Get to Know Larry Dickens

With a lifelong interest in both ships and stories, this author of sea novels for adults and issue novels for children and teens has been writing for years, whether his feet are on dry land or misty sea deck. Welcome to Finger Lakes resident and former seafarer, Larry Dickens!

Q. Hi Larry, and thanks for being here! To start, your young adult novel Forever Ten (AuthorHouse, 2004) takes place partly in Rochester. Was it more or less difficult to use a place you know well for the setting?

Thank you for having me! In the case of Forever Ten, it was less difficult to use Rochester as the setting since the site of the tragedy was here and some of the people involved were accessible for my interviews. But my initial decision to set part of the story in Rochester was, actually, by chance. At the time, I had just completed my first novel, Mrs. McGillacuddy’s Garden Party, and I was in the submission process. As that process is painfully slow, I used the time to work on my next novel about a young, inner-city boy who runs away from his drug-infested neighborhood, but ends up in a horrible place where children are enslaved. As I developed the idea, I wasn’t sure which American city to use as the starting point or in which country he would find himself enslaved. One day, articles about enslaved children on the cocoa plantations of Ivory Coast appeared in the national press. This was followed by the shocking news of the senseless murder of ten-year-old Tyshaun Cauldwell in Rochester in June 2001. These two events solidified those details for me. Plus, it pointed me in the direction of writing a book which could serve as a tribute to young Tyshaun, an innocent victim of drug crime. Thus, Forever Ten was born.

As an aside, back in 2001, a small, makeshift memorial was made for Tyshaun on a vacant lot on the corner of Kondolf and Whitney Streets, a short distance from where he was shot. Last year I revisited the site for the first time in more than a decade and I was pleased to see that not only was the lot still vacant and the memorial still there, but the memorial had grown in size with plants and a marker, and it had been cared for. It was good to see that people in the neighborhood had not forgotten him.

Q. What kind of feedback did you get from readers when you published Forever Ten?

The feedback from the people I interviewed and readers who wrote comments on my website were positive. The local press did some nice pieces on it, and some schools thought the book would be useful for presenting to young people both the drug and slavery issues.

Unfortunately, self-publishing has its limits and the book remains largely unknown nationwide. I am considering a small revision and will try, again, submitting it to the traditional publishing houses in hopes of reaching a larger audience as the themes in the story are more current and relevant than ever.

Q. What are you writing next?

I am working on two new stories: a young adult novel about a poor family in the Kibera slum district of Nairobi and the school/rescue center they developed in their impoverished neighborhood; and a modern day, action sea novel for general adult readers (basically a sequel to my novel Tropical Depression).

Q. You have over forty years of maritime experience. Have you considered writing a novel for kids or teens on that topic? What about a non-fiction book?

Yes, I have, but I never made the time to develop one specifically for middle grade and young adult readers, although several chapters of Forever Ten do take place onboard a merchant ship at sea. A writing colleague suggested to me several times that I write a picture book. That might be a good place for me to begin.

Q. Do you continue to write while overseas? How do you juggle travelling and writing?

During my earlier years as a deck officer onboard LNG vessels in the Orient, I would write during my off-duty time. Outside of work, there’s not much to do on commercial vessels engaged in long voyage worldwide trade, so it provided a good opportunity to write. In more recent times, while doing marine consultant work in the Middle East, I sadly did very little writing due to the busy demands of my shoreside position. However, I did see a lot in my travels and took lots of notes and photos for future story ideas.

Q. You are a supporter of the Future STARS Development Center in Nairobi, Kenya. Can you tell us more about that project? How has it influenced your writing?

While I was living in Doha (Qatar), a Kenyan friend introduced me to the good work that her mom was doing back home in Kibera with a small school/rescue center that she had founded for kids whose parents have no money, or who are AIDS orphans. During one of my trips to Kenya I visited the school. I must tell you, one can’t help but be overwhelmed by the scope of poverty in this district of Nairobi. As a former seafarer, I’m no stranger to seeing poverty in some of the world’s remote places. I’ve been to some really poor areas in Indonesia, Borneo, and India. But Kibera is something else. Over one million people live there!

What I found most interesting about Future STARS is how well-behaved the children are and how eager they are to learn, despite the primitive surroundings and facility (which has no running water or proper sewage system). The older students seem to know that getting an education is the key to a better life and a way to get out of the slum. My wife and I contribute to the ongoing fundraising efforts that, hopefully, will keep the school/rescue center’s doors open.

The influence Future STARS and my visits to Kenya have had on my writing is that now I am working on a book about it. I hope to encourage young people to value the education that they receive in schools here every day in the United States and to show them that getting an education is precious, personal, and to be embraced.

Q. What is the best part about being an author in the Rochester area?

Aside from the beauty and tranquility of the area and the earthiness of the people, one of the bright spots for me is being a member of RACWI (Rochester Area Children’s Writers & Illustrators). It is comforting to know that there are many other people out there who sit alone for vast amounts of time trying to create other worlds on paper. This organization has been a source of inspiration for me since I joined in 2001.

Q. What is your best piece of advice for young writers who wish to be published one day?

Read, read, read! Let a good book dazzle and entertain you while educating you…and then think about how the author performed that magic. Experience life. Enjoy life. Travel. I encourage everyone to travel outside of the USA in order to broaden their perspective on other cultures. Go see for yourself! Despite the troubling events that we frequently see on TV news, the world is, overall, a beautiful place and most people are good and friendly. Again, read, read, read!

Visit Larry at his website (www.larrydickens.com), Facebook (www.facebook.com/authorlarrydickens) and Twitter (@LarryDickens2).

Deena Viviani is a Rochester-based Young Adult Services Librarian. Read her book reviews at www.deenaml.livejournal.com or send her a note at

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