My Floating Grandmother

by Gerald Schnitzer

Panic was a permanent guest in the Schnitzer's home in the 1920s. They celebrated life, but never celebrated in moderation. Thanks to Gerald's grandmother acting as a traffic cop on an emotional oasis, order was restored. Before her death, Grandma Sarah discovered the calming waters off Coney Island. She never learned to swim, not a stroke, but she could float, sometimes out of sight of land - but that's another story. Join Gerald Schnitzer in the novelized memoir, My Floating Grandmother. About the Author A retired film director and screen writer, Gerald Schnitzer was born and raised in Brooklyn in the 1920s and early 30s, He attended Erasmus Hall High and The Peddie School, graduating Dartmouth College in 1940. Following his service inWW2 as a 2nd Lieutenant, attached to a French Cadet Air Crew Training Unit, he began his professional career as a writer and director in Hollywood. He retains his membership in Writers Guild of America and Directors Guild of America. He continues his writing, publishing short stories in national magazines. His Polaroid art work was exhibited internationally. He owned and operated Gerald Schnitzer Productions for twenty years. He was awarded several Gran Prix for his commercials for Kodak, Chevrolet and Clairol. Feature film Sail to Glory, The Naked, Doomtown, Kid Dynamite, Bowery Boys, Jinx Money, The Corpse Vanishes; TV segment of Lassie and National Velvet. He directed Buster Keaton, Emmet Kelly,Robert Stack, Linda Evans, Phil Silvers, Jan Clayton, Jean Lockhart, Pops Fiedler,Lorne Greene, Arnold Palmer, Imogene Coco, Bela Lugosi, Andy Griffith, Don Knotts and Albert Brooks. He gained notoriety in the world of TV advertising in the late 50s by "his humanizing the commercial." - creating the so-called, "Kodak Moment." In his best seller, "The Fifties", David Halberstam ". . . Mr. Schnitzer's innovative, humanistic approach to his arresting films in some way reflected the sense of American life. They were the work of an original and very gifted man."

284 pages, Paperback

First published June 17, 2011

Reviews

[Kori Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an entertaining series of short stories about Gerald Schnitzer's family, and what it was like for him growing up in New York during the 20's. One of my favorite stories is about how he and other boys earned money delivering phone messages ... on skates! Why is this funny? Can you imagine going up a four or six-story walk-up in skates? how about coming down?

It's not an "all or nothing" book. You can read it out of order. You can set it down, and return to read another adventure later.

In Mr. Schnitzer's "Final Thoughts," questionnaire, I asked, "What book do you think should be made into a movie, but hasn't?" He said, ... go to http://backporchwriter.wordpress.com to find out!

You can listen to the archived interview at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/backporc....

[Lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

My Floating Grandmother is somewhere between a collection of short stories and a full-length novel. Some chapters flow into each other, while others are stand-alone stories. Another reviewer suggested that it was possible to read chapters out of order, but I would suggest to read straight through, as stories build on each other. A lot of the dialogue is written in accent and dialect, which gives a real flavor to NYC in the late 1920s. I wish the author had chosen to add dates or his ages during some of the stories, as I was confused about the chronology at certain points.

[Iffet Burton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Found its use of phonetic spelling very difficult as lots of cultural and colloquial vocabulary is not known to everyone. Good as a way to get students who struggle with spelling into reading but requires a bit of study by the teacher first!