Henry Rozcyki
Henry Rozcyki: I wrote a two-act play, a book for a musical and a novel before finishing high school. They are memories now; thankfully, none of their pages exist.
When I started at McGill University in Montreal, I was thinking of journalism. My father's advice was precise, and cruel. "You should train for a job that will always exist, no matter what happens. Besides, maybe your writing isn't that good."
So I became a doctor and have had a satisfying career as a neonatologist. I am also a husband and father, the happiest roles of all.
Eventually, I decided to ignore my father and learn the discipline and craft of writing. On these pages are links to some of the available essays and stories by which, as their quality indicate, I have practiced and learned.
When Mr. Slater, my 11th grade English teacher at Newton South High School, assigned All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren, I told him that I had already read it and maybe I could select a different book. He said no, and proceeded to open my eyes to what the novel could do - symbolism, foreshadowing, character arc, tragedy where I had only seen plot. I appreciate the challenge, precision and artistry of the short story, but I love the novel.
Now, after 2 years of research, 4 years of writing and 2+ of editing, I have one of my own. Walk the Earth as Brothers is the story of how two individuals struggle to survive the titanic events of World War 2, and how that changes them and their children.
Instagram: @henryrozyckiwrites
Twitter/X: @hjrozycki
TikTok: @henryrozyckiwrites
1. Are there particular films that have influenced your writing?
Field of Dreams and The Godfather Parts 1-3. For the most part, we are the products of our parents. To understand ourselves as men, or to try and define a path to escape from the kind of man we are but don't want to be, we must come to an understanding of who our fathers were and what we inherited from them, genetically but more importantly in temperament, outlook, habits, world view. Most of what I have written has been about the adult peeling away layers to discover that what was underneath was laid down when they were very young.
2. Is your go to comfort food sweet or savory? Is it something you make yourself? Does food inspire your writing?
I eat my comfort food in my memory. It's things I loved from before I moved away and started eating more widely. I love pad thai and sushi and hummus and ... but I daydream about Montreal bagels and smoked meat sandwiches from shops that no longer exist. Food does not directly inspire my writing but the act of remembering the sensory details involve many of the same skills used to imagine scenes in a novel.
3. Is there another profession you would like to try?
I had already started my medical school applications when I happened to visit Cambridge University. I extended my stay until the admissions office opened so I could apply for a modern history degree, and become a history professor. Alas, it was medicine and not history that answered.
4. What piece of clothing tells the most interesting story about your life?
My Jeopardy! hat, which was in my bag of consolation prizes after I taped 3 episodes of the TV quiz show in 2021. I watched the original show with Art Fleming back in the 1960's, dreamed of being on for decades and got to fulfill my dream!
5. Vacation druthers… City or Rural destination? Why?
City - nature is beautiful but doesn't excite me the way a city does. They are all different, in my experience, even within countries. If someone plunked me down in Spain, I would know fairly quickly if I was in Madrid or Barcelona or Seville, say.
Brief Author Bio
I wrote a two-act play, a book for a musical, and a novel before finishing high school. They are memories now; thankfully, none of their pages exist. Journalism was my plan, but for a number of reasons, some noble, some practical, and some a little cowardly, I changed directions. I am proud of my forty years in medicine. The only things better have been being a father and a husband.
A dozen years ago, I started writing again. A couple of short essays made it into the New York Times and several short stories were published in online journals. In 2015 I started a novel. Walk the Earth as Brothers is now as finished as any of these ever are. I am into the second and thinking about the third. I need to work a little faster, though. If I take the same time with numbers two and three, I will be in my mid eighties before that last one is published.
