In memory of author, Sarah Schwarcz

I didn’t know it was possible to feel such tremendous grief for someone that I never had the opportunity to meet in person. I invite you to read this post filled with stories and photos as I work through my own grief to honor an amazing woman who passed away last week.

In 2021, I attended my first writing conference. It was 2021, so it was virtual. I had the opportunity to meet Sarah Schwarcz. We ended up in a small breakout session with publisher, Maria Dismondy, and future author friend, Valerie Goldstein.

In the breakout session, we listened to Maria give great advice and had the opportunity to share what we were working on. I learned about Sarah’s memoir Pearls and Knots: Dancing on a String from the Mississippi to Lake Michigan. I learned about her family, her work as an educator and principal and enjoyed her poetry that was sprinkled in throughout her story. Here is what I shared about her memoir after reading it:

We continued to exchange encouraging messages to one another via Instagram and Facebook. She was working on a middle grade novel, Game Over, ShrinkWithers! and asked my son to be a beta reader for her. He gave feedback and then we had the opportunity to read an advanced copy. Sarah shared the cover with me, which was created by one of her granddaughters, before it had the title or her name. I took a video when I showed my son and simply asked, “Tell me what you think of this picture or what it is from…” It took a few seconds until his face lit up and he said, “It’s from the Shrinkwithers book…it looks amazing!” I sent the video to her and she said how much joy it brought to her project. During her virtual launch, my kids were on the call and able to talk to her and give her compliments for a story they truly enjoyed.

A few months later, my own story launched. She had been a true cheerleader for kindness in general and The Kindness Machine. She sent me an early congratulations, good luck for my first on air interview (which she knew I was SWEATING over) and then joined my virtual launch. She ended up sharing extra motivating and kind words which choked me up.

She would often send me messages when she found something related to kindness or education. She was the queen of using the following emojis: red hearts, red balloons and happy faces. I recently reread all of the messages we had sent one another over the past three years and ended up in a puddle of tears. I felt so sad, but also so thankful to have had so many positive comments and genuine support over the past few years.

In January of 2024, I wrote how I had big writing goals. She saw the post and sent me the following message:

She gave me the permission to be selfish, in order to write my own stories. I took her message and it ended up on my first ever vision board for this year.

Back in April of this year, I had a strange feeling. Sarah kept popping into my head. I realized it had been a few weeks since I had received a positive comment or had seen something from her on Instagram. Upon doing a little Facebook investigating, I saw a post from her daughter that she had had a small stroke. Her daughter was lovely and shared more information and an address so our writing group could send her cards, well wishes and prayers.

I was cleaning up my website and happened to click on a blog post I wrote a few years ago. It was about my husband, who illustrated The Kindness Machine, got in trouble as a child for doodling. She commented on the post that she could see “The Classroom Doodler” as a future picture book. I am happy to say that last month, I sat down and wrote a very rough draft with this concept…and I wrote it through tears as I thought of Sarah, still in rehab at that point. I look forward to working on this story in her honor.

I only knew Sarah for three years and she had an incredible impact on me. To anyone who was lucky enough to cross paths with this strong, inspiring woman, consider yourself blessed. To anyone who did not have the pleasure, I invite you to check out her memoir and/or middle grade novel to allow her legacy to live on through her words.

Memoir: Pearls and Knots: Dancing on a String from the Mississippi to Lake Michigan
Middle Grade Novel: Game Over, ShrinkWithers!