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Inspiring squirrel leads 86-year-old to write children's book

 
Henrietta Moricz, 86, holds a copy of her children’s book, Skippy. The squirrel, which she photographed, inspired her novel when she peeked out of her Hawthorne Village window.
Henrietta Moricz, 86, holds a copy of her children’s book, Skippy. The squirrel, which she photographed, inspired her novel when she peeked out of her Hawthorne Village window.
Published June 11, 2015

BRANDON — As Henrietta Moricz ate cheese crackers and gazed out the window of her Hawthorne Village residence, inspiration hit.

Among a few empty bird feeders, the 86-year-old spotted a voracious squirrel and decided to share her snack.

"I gave him a bite, then he looked up at me like, 'Come on, lady, where's another one?' "

That's when Moricz decided to put herself in the mindset of the ravenous rodent. She reached for a pen and a pad of paper.

Eight months later, Moricz was the proud, published author of a children's book called Skippy, which teaches a lesson in sharing.

Vernon Zeger, Hawthorne Village's executive director, said he thinks this is a first for the assisted living facility.

"It's amazing," he said. "We read it at a morning meeting. It's perfect for kids."

Skippy may be her debut, but Moricz already has more manuscripts in the publishing pipeline. Her second book about a playful mouse named Chester is at the publisher. She hopes to follow it with books about a little rabbit and Toby the turtle.

"I'm more excited about these last couple of books than I am Skippy," she said. "I just wanted the little kids to love it, and they all do."

Moricz has enjoyed writing since she worked as a 19-year-old script writer for a Manhattan radio station, and she is equally adept at verbal storytelling. Sitting in a wheelchair because of a condition called foot drop that doesn't allow her to stand on her 4-foot-9 frame, she waxes poetic on myriad topics.

The mother of three daughters, Brenda, Bonnie and Ellie, whom she lived with for 26 years and who helped run her local real estate company, moved to Brandon in 1958. That's when her mother — Edna Chiasson, a professional wrestler known as the Canadian Terror who rode motorcycles and played the church organ — relocated the family from New York.

Moricz, who is among a half-dozen founders of the Brandon Seventh-day Adventist Church, also knows how to name drop.

She met Garth Brooks "before he was famous" and started a fan club. She penned a creative piece of memorabilia for singer Billy Joe Royal. And she even wrote a letter — and received a response — to Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf when he was stationed at MacDill.

But she said her favorite celebrity is former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz, who was elected into the Hall of Fame this year. She has a "shrine" of hats, newspaper clippings and collectibles in her closet of the man who called her between games in 1999 when she was battling cancer in her kidney and then again on her birthday.

When she's not in full storytelling mode, Moricz enjoys cooking (her biscuits have won first place at the Strawberry Festival), rooting on NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski (who helped her win a fantasy pool last season) and performing years of marriages as a notary public (including one at Hawthorne Village).

"She is amazing," Ellie Lambert, her daughter, said. "It was really hard for me to accept when she broke her hip and we almost lost her. She has taken what seems like a negative situation and has totally turned it around."

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Moricz is considering publishing a first-person comedy based on her life at Hawthorne Village called Happenings at Shady Grove, which she said she wrote when she was in a funny mood. Perhaps one day soon, she'll share her hilarious takes on rum and Cokes, gambling, sex machines and golden bedpans at "Shady Grove."

"My mind has always got to do something," she said. "Otherwise, I get bored."

Contact Eric Vician at ericvician@yahoo.com.