Autumn Years Fall 2023

When he retired as principal of Hawes Elementary School, he asked his teammates, “Am I off the team?” The unanimous response was, “No, you’re still our pitcher.”

ed to be a present parent,” says Paul. All three boys played high school sports, and so did Paul. “I didn’t make varsity, but I loved to play baseball,” he recalls. He played softball as an adult for de cades, but he just started playing base ball again several years ago. Paul plays on a Westwood men’s team and a team comprising the Hawes Elementary School dads. “I hadn’t played since high school, and the Hawes dads put me in as pitcher,” says Paul. “I’m not necessarily a strong pitcher, but I can consistently get the ball over the plate.” When he re tired as principal of Hawes Elementary School, he asked his teammates, “Am I off the team?” The unanimous response was, “No, you’re still our pitcher.”

Not surprisingly, Paul has also published books about the Yankees. In 2021, The Least Among Them , which chronicles the history of players who played only one game as a Yankee was pub lished. In April 2023, From Compton to the Bronx , an autobiography of Yankee great Roy White, written with Paul, was published. Roy White is among Paul’s favorite Yankees, a list that includes Don Mattingly, Bernie Williams and Reggie Jackson, but Graig Nettles is his all-time favorite player. Paul may have stepped away from the history classroom years ago, but his love of history has never subsided. Paul is a descendant of wet plate camera inventor and patent holder August Semmending er—the family dropped an “m” genera tions ago—and maintains a website that focuses on August Semmendinger’s contributions to photographic history (www.semmendinger-camera.com). Au gust Semmendinger first made cameras in New York in the mid 1800s and later moved to Fort Lee, New Jersey. Several of his wet-plate Semmendinger cameras are on display at the Smithsonian, and Paul has acquired three himself—one will go to each of his sons someday. Above all else, Paul is a family man. Rather than coaching in public schools, Paul opted to volunteer to coach his own boys’ recreational baseball, basketball and soccer teams over the years. “I want

Start Spreading the News has experienced rapid growth and has reached more than three million page views. Having an online presence as a writer did prove helpful, and Paul has since had numerous books published. Impossible Is an Illusion , a book of motivational es says that grew from his weekly commu nications to school staff was published in June 2017. His first novel, Scattering the Ashes , was published in 2019. It is about a son whose father dies and leaves a series of letters with a lawyer with instructions his son must follow to spread his ashes that was inspired by Paul’s own travels with his family. Scattering the Ashes won the 2020 New Mexico/Arizona Book Award for Literary Fiction. Paul has also published several Principal Sam picture books for children about a confused school leader: Principal Sam and the Cal endar Confusion, Principal Sam Gets Fit and Principal Sam and the Three Bears.

Paul, still pitching, with his favorite catcher, his son Ethan. Paul believes the recent implementa tion of the pitch clock has had a positive impact on the pace of major league base ball games. This will free up more time for Paul to travel with his recently retired wife Laurie, whom he has loved almost as long as, and even more than, he loves the Yankees. a

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AUTUMN YEARS I FALL 2023