Category Archives: Calhoun High School

Sanford H Calhoun High School, North Merrick, New York, USA – Part of Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District

Merrick, New York, U.S. December 20, 2019. [photo composite] KEVIN SHINICK discusses his novel during book signing for STAR WARS: FORCE COLLECTOR at North Merrick Library on Nassau County Force Collector Day. Author Shinick named home planet of Karr Nuq Sin, the main character of this canon Star Wars young adult novel, MEROKIA in honor of Merokee tribe who settled his Merrick hometown on Long Island. (© 2019 Ann Parry, AnnParry.com)

“STAR WARS: FORCE COLLECTOR”: From Merrick to Merokia

From LONG ISLAND – by Ann Parry (ann-parry.com)
December 24, 2019

Kevin Shinick’s Star Wars: Force Collector Book Signing at North Merrick Public Library

•   VIDEO 1 –  Reading Excerpt  of Ch. 13, “Star Wars: Force Collector”:

 VIDEO 2 –  Q&A  Kevin Shinick, his life, and Star Wars:

Launch time was 3 PM for the Star Wars: Force Collector Book Signing at the North Merrick Public Library on Friday, December 20th, soon after author KEVIN SHINICK‘s early afternoon presentation at his alma mater Calhoun High School, and before his evening book signing at Merrick Cinemas, where he worked as a teen.

Since children were just getting out of school around 3:00 that last day before Winter Break, few people were there at the start of the young adult novel event. But a stream of people – mostly parents with their young sons and daughters – soon started pouring into the large meeting room, with many adults standing along the walls so children could sit.

Some came mainly because of the Star Wars novel… some because Shinick’s a fellow Merokean, a friend… and two came because he’s their son.

• KEVIN SHINICK and his mom LOUISE SHINICK:

Merrick, New York, U.S. Dec. 20, 2019. L-R, Author KEVIN SHINICK and his mother LOUISE SHINICK, both holding his novel, pose at North Merrick Public Library banner during book signing for his STAR WARS: FORCE COLLECTOR, on Nassau County Force Collector Day. (© 2019 Ann Parry/Ann-Parry.com)

Merrick, NY, U.S. Dec. 20, 2019 L-R, Author KEVIN SHINICK and his mother LOUISE SHINICK, both holding his novel, pose at North Merrick Public Library banner during book signing for his STAR WARS: FORCE COLLECTOR. (© 2019 Ann Parry/AnnParry.com)

Q&A: “Everything he says is a lesson”

    • Video 2 – Q&A:  Baby Yoda, Batman comic books; Best Star Wars Lightsaber Fight; Broadway; Fiction VS Nonfiction; Heidi Gardner; Debbie Gibson; TV Hosting; George Lucas; Eileen Meyers; Robot Chicken; Ringwood, NJ; SNL; Spiderman, Star Wars…

During his animated Q&A, Kevin Shinick talked at length about writing the official canon Star Wars YA novel, Star Wars: Force Connector.

Shinick said, “Working with George Lucas – everything he says is a lesson.”

After the project got the green light, he stayed for a month at Skywalker Ranch, the California home and workplace of GEORGE LUCAS, the film writer, director and producer who created Star Wars.

Shinick was glad he stayed at Skywalker Ranch for a month, so he had a chance to ground himself being around Lucas.

“For the first two weeks I didn’t hear anything he said. I heard wonk wonk wonk wonk [as he repeated to himself] You made Star Wars. You made Star Wars.”

“George Lucas [is] an independent experimental film maker, and he takes chances. [….] He wasn’t doing something to make us love him. He was doing something to show us something we had never seen before.”

“It’s hard as an artist not to get beaten down. You’re doing it because you set an objective and you succeed at that objective.”

“With this book [“Star Wars: Force Collector”] I can find 10 people who love it and 10 people who hate it.”

“Star Wars, too, for some reason, there’s no middle ground. You either have to love it or hate it – there’s no middle ground.”

