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Retired teacher and educator George Clark of Marion spent much of his career observing youth grappling with problems in their lives and trying to figure out ways to provide comfort.
He is spending his retirement years in the children's book business hoping his books can be of aid to young people providing character education.
Harrisburg District Library is hosting a book signing for Clark's first book "My Dog Butch" 1 p.m. Saturday. It is Clark's hope the book may be used in schools as a tool to teach concepts like forgiveness, sharing, responsibility and coping with loss.
Clark said he was first aware of a need to deal with loss when a little girl came into his office in Florida. He was an elementary guidance counselor.
"She told me her father died two days before. The little girl sat down. I said, 'Would you like to talk about it?' She said, 'Oh, no. My Daddy's in heaven.' She had no tears," Clark said.
In a couple of weeks Clark saw the girl crying.
"She said, 'My daddy is dead and I'll never see him again,'" Clark said.
"The only thing I could do was put a hand on her shoulder and said, 'Mrs. Thompson loves you very much and she is here for you,' and said, 'Mr. Clark loves you very much and he is here for you.' You have to reassure them there are people around them to support them."
In his book a dog named Butch dies. Each member of the family is in tears as they bury the dog.
"In the last scene the family is grieving over the dog being buried and say, 'It was time to let Butch's body rest forever and hurt no more,'" Clark said.
The next scene shows Butch in the sky asking the family to take comfort, that he is no longer sick and will remain in their hearts forever.
"The message I'm trying to tell children is when you lose someone, whether it's a pet, family member, a friend, crying is understandable, but it is the body that's resting. They are not hurting any more, they are in a better place and are in our hearts forever," Clark said.
The book includes a list of questions at the end to foster discussion.
Retired teacher and educator George Clark of Marion spent much of his career observing youth grappling with problems in their lives and trying to figure out ways to provide comfort.
He is spending his retirement years in the children's book business hoping his books can be of aid to young people providing character education.
Harrisburg District Library is hosting a book signing for Clark's first book "My Dog Butch" 1 p.m. Saturday. It is Clark's hope the book may be used in schools as a tool to teach concepts like forgiveness, sharing, responsibility and coping with loss.
Clark said he was first aware of a need to deal with loss when a little girl came into his office in Florida. He was an elementary guidance counselor.
"She told me her father died two days before. The little girl sat down. I said, 'Would you like to talk about it?' She said, 'Oh, no. My Daddy's in heaven.' She had no tears," Clark said.
In a couple of weeks Clark saw the girl crying.
"She said, 'My daddy is dead and I'll never see him again,'" Clark said.
"The only thing I could do was put a hand on her shoulder and said, 'Mrs. Thompson loves you very much and she is here for you,' and said, 'Mr. Clark loves you very much and he is here for you.' You have to reassure them there are people around them to support them."
In his book a dog named Butch dies. Each member of the family is in tears as they bury the dog.
"In the last scene the family is grieving over the dog being buried and say, 'It was time to let Butch's body rest forever and hurt no more,'" Clark said.
The next scene shows Butch in the sky asking the family to take comfort, that he is no longer sick and will remain in their hearts forever.
"The message I'm trying to tell children is when you lose someone, whether it's a pet, family member, a friend, crying is understandable, but it is the body that's resting. They are not hurting any more, they are in a better place and are in our hearts forever," Clark said.
The book includes a list of questions at the end to foster discussion.
Clark is working on his second book through his Marion-based 4 Kids Publishing, Inc.
Butch was Clark's family dog and 29 years later he becomes emotional recalling the veterinarian putting the Boston terrier down. He decided he would not buy another dog, but then he found a rare white and red Boston terrier and could not resist.
Clark named the new dog Buster and is basing his next book on Buster's experiences at obedience school.
Through Buster, Clark hopes to address topics such as bullying and taking items that belong to others.
"My Dog Butch" is available at Book Emporium in Harrisburg and through the Web site 4kidspublishing.com
- DeNeal receives e-mail at bdeneal@yourclearwave.com.
