D. PAUL SCHAFER
- GUEST AUTHOR -
G'day folks,
Today, I interview a man who has had an illustrious career, and is driven by his passion.
Welcome, Paul ...
1.
TELL US A LITTLE
ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR WRITING JOURNEY.
I have
worked in the cultural field for more than fifty years as an educator, administrator,
author, and adviser. Prior to this, I taught
economics at several Canadian universities.
My journey
as a writer has also been a mission. I
believe it is necessary to pass out of the present economic age and into a future
cultural age if environmental sustainability and human welfare and well-being are
to be assured in the years and decades ahead. Most of my research and writing over
the years has been concerned with this matter in one form or another.
2.
WHEN AND HOW DID YOU
BECOME A WRITER?
I have been writing since my career commenced in
the early nineteen-sixties. However, this
intensified considerably when I created the World Culture Project in 1988 to
commemorate the World Decade for Culture and Development established by UNESCO
and the United Nations.
The World Culture Project is committed to creating
a body of literature that can demonstrate in practical and theoretical terms how
a cultural age can be realized and the central role culture, cultures, and the
arts are capable of playing in this.
Producing this body of literature has required
a great deal of research into the development of culture as an idea and a reality. It has also required writing many articles and
books, such as Culture – Beacon of the
Future, Revolution or Renaissance:
Making the Transition from an Economic Age to a Cultural Age, The Age of Culture, and The Secrets of Culture.
Information on this literature is available in
the Publications section of the World Culture Project website:
www3.sympatico.ca/dpaulschafer
3.
WHAT TYPE OF PREPARATION DO YOU DO FOR A
MANUSCRIPT? DO YOU PLAN EVERYTHING FIRST OR JUST SHOOT FROM THE HIP?
I plan everything in advance by creating a
detailed outline of an article or book before I do any writing. However, I often add ideas to the outline that
occur to me once the writing has commenced that were not in the original
outline.
4.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY
MOST ABOUT BEING A WRITER?
I enjoy the
opportunity to express my beliefs and ideas about the need for a cultural age
and the centrality of culture, cultures, and the arts and share these beliefs and
ideas with others.
5.
WHAT IS THE HARDEST
THING ABOUT BEING A WRITER?
The hardest
thing for me is to express myself as clearly and simply as possible, as well as
to say exactly what I mean in order to avoid any confusion or misunderstanding. This requires going over manuscripts many
times to ensure that I have expressed myself in a manner that is consistent
with what I really want to say and the way I want to say it. This is extremely time-consuming but very
rewarding because I have done this to the best of my ability.
6.
WHAT WERE YOU IN A
PAST LIFE, BEFORE YOU BECAME A WRITER?
Before I
became a writer, I was involved in teaching economics for several years. However, I left economics because economics
as a discipline ignored the natural environment during the entire time it was developing
in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries and I didn’t think it
was possible to insert the natural environment into this discipline after the
fact. While I recognized the enormous
benefits that have resulted from placing an extremely high priority on
economics and living in an economic age, I don’t feel this age is sustainable in
the future due to the incredible demands it is making on the natural environment,
the world’s limited resources, and the finite carrying capacity of the earth.
After
leaving economics, I entered the cultural field by working at the Ontario Arts
Council and after this as a founder and director of the first academic program
for training arts administrators and cultural policy-makers in the world at
York University in Toronto.
Following
this, I worked as a self-employed person for many years, which included doing a
lot of contractual work and undertaking many projects and missions for UNESCO. While I wrote many reports and documents
during this time, they were primarily for international organizations,
governments, and art service organizations and didn’t have a great deal to do with
the case I wanted to make for the centrality of culture, cultures, and the arts
in global development and human affairs as well as the necessity of a cultural
age. This came later when I created the
World Culture Project.
7.
WHAT IS YOUR
GREATEST WRITING ACHIEVEMENT?
I feel my
greatest achievement has been to make the case for the centrality of culture,
cultures, the arts, and a cultural age and provide detailed reasons and justifications
for this. This has necessitated delving
deeply into the character of culture in all its diverse aspects and
manifestations, as well as evolving an all-encompassing, holistic understanding
of culture and cultures that extends from the way people visualize and
interpret the world, organize themselves, and conduct their affairs to the way
they elevate and enrich life and position themselves in the natural,
historical, and global environment.
This case is
set out in two major books I have written on this matter – Culture – Beacon of the Future and Revolution or Renaissance: Making the Transition from an Economic Age
to a Cultural Age. These books are
available in English and Chinese.
8.
WHAT ARE YOU WORKING
ON AT THE MOMENT?