• KEVIN SHINICK with his childhood friend, pastry chef BRIAN FISHMAN:

Merrick, New York, U.S. December 20, 2019. L-R, Author KEVIN SHINICK and his childhood friend BRIAN FISHMAN hold up cake Fishman decorated with cover of Shinick's book STAR WARS: FORCE COLLECTOR during book signing at North Merrick Library on Nassau County Force Collector Day.(© 2019 Ann Parry/Ann-Parry.com)

Merrick, NY, U.S. Dec. 20, 2019. L-R, Author KEVIN SHINICK and his childhood friend BRIAN FISHMAN hold up cake Fishman decorated with cover of Shinick’s book STAR WARS: FORCE COLLECTOR during book signing at North Merrick Public Library.(© 2019 Ann Parry/AnnParry.com)

Shinick Rules

Shinick  shared a few of his life rules, wrapped in anecdotes often a bit humorous, self-deprecating – as in his Skywalker Ranch “wonk wonk wonk wonk” saga. Three of the rules he shared:

(1)  You’ve got to keep your community. You’ve got to keep people who support you, have your best interests in heart, who challenge you. People succeed in groups.”

(2)  “You have to know who you are.”
He wanted to be like Han Solo, but it’s his lot in life to know he’s more Luke Skywalker.

(3) 1st half: “Always go to the door that opens.”
He didn’t expect to be a host of “Where in Time is Carmen Sandiago?” but he took it when offered.

     2nd half:  “Don’t be afraid to shut that door.”
After “Where in Time…,” he “got a lot of hosting gigs.” Then one day – as he was driving to a meeting about an offer to host the show Extreme Gong – he had, as he looked back on it, a rather cinematic epiphany:

“I can’t do this,” [he thought to himself] and called my agent – no more hosting.” 

“Every time I did it, something was missing, and people weren’t looking at me as other things. I have to stop this.”

He added that he wasn’t negating hosting – it just wasn’t his dream.

After the book reading and signing, the strong affection and memories Shinick shared with many there at his hometown library burst into hyperdrive, with a force evaporating the time and space since they last met.

 
• TOM SHINICK suggested capturing a photo of his son KEVIN SHINICK with JAKE LEFEBURE, 10, an enthusiastic Star Wars fan (see Video 2 – Q&A):

Merrick, New York, U.S. December 20, 2019. L-R, JAKE LEFEBURE, 10, of West Babylon, holding signed book, and author KEVIN SHINICK, 50, strike funny pose at book signing for Shinick's STAR WARS: FORCE COLLECTOR at North Merrick Library on Nassau County Force Collector Day. Author Shinick named home planet of Karr Nuq Sin, the main character of this canon Star Wars young adult novel, MEROKIA in honor of Merokee tribe who settled his Merrick hometown on Long Island. (© 2019 Ann Parry/Ann-Parry.com)

Merrick, NY, U.S. Dec. 20, 2019. L-R, JAKE LEFEBURE, 10, of West Babylon, holding signed book, and author KEVIN SHINICK, 50, strike a pose at book signing for Shinick’s STAR WARS: FORCE COLLECTOR at North Merrick Library. (© 2019 Ann Parry/AnnParry.com)

“Star Wars: Force Collector”

KARR NUQ SIN, a teen who suffers from mysterious headaches, is the main character of Star Wars: Force Collector, a canon Star Wars young adult novel published by Disney Books.

Karr leaves his planet Merokia on a quest concerning the fabled Jedi and the Force. Karr travels with his friend MAIZE RAYNSHI and his droid RZ-7 (Arzee).

  • In VIDEO 1, Shinick reads a scene from Chapter 13, when Karr and RZ-7 go to a bar in a cantina on planet Oba Diah.

Shinick named Karr’s home planet MEROKIA in honor of the Meroke tribe who settled his Merrick hometown on Long Island, New York.

That was the main reason I looked forward to covering the event, held on what Nassau County Supervisor Laura Curran officially proclaimed Nassau County Force Collector Day.

Plus, there were similarities in our orbits, including that my younger daughter Laurie was a member of the Calhoun H. S. On Tour Company, under Director SAL SALERNO, about a dozen years after Kevin Shinick was.

In a more tenuous, colorful coincidence, my mom, MARY ANN PARRY, an opera singer, gave brief voice lessons to teen DEBBIE GIBSON, Shinick’s On Tour co-star in Fiddler on the Roof in the late 1980s.

