BIO

Mindy Schneider has written for television and her writing was included in LIFE'S A STITCH, an anthology of contemporary humor by women. She lives in Los Angeles, and has never had a cavity.

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AUTHOR TALK

June 15, 2007

Mindy Schneider's first book, NOT A HAPPY CAMPER, is a humorous account of one unforgettable summer she spent at a sleepaway camp in the backwoods of Maine. In this interview, Schneider describes what inspired her to capture her momentous and unconventional experiences in a memoir and reminisces about some of her best and worst memories of the 1970s. She also explains how her past career as a sitcom writer helped to shape her book and discusses the various projects and hobbies she has taken on working for the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.

Question: What made you decide to write NOT A HAPPY CAMPER?

Mindy Schneider: Most of my friends are writers and for years, whenever I’d tell stories about my camp, they’d say, “You really need to write that down,” which was intimidating because I only knew how to write sitcom scripts. One friend, Howard Nemetz, was particularly adamant, so I thanked him by naming a character on page 229 after him. Of course, now that it’s done, I’m wondering if my friends really wanted me to write it all down or if they were just trying to get me to stop telling them my stories.

Q: Were you secretly taking notes when you were at camp all those years ago?

MS: As a camper, I always thought that being a counselor would be the coolest thing in the world. Then, in my last summer before going to college, I realized there was nothing better than being in the oldest bunk. (I’d gotten my driver’s license only four days before heading up there, but I spent most of those eight weeks driving the Valiant around the lake in the middle of the night, running a shuttle service for kids going on raids.) In answer to the question, I didn’t take notes when I was there, but when I knew I wouldn’t be coming back, I started taking photos, like I was trying to capture something. A lot of those snapshots ended up in this book, but I have hardly any of myself at camp. As an observer, it rarely occurred to me to be in them.

Q: Do you still keep in touch with your camp friends? And if so, have they read the book yet and what do they think?

MS: There was a 75-year reunion held in April of 1997 and that’s what put me back in touch with a lot of fellow alumni and made me think it was time to write a book. After taking a number of essay and memoir writing classes at UCLA Extension and joining various writing workshops, I got up the nerve to call people from camp and interview them over the phone. It was very scary. I was this geeky kid all over again, calling up the cool kids and the older kids, and asking them to let me play with them. The information I got was great, filled in a lot of holes, and I learned some stuff I never knew about, like the fact that some of our camp food came from train wrecks. I started writing bits and pieces in 2001. A few friends from camp read early drafts and their positive feedback kept me going. And apparently I haven’t offended anyone, which is a relief.

Q: You were a sitcom writer in a past career. How did that experience help you to write NOT A HAPPY CAMPER?

MS: In sitcoms, you have a very short time to tell a complete story with a beginning, middle and end, and a main character that goes through some sort of transformation. I think I learned how to be succinct and how to fit in the jokes without stepping all over the story. One writer I worked with told me that my writing was “very visual,” so maybe I wrote really good stage directions. In any case, it probably helped me in writing a book. I also learned that I don’t care for humor based on cruelty at someone else’s expense; I like it when the comedy comes naturally from the characters’ interaction. I think my dream job would’ve been writing for "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", but I was 10 and I didn’t know how to type yet.
 
Q: What was the hardest part of writing this book?

MS: Coming up with a title. It was really annoying, but I just couldn’t find what I was looking for. Some rejected titles include: BUNKS, TRUNKS, NAME TAGS & DUFFEL BAGS; OF MOOSE AND MAINE; and LITTLE BUNK BY THE CESSPOOL. For lack of anything better, I submitted it as not a happy camper and it seemed to click with everyone.

Q: This book is set in 1974. What do you miss most about the 1970s?

MS: I had this torn pair of jeans that I patched with zippers and pockets and various bits from another pair of jeans, and then I added these iron-on patches of the Harlem Globetrotters I’d gotten as a prize in a box of cereal. Even though I couldn’t sew (still can’t), the pants looked really, really cool when I was done. Too cool. I got up the nerve to wear them only once, to flag-raising one morning on Girls’ Side. A really cool camper came up and complimented me, but I never had the nerve to wear them again. I miss those jeans. I regret that I didn’t wear them more often and I regret that if I still had them today, they’d be way too small on me.
 
Q: What do you miss least about the 1970s?

MS: My original nose and the constant anxiety over whether or not I’d get to be a professional writer when I grew up.

Q: Do you see the book becoming a movie? And who would you want to play you?

MS: Of course I want it to be a movie, but I want them to change the main character’s name. There’s no way I’m going to sit through a movie about some girl named Mindy Schneider seeking her first kiss. Oh my God.
 
I have no idea who would play me. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. I think my mother is expecting to play herself.

Q: You now work for the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation & Parks --- what’s that like and how has it affected you?

MS: My job consists of a lot of paperwork punctuated by sports and other activities. The best thing about it, in addition to the free health insurance, is that it led me to my current volunteer work. The first park I worked at was at the beach and had no sports facilities, so I spent a year and-a-half booking weddings in a banquet hall and I started up a memoir-writing class for senior citizens. After I transferred to a sports center, I kept up the writing class as a volunteer. We meet at someone’s house about every 8 weeks or so for a pot luck meal and a chance to read aloud. Several members of the group have had their work published in local newspapers.

Also, there always seem to be lost and abandoned dogs turning up in city parks. At first I’d call shelters and rescue groups to take them if I couldn’t locate the dog’s owner, but I found myself feeling personally responsible for the animals and knew I had to do more. After fifteen years of playing softball on Sundays, I quit to join volunteer groups that place dogs stuck in city shelters. I am now a proud member of this wonderful sub-culture of (somewhat nutty, mostly middle-aged) women obsessed with saving house pets. And also, I got asked right away onto a co-ed Monday night softball team, so really no great sacrifice there.

Q: Are you working on a new book?

MS: I have this idea for a book about a former sitcom writer who goes to work for Recreation & Parks… It’s completely fictional.

© Copyright 2007, Mindy Schneider. All rights reserved.

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