Background

Brian James Heinz was born on November 1, 1946, in Brooklyn, New York, United States. He is a son of Howard Heinz, a truck driver and dispatcher, and Kathleen Heinz (maiden name Gerrity), a homemaker.

Education

Brian James Heinz developed a love for reading and the natural world at an early age. The boy was encouraged in his passion by parents who read him a lot or recited prayers in Gaelic.

Young Heinz swallowed the non-fiction stories about every living creature from a small bug to horse and adored to read about such historical figures as Davy Crockett and Crazy Horse.

Brian James Heinz studied at Suffolk County Community College which he finished in 1966. Then, he entered the State University of New York at Stony Brook where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1974. In a couple of years, he earned his Master of Library Science.

Career

Brian James Heinz collected a number of jobs before becoming an elementary school teacher and writer. He has worked in a supermarket dairy department and in construction, as a truck driver and a road laborer, surveyor, shipping clerk, and a guitarist in a rock band. Each of the activities provided him with a new experience.

In 1974, he occupied a post of an elementary school teacher at Middle Country School District. Four years later, he shifted to William Floyd School District where he began to teach science in elementary school.

From 1985 to 1995, the writer worked as a regional elementary science mentor for eastern Long Island at the New York State Department of Education. He has also served as an adjunct instructor at the Center for Science, Math, and Technology Education of the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

To develop the interest in nature and wildlife in his students as much as possible, he has used the experiences from his multiple travels. His research trips include such areas as the Rocky Mountains, the Cheyenne River Canyon, Canada, Ireland, Puerto Rico, and other places in the United States abroad.

Heinz sometimes writes absurdly funny books like The Monsters’ Test, in which a group of monsters comes together to determine which one of them is the scariest.

Brian Heinz is perhaps best known for his highly acclaimed book ‘The Wolves’ which provides historical information about wolves and looks at a wolf pack as it hunts an elk herd. He sometimes writes absurdly funny books like ‘The Monsters’ Test’, in which a group of monsters comes together to determine which one of them is the scariest.

In addition to teaching and his own publications, Heinz has contributed to many magazines focused on science and nature, including ‘Science and Children’, ‘Children's Writer’, and ‘Instructor’. He has also shared his experiences at various professional conferences.

Nowadays, Brian Heinz is living in Wading River, New York, United States.

Achievements

• Brian James Heinz is an accomplished writer and traveler whose children books on nature are praised both by the young readers and critics.
  
  In 1990, Heinz was named Elementary Science Teacher of the Year by the Suffolk County Science Teachers Association. He has been a recipient of such awards as Excellence in Science Teaching Award and International Board on Books for Young People Silver Medal for ‘Cheyenne Medicine Hat’. His ‘The Wolves’ was named Booklist Editor's Choice, ‘Butternut Hollow Pond’ was designated an Outstanding Children's Science Trade Book by the National Science Teachers Association/Children's Book Council. In 2007, Heinz’s ‘Red Fox at McCloskey's Farm’ received an honorable mention from ForeWord Book of the Year.

Works

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  • Kayuktuk: An Arctic Quest

    (Young Aknik embarks on a perilous quest across the Arctic...)

    1996
  • Nathan of Yesteryear And Michael of Today

    (Compares the life of Michael to that of Nathan – Michael'...)

    2006
  • The Wolves

    (Struggling for survival in their frozen homeland, Pahtoo ...)

    1996
  • Butternut Hollow Pond

    (Five vignettes, from dawn to midnight, present the dramat...)

    2000
  • Beachcraft Bonanza

    (The book suggests craft and art activities and nature stu...)

    1986
  • Cheyenne Medicine Hat

    (She was a Medicine Hat mustang, so named nearly two centu...)

    2000
  • The Great North Woods

    (In the northeastern region known as the Great North Woods...)

    2016
  • The Alley Cat

    (When the butcher's wife tosses a pork chop into the alley...)

    1993
  • The Barnyard Cat

    (Barnabus, a seemingly lazy cat by day, proves himself inv...)

    2000
  • Adirondack Lullaby

    (This beautifully illustrated board book will introduce yo...)

    2016
  • Beachcrafts, Too!

    (The book presents craft and art projects, games, and natu...)

    1988
  • Nanuk: Lord of the Ice

    (As a huge polar bear hunts seals and a walrus for food to...)

    1998
  • Red Fox at McCloskey's Farm

    (A classic conflict is given a classic treatment in Red Fo...)

    2006
  • The Monsters' Test

    (Goblins, ghosts, gargoyles, and other creepy creatures ha...)

    1996
  • A Coming of Winter in the Adirondacks

    (Winter is on its way and the High Peaks are in celebratio...)

    2011
  • Mocha Dick: The Legend and Fury 2014

Views

Quotations: "I am not one of those writers who write every day, but I think about writing every day. I’m forever churning up characters (usually animals), events, and settings in my mind’s eye, and letting them play out life on my mental stage. When the idea can no longer be carried in my head, it pours out onto pa¬per. I often use poetic devices in my prose and select sensory details that will allow my readers to connect with, and experience, the story first-hand in a sort of ‘you are there’ way."

"I often travel to the environments I write about, to see the animals in their natural habitat. It's important for me to experience, first-hand, my settings, to write from the heart and provide rich sensory details that allow readers to feel as if they themselves are there. My books create a strong sense of place."

"I want my books to be enjoyable, exciting, and memorable. And I also want to impart some knowledge. I do not try to write with a gimmick in mind, or for a trend. I write about what moves me deeply or excites my imagination. I work for carefully selected words, rich use of language, and passion in my writing. The revision process is sometimes painstakingly slow, but vital to a final piece that sparkles on the page and echoes in the mind’s ear long after it has been read."

Membership

Brian James Heinz has been a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, the World Wildlife Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Defenders of Wildlife, the Science Teachers Association of New York State, the New York State Marine Education Association, and the Suffolk County Science Teachers Association.

Personality

Brian James Heinz is an avid traveler and sports practitioner. Searching for new experiences, accompanied by his wife, he has traveled across the United States, Canada. Ireland, and other countries. They both enjoy camping, hiking, boating during their common trips. Other hobbies of Heinz and his wife include gardening and looking after their dogs and birds.

Besides, Heinz makes wooden ship models and loves to restoring antique furniture.

From time to time, the writer takes part at regional competitions of Scottish highland dancing from Canada to Virginia where he has earned about sixty medals and trophies.

Interests

• traveling, reading, photography, plank-on-frame ship modeling, restoring antique furniture, fishing, gardening, Native American art

• Sport & Clubs

  softball, cross-country skiing, camping, hiking, riding, boating, kayaking

Connections

Brian James Heinz married Judy Louise Candelora, a kindergarten teacher on June 27, 1987.

Father:

Howard Heinz

Mother:

Kathleen Heinz

Spouse:

Judy Louise Candelora

References

• Brian Heinz Website