• L-R, KEVIN SHINICK, CHRIS BARRON, and ANN PARRY after Shinick signs copies of his Star Wars novel. (please CONTACT ME if you know photographer’s name):

Merrick, New York, U.S. Dec. 20, 2019. L-R, Kevin Shinick, Chris Barron, and Ann Parry strike a pose at book signing for author Shinick's STAR WARS: FORCE COLLECTOR at North Merrick Library on Nassau County Force Collector Day. (© 2019 need photographer's name)

Merrick, NY, U.S. Dec. 20, 2019 L-R, Kevin Shinick, Chris Barron, and Ann Parry strike a pose at book signing for author Shinick’s STAR WARS: FORCE COLLECTOR at North Merrick Library on Nassau County Force Collector Day. (© 2019 need photographer’s name)


BIO –  Briefly, Kevin Shinick is a Broadway actor; a voice artist; a writer – for films, plays, TV shows, a Netflix comedy, Marvel and DC Comics, a children’s book (“Star Wars: Chewie and the Porgs“), and stop-motion series “Robot Chicken,” which he won Emmy for; a host for TV shows such as “Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?”; writer and director of Spider-Man Live!; the husband of producer Eileen Meyer; and dad of someone who isn’t (yet) a pilot.


• Baby Yoda says: “Winner You Are! Feel the Force -The Book, You Must Enjoy”:

Merrick, New York, U.S. Dec. 20, 2019. Boy holds his winning ticket, with picture of baby Yoda and'Winner You Are! Feel the Force' on it, at book signing for author Kevin Shinick's STAR WARS: FORCE COLLECTOR at North Merrick Library on Nassau County Force Collector Day. (© 2019 Ann Parry/Ann-Parry.com)

Merrick, NY, U.S. Dec. 20, 2019 Boy holds his winning ticket, with picture of baby Yoda and ‘Winner You Are! Feel the Force’ on it, at book signing for author Kevin Shinick’s STAR WARS: FORCE COLLECTOR at North Merrick Library. (© 2019 Ann Parry/AnnParry.com)


FEATURE PHOTO at top of post: Merrick, NY, U.S. Dec. 20, 2019. KEVIN SHINICK, shown in photo composite, discusses his novel during book signing for his STAR WARS: FORCE COLLECTOR at North Merrick Library on Nassau County Force Collector Day.


Kevin Shinick’s Star Wars: Force CollectorMY PHOTO GALLERY

VIDEO 1 – Reading: vimeo.com/annparry/readstarwars

VIDEO 2 – Q&A:  vimeo.com/annparry/starwarsshinick

Kevin Shinick:  facebook

Director Sal Salerno:  site

Sweet Karma Desserts:  facebook  •  site     

CONTACT ME

North Bellmore; New York; USA. March 14; 2018. Protesting gun violence, Mepham High School students walk out of class for 17 minutes; starting 10:00 am EST; one minute for each student shot and killed last month in a Parkland, Florida, H.S. It was part of a nationwide walkout in solidarity with student shooting victims, and a demand for U.S. laws to reduce gun violence.

Bellmore-Merrick Students Walkout to Protest Gun Violence: Déjà Vu

From LONG ISLAND – by Ann Parry (annparry.com)
March 14, 2018

Today, over a hundred Wellington C. Mepham High School students walked out of class from 10:00 to 10:17 AM, one month after a teen used a semi-automatic rifle to kill 17 students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas H. S. in Parkland, FLA.  

North Bellmore; NY; USA. March 14, 2018. Protesting gun violence, Mepham H. S. students walk out of class for 17 minutes; starting 10:00 AM; one minute for each student shot and killed last month at a Parkland, Florida, H.S. (© 2018 Ann Parry/Ann-Parry.com)

North Bellmore; NY; USA. March 14, 2018. Protesting gun violence, Mepham H. S. students walk out of class for 17 minutes; starting 10:00 AM; one minute for each student shot and killed last month at a high school in Parkland, Florida. (© 2018 Ann Parry/AnnParry.com)

2018 NATIONAL STUDENT WALKOUT: 17 MINUTES

Mepham’s walkout was part of a nationwide protest to show solidarity with student shooting victims, and to demand U.S. lawmakers enact regulations and laws to reduce gun violence.

By 9:45 AM, several Nassau County patrol cars were parked on Camp Avenue in front of Mepham. School administration had requested police “just in case.” But neither the officers nor the school security guard, standing a distance from the walkout, needed to interact with protestors.

