*Gulflive.com/Feb 26, 2016 (e version of the Mississippi Press Newspaper
*This article will also appear in print, Sunday Feb 28
Former OS superintendent Robert Hirsch makes successful transition from educator to author
Former Ocean Springs school superintendent Robert Hirsch, on the heels of the success of his first book in 2012, has released the first in a series of five-books through Argus Publishing. (Courtesy photo)
By Joanne Anderson
on February 26, 2016 at 11:30 AM, updated February 26, 2016 at 1:11 PM
OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi — One would think after 40 years in education former Ocean Springs school superintendent Robert Hirsch would be content to rest on his laurels in retirement.
Not so with the hyper-energetic Hirsch.
Since his retirement in 2012, Hirsch has had the time to pursue his passion for writing and hone his craft. The result is more than 3,000 pages divided into five novels taking readers back to the dark world of the First Crusade. The series is called “Dark Ages Saga of Tristan de Saint-Germain.”
Inspired by the adversities and complexities of his past to create a compelling series of historical fiction set in the 11th Century, Hirsch has crafted a five-book series, the first of which went on sale this week from Argus Publishing.
Since the news broke of the first book, Hirsch said he has had more than 400 comments and positive responses on social media. He just learned on Thursday the publisher is taking his work to Book Expos in Chicago, Orlando, Frankfurt, Germany and Beijing, China, the latter being the largest book expo in the world.
The first, “Promise of the Black Monks,” will be followed by “Hammer of God,” “A Horde of Fools,” “God’s Scarlet Fury,” and “Cup of Blood… Bread of Salvation.” The saga follows the life of a young man who is predestined to be the catalyst of war, is torn between his heart and the church — one he knows to be his true love and the other a farce.
The work was not easy and as Hirsch describes it was created “after three years of near seclusion, all-nighters and exhaustive, intensive research.” He read 50 books and countless articles.
A history major in college who was fascinated by the Dark Ages, Hirsch said, “I am proud of the historical accuracy. I have lived in the 11th Century the past three years.”
His regimen was working all night, staying up in the morning to have coffee with his wife, Melissa, who teaches English at Ocean Springs High School, then sleeping all day — reversal of his schedule from his days as an educator.
In the beginning he only planned to write one book of about 200-300 pages.
“I kept going though to be where I wanted, got up to 3,000 pages, and broke it into five books,” Hirsch said. “I wrote it so each is a stand-alone book. You don’t have to read them in order.”
In “Promise of the Black Monks,” the fate of seven-year-old Tristan de Saint-Germain, who was born of nobility in France in the year 1066, is thrown to the winds upon the execution of his father for treason against William the Conqueror of Normandy.
Robert Hirsch during a book signing after the release of his first novel, “Contrition,” in 2012.Courtesy photo
Then, abandoned by his mother who remarries and departs for England, Tristan and his four-year-old brother find themselves thrown into the monastic world of the Benedictine Black Monks of Cluny, France.
Under the tutelage of Grand Prior Odo de Lagery , who one day will ascend to the very pinnacle of power within the Catholic Church in Rome, Tristan develops into an academic and linguistic prodigy by the age of 12 and becomes known as the “Promise of the Black Monks.”
As Hirsch’s story continues, Tristan’s unusual talents become useful to the Benedictines as well as to Rome, and the boy soon finds himself pulled into the visceral power struggle between Pope Gregory VII and Emperor Heinrich IV as they mercilessly wage spiritual, political and military war upon each other to claim supremacy over the continent of Europe.
Hirsch was shaped by a broad upbringing. He was born in Korea in 1949 but sent at age five, by his Korean, Buddhist mother, to his biological American father (an Army captain) in the United States. This was at the end of the Korean War.
“Post-war Korea was a land of starvation, abject poverty, and political uncertainty, and children of mixed birth were socially shunned,” Hirsch said.
At age 12, he gained American citizenship after traveling extensively throughout the United States and Europe. In 1962, he was enrolled in a French lycée (grades 8-10), although he could not speak French in the beginning.
When he was 45, through chance, he reunited with his mother after a separation of 40 years, sharing many visits before her death in 2010.
The turbulence and circumstances of his upbringing have greatly impacted his perceptions of race, nationality and culture, as well as the themes of his writing.
“We are each and every one, without exception, caught in sweeping currents of time and circumstance that far outweigh our feeble capacity to repel,” says Hirsch, “thus the woe of the human condition, thus the subject of my writing: historical fiction that delves into the human heart and its enduring struggle to… keep hope alive.”
Since retiring as Ocean Springs superintendent, he has become involved in public speaking, educational consulting and community service.
Hersch’s debut novel, “Contrition,” was published in 2012 by JournalStone. It is a murder mystery with a touch of the supernatural.
“Unlike this first novel, “Promise of the Black Monks” is serious historical fiction and an epic,” he said. “I am exhausted.”
Hirsch shared with his Facebook friends: “People say I think and dwell in the abstract too much, and have too much in my head and on my tongue. Yes — and I’ve put it all in this novel.”
What is next for Hirsch?
“I probably will continue with the story into the Second Crusades, if I live that long.”
“Promise of the Black Monks” is dedicated to teachers, with an acknowledgement by Dr. Charles Smith, Hirsch’s college history professor at Cameron College in Oklahoma.
The book is available in paperback and as an e-book online at sites like amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. Hard copy is $17.99 at the latter and e-version is $4.99. Book signings will be scheduled along the Gulf Coast for the 558-page work.
