Jo Ann Zueckert wrote a book in one day. Thirty-six years later, she became an overnight success.
Zueckert woke up on Oct. 13, 1972, with the idea for a children’s book running through her head. She finished the words in one sitting, the illustrations shortly thereafter and thus “Fisherman’s Dream” was born.
The problem? After one rejection slip, Zuckert was just too busy with life to focus on finding a publisher for her book. The mother of three and grandmother of two was a stay-at-home mom until her youngest girl turned 13. At that point, she began working as a maid in a motel to help with family expenses. Eventually, Zueckert became the bookkeeper at the same motel before retiring to focus on her more creative endeavors. In addition to writing, Zueckert has dabbled in painting, arts-and-crafts and has even scaled all 46 of the major peaks of the Adirondacks (each of which is more than 4,000 feet high). But even with all these activities on her plate, Zueckert never lost sight of an old dream.
“I read the book “The Success Principles” by Jack Canfield,” said Zueckert, a longtime Poughkeepsie resident who currently works part-time with elderly people at The Manor at Woodside. “One of the things he said over and over was that you should always keep trying to achieve your dreams. Well, my dream was in a drawer.”
Released in September through AuthorHouse, a national company that guides writers through the process of self-publishing, “Fisherman’s Dream” is written entirely in verse and is the story of a persistent fisherman who dreams of catching “the big one.” After enduring several disappointments, he finally gets his fish. Zueckert said that her tale is meant to inspire children to believe they can do anything they set their minds to, a value she preached to her own children.
“The most important thing in my life is children,” said Zueckert, who read her book aloud – well before it was published – to her children and grandchildren as well as the children she babysat throughout her life. “And I’ve always loved poetry. Things just pop into my head and I write them down.”
Keryl Pesce, Jo Ann’s daughter, thinks her mother might be acting just a tad too modestly.
“She is an amazing person and mother,” said Pesce, a writer and motivational speaker. “But she’s always been a little bit shy and introverted. I think she’s just gotten to a point in her life where she’s getting the gumption up to finish the things she’s always wanted to do.”
Zueckert estimates that she has sold approximately 40 copies of “Fisherman’s Dream through personal orders, though she doesn’t know how many have been sold online. She is thrilled, though, with the response she has received from those who have ordered and read her book.
“Everybody who gets their hands on it just seems to love it,” she gushed.
Zueckert said that she wants to continue to write and publish through AuthourHouse, though there are some time considerations.
“I’d like to (publish again) in my spare time, which still isn’t much,” she said. “I’m also thinking of trying to go to some elementary schools to do some book signings, to see if maybe I can get it into some school libraries in the area.”
And while Zueckert’s own children and grandchildren might have outgrown “Fisherman’s Dream,” there is one thing they can count on in the coming months.
“They will all be getting a copy for Christmas,” she laughed.
“Fisherman’s Dream” can be purchased online at AuthorHouse.com or Amazon.com. For an autographed copy, contact Zueckert directly at 462-4472. Ten percent of profits will be donated to a variety of children’s charitable organizations, including the Make-a-Wish Foundation and Pinwheel Project.