North Bellmore; NY; USA. March 14, 2018. Security Guard in red jacket watches as Mepham High School students, protesting gun violence, walk out of class for 17 minutes; starting 10:00 am.  ( © 2018 Ann Parry/Ann-Parry.com)

North Bellmore; NY; USA. March 14, 2018. Security Guard in red jacket watches as Mepham High School students, protesting gun violence, walk out of class for 17 minutes; starting 10:00 am.  ( © 2018 Ann Parry/AnnParry.com)

Several adults drove or walked to Mepham and stopped to look at the protest held at the west side of the school building. The most visible focal point from the street was four students standing on a bench and holding up big handmade protest signs. 

North Bellmore; New York; USA. March 14; 2018. CRYSTAL PHOTIOU, of Bellmore, drove to Mepham to watch students walkout to protest gun violence.

[Photo digitally altered to remove color from car/driver] North Bellmore; NY; USA. March 14, 2018. CRYSTAL PHOTIOU, of Bellmore, drove to Mepham H. S. to watch students walkout to protest gun violence. (© 2018 Ann Parry/AnnParry.com)

CRYSTAL PHOTIOU, of Bellmore, stopped her car in front of Mepham to watch the protest. When asked why she was there this morning, Photiou said:

“I wanted to see the kids. I wanted to see our future. That’s why I came.
“We have to do this. We have to support them. Absolutely.”

Midway through the walkout, a car with a man and woman in it stopped in front of the school. The driver said they’d come from the student walkout at Calhoun High School – which, like Mepham, is in the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District. Smiling, she added there were so many students protesting outside Calhoun it looked like the whole school was participating in the walkout.

Déjà Vu:  VIETNAM WAR 50 YEARS AGO

The Vietnam War started not long after after I was born. By the late 1960’s, protests, notably including student protests, were helping turn public opinion against having American troops in Vietnam, which significantly helped lead to the withdrawal of our last troops by 1973.

I first began to understand the cost of the Vietnam War in 1968 when I was a junior at Calhoun High School. A military draft seemed guaranteed in the near future (in fact, the 1st draft lottery for Vietnam War was held Sept. 1969), and one of my closest friends, Tom, a senior, waited anxiously to find out if he was accepted into a military band, considered a safer assignment than the alternative.

My senior year, a small but earnest group of students held a walkout to protest U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. 

And in Calhoun’s Main Lobby, the plaque commemorating graduates who died serving in Vietnam had even more brass nameplates than expected for a school our size.

When I was an undergraduate student at SUNY New Paltz, Vietnam War protests were an inescapable part of life on campus, starting with the protest songs during Orientation Week concerts, just weeks after and 50 miles away from the Woodstock festival…  including a sit-in at the Administration Building around the time of the Kent State massacre, May 1970…  and continuing until our troops totally left Vietnam, shortly before I graduated.

North Bellmore; New York; USA. March 14; 2018. Protesting gun violence, Mepham H. S.  students walk out of class, as part of a nationwide walkout in solidarity with shooting victims, and a demand for U.S. laws to reduce gun violence. (© 2018 Ann Parry/Ann-Parry.com)

North Bellmore; NY; USA. March 14; 2018. Protesting gun violence, Mepham H. S. students walk out of class, as part of a nationwide walkout in solidarity with shooting victims, and a demand for U.S. laws to reduce gun violence. (© 2018 Ann Parry/AnnParry.com)

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Properly motivated lawmakers – who replace incumbents, when necessary – can pass regulations and laws that both keep Second Amendment rights intact and also help significantly reduce the amount of gun violence, which is significantly, outrageously worse here than in other countries.

Today’s National Student Walkout to Protest Gun Violence is a hopeful step in the right direction. On March 24th there’s the March for Our Lives Rally in Washington, DC, and local communities. After that it’s time for the next steps.  

#ENOUGH      #NeverAgain 


  • UPDATE  April 8, 2021 – President Biden announces new executive actions on gun control  CNN Politics

Protect Children, Not Guns:   ChildrensDefenseFund.org

Mepham Students Walkout:  my PHOTO GALLERY

CONTACT ME


Related posts:

    • 2018/08: Gov. Cuomo Endorses Liuba Grechen Shirley for Congress
    • 2018/04: Steve Israel Brings Out His BIG GUNS on Long Island
    • 2016/04: Hillary Clinton Panel on Gun Violence Prevention, Port Washington