. You can view the impressive list on his website, but I don’t think it is an exhaustive list as I stalked, er, perused him on the World Wide Web and found more feathers in his cap.

Asking Mr. Fleisher a favorite interview question, “If you could share a meal with one scientist, who would it be and why?” he came back with two:

“Richard Feynman, the Nobel prize winning physicist, who was also an adventurer, prankster, bongo player and renowned teacher. I highly recommend his memoir, Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman, and/or Edward O. Wilson, the myrmecologist, sociobiologist and ecologist. Winner of the Pulitzer prize. If I had to pick one of his books to recommend, I’d pick Journey to the Ants, by Bert Hölldobler and Edward O. Wilson.”

Now he has added to my ever growing to-be-read pile which already includes Paul’s latest self-published book, A Friend in Need is a Man’s Best Dog which showcases his wit and humor in essay and verse form.

I’m hopeful that one day soon will find my kids and me swaying to the 4/4 rhythm of the Balinese music ensemble with Paul Fleisher on flute. If so, you can bet I will be sticking around and asking more questions of this brilliant, multifaceted educator, author, musician, activist. As intriguing as the secrets of the universe are so are the wonders of man.

References:
www.paulfleisher.com
http://ragakusuma.org/
https://www.livingbookpress.com/product-category/secrets-of-the-universe/
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=richmondpeace