In Case You Missed It: When trying to illustrate societal issues "Squirrels are 'in'"

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Honestly, I never thought this could happen to me. Since I am a superstitious author, I never talk out loud about my ideas before I file a copyright of the first draft. Still - the other day, the following occurred.

I was working on finding out if my just released fable "Are We Nuts?" is suitable for American classrooms. The question is complicated by the fact that different schools teach different curricula. So, I was looking for teachers who might want to help me.

My book "Are We Nuts?" is a fable telling of a squirrel society that mirrors our own.

*

In "a nutshell":
After "the Great Disastrous Flood" wipes out humans, squirrel influencers George Squirrelton and Benjamin Franknut convince the surviving squirrels to form the Sciurus States, along the Eastern Seaboard.

A few generations later, some squirrels begin to notice problems:

• tribe council members' straying from the Sciurus States' founding principles, 
• efforts to use technological advancements solely for financial gains, and
• secretive activities at the capital's "Brainhub."

Obviously, I was inspired by Orwell's concept, "To better understand what's happening, let's not talk about people but about fictitious animals."

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Pursuing my quest to find teachers who would tell me if this book "is suitable for the classroom" and, if so, for which grade level, I got a totally surprising response from a teacher in California.

"... would love to check out your book. As a side note, are you aware of the new play, The Squirrels, that just premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse?..."

Play?
"The Squirrels"?
La Jolla Playhouse?

No. I had NOT heard of it...

*

Obviously, that was one of the moments when the Internet is at it's best.

It didn't take me more than two minutes to find out that playwright Robert Askins, whose play "Hand to God" received five Tony Award nominations, including for Best New Play (2015), had written a new play – "The Squirrels" (2018).

The San Diego Union-Tribune wrote, "La Jolla Playhouse's apocalyptic 'Squirrels,' a dark, funny look at prejudice."

I also found out that "The Squirrels" ran from June 5 to July 8 which crushed my almost uncontrollable urge to buy a plane ticket, fly to the West Coast, and watch the play. Sadly, my new friend, the teacher, was not aware of any video I could purchase.

*

At first glance, this situation looked like every author's or other creative professional's nightmare. Somebody else had a similar idea.

Then, I pondered the issue. Even though I could not watch the play, theater critic Pam Kragen's excellent article made it pretty obvious that my book differed from Robert Askins' play quite a bit.

• From what I read, Askins' play seems to only play out in the now. In contrast, my book is inspired by U.S. history. Its  characters include not only George Squirrelton and Benjamin Franknut but also Steve I'Squirrel, Theo Roosquirrel, Frank Lloyd Wrillel, and other notables.
• Askins' play "The Squirrels" is described as "dark and funny," my own "Are We Nuts?" is a mystery fable that ends on a hopeful note.

Still – how could it be that Askins and I had the same idea, namely to use squirrels to portray our society, right at around the same time?

Typically, animal protagonists are hares, foxes, ducklings, horses, tortoises, mice, and, of course, pigs. Usually, they are portrayed somewhat one-dimensional:

• Hares are fast,
• foxes are sly or vain, 
• ducklings are cute (even the 'ugly duckling' is cute),
• horses are noble and faithful,
• and so on. 

In contrast, Askins and I feature multi-dimensional characters. Squirrels are not only extremely intelligent, they have an astounding number of behaviors and talents that resemble human's.

Squirrels

• evaluate nuts and seeds by turning them in their paws, thereby determining which nuts and seeds should be eaten immediately and which ones can be buried/stored,
• don’t store/hide their loot “just about anywhere” but use "spatial chunking." [This technique could be compared to how people store foods in pantries (cans with cans, baking items together, etc.). Similarly, squirrels bury different kinds of nuts in different geographical areas.] 
• deceive other animals. [If squirrels believe or even know that they are being watched by other squirrels or birds, they will fake bury loot and store them somewhere else safely.]
• use their own “language” of kuks and quaas to warn others. 
• “adopt” orphaned pups if the babies are related to the adoptive mother, and
• last but not least, like humans, squirrels come in all colors – gray, tan, red, orange, blonde, black, and white.

* 

I think what happened is similar to when the light bulb was invented. Edison was not the only scientist who worked on that idea, English chemist Joseph Swan, Canadian inventors Henry Woodward and Matthew Evans, and US inventors William Sawyer and Albon Man did too. 

Naturally, that was not a coincidence. The time was ripe for an electric light bulb. Consequently, many scientists worked on it. 

Similarly, 2018 seems to be the year for multi-dimensional animal protagonists. Fast hares, cute ducklings and greedy pigs won't do. 

Because the time is ripe, Robert Askins and I realized that to portray today's societies we need squirrels who are

• clever,
• choosy,
• greedy,
• capable of deceiving others, 
• savvy, and also
• caring, 

And, certainly, our protagonists

• come in all colors. 

What do you think?

~*~

Gisela Hausmann is multi-award winning author, an email evangelist, and mass media expert.  Her work has been featured in Success magazine and in Entrepreneur, on Bloomberg, and The Innovation Show ― a show for Square Pegs in Round Holes.

Her latest book is the fable, "Are We Nuts?"

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http://www.giselahausmann.com/free-creative-ideas.html

Gisela tweets @Naked_Determina

©  2018 by Gisela Hausmann