11-Year-Old Author Writes History of Flynn Park

Have you ever wondered about the interesting stories that have taken place in some of University City's historical buidings? Gabe Fleisher, a fifth-grader at Flynn Park Elementary School, thought his school had a great story—so he set out to write it. 

The 11-year-old author's first book, “Hear Us Roar: A History of Flynn Park School” has just been published. He will be at University City Public Library at 7 p.m. Monday, May 13, for a book signing.

Fleisher told Patch he loved doing research for the book, going to the University City Historical Society for some of his information. His parents and GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) teacher aided in the editing, but Fleisher did the rest of the work himself.

While this is Fleisher's first book, it isn't his first foray into publishing. He is already the author, editor and publisher of the weekday e-newsletter “Wake Up to Politics.”

He has faced off against NPR’s Political Junkie, Ken Rudin, in a trivia showdown on Talk of the Nation. He has also discussed “Wake Up to Politics” on various television and radio programs.

"There's lots of big topics that I'm very interested in right now," he said. "Guns and immigration are two big ones right now." 

Fleisher just completed an interview with Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster for Wake Up to Politics.

"Politics is my passion," he told Patch.

Fleisher said he wanted to share Flynn Park's history as a great school when he decided to write the book.

"It's a great school with a lot of diversity," he said. 

The book is $15 and available for purchase with proceeds benefiting activities for Flynn Park fifth-graders. 

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