I am working
on a book that makes the case that the world is really composed of culture and
cultures at its core and in its fundamental essence. I am also working on a book of short stories that
are concerned with memorable experiences I had during my youth, as well as the
experiences of our two daughters during their youth.
9.
WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
I am
inspired by the desire to see a cultural age become a reality. I think the biggest challenge confronting
humanity at present is to make it possible for all people and all countries
to enjoy reasonable standards of living and a decent quality of life without
straining the globe’s finite resources and limited capacity to the breaking
point. I believe culture has a crucial
role to play in this. I am also inspired
a great deal by music. I think music is
the highest art form and one of the most essential activities in life.
10.
WHAT GENRE DO YOU
WRITE?
All my writings are non-fictional. While most of my earlier writings were intended
for an academic audience, most of my recent writings have been written for a much
broader and more general audience. This has
necessitated a major change in my writing style, especially in terms of sharing
more of the personal and professional experiences I have had in the cultural
field at every level – municipal, regional, national, and international – as
well as in many different parts of the world with as many people as possible.
11.
DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS
FOR NEW WRITERS?
My only
suggestion would be to persevere with the quest to become a writer, regardless
of whether it is on a part-time or full-time basis. There is a great deal of inspiration that comes
from getting things published. This can
provide the motivation that is required to continue writing when things appear bleak
or hopeless.
12.
DO YOU SUFFER FROM
WRITER’S BLOCK?
I have never
suffered from writer’s block when I am writing a book or an article. However, I have often suffered from not
knowing what to write next after I have finished writing something and had it
published. I am trying to overcome this
by deciding well in advance what I should be writing after an existing project has
been completed so that I don’t experience a painful gap in my writing plans and
progress.
13.
DO YOU HAVE A
PREFERRED WRITING SCHEDULE?
My writing schedule
is very consistent. I write every day,
even if it is for only a short period of time and I am not able to accomplish
very much. I usually write about more
important things in the morning and less important things in the
afternoon. This is accompanied by a lot
of walking and exercising. Like Henry
David Thoreau, Bertrand Russell, and other authors, I find walking very helpful
in thinking things out, seeing where I am going from day to day and week to
week, and planning things for the future.
14.
DO YOU HAVE A
FAVOURITE WRITING PLACE?
I used to
sit in an easy chair when I was writing things out long hand and cutting and
pasting before they were published. However,
with the advent of the computer, I now do most of my writing at the computer,
especially after I learned to use the computer to the point where I could produce
material in draft form, cut and paste, and edit directly on a screen. I usually have music playing in the
background when I am writing.
15.
WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST
JOY IN WRITING?
My greatest joy is getting articles and books published
and reading them over once they are published.
While I would probably continue to write even if my writings were only
available in electronic form, I must say I find this far less fulfilling. There is something about holding a book or a
journal in your hands and reading it in this form that is much more enjoyable than
reading it on a screen or tablet of some kind.
16.
WHO IS YOUR
FAVOURITE AUTHOR AND WHY?
I do not
have a favourite author. Since much of
my life has been concerned with broadening, deepening, and intensifying knowledge
and understanding of culture and cultures, this has required reading the works
of numerous anthropologists, sociologists, cultural historians, philosophers, and
so forth. I particularly enjoy the
writings of cultural scholars such as Alfred Kroeber, Ruth Benedict, Pitirim
Sorokin, Karl Weintraub, Lewis Mumford, Joseph Campbell, Matthew Arnold,
Goethe, and several others in this respect.
17.
WHAT’S THE GREATEST
COMPLIMENT YOU EVER RECEIVED FROM A READER?
The greatest compliment
has been that something I wrote was helpful to another person and inspired them
in some way.
18.
WHAT WAS THE WORST
COMMENT FROM A READER?
The worst
comment was that my beliefs and ideas were too idealistic and theoretical and would
not be achieved in fact.
19.
WRITERS ARE
SOMETIMES INFLUENCED BY THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THEIR OWN LIVES. ARE YOU?
I think my
writing has been strongly influenced by my early upbringing. When I was young, my parents gave me piano
lessons, singing lessons, put me in a choir, read stories to me, took me to
many concerts and plays, and provided a wonderful cultural environment in our
home. It has also been strongly influenced
by my travels in North America, Europe, and other parts of the world. This has made it possible for me to experience
many cultures in the world first hand.
20.
OTHER THAN WRITING,
WHAT ELSE DO YOU LOVE?
I love doing
tai chi and qi gong for a couple of hours every morning. I also love practising the piano, brush
painting, listening to music, taking long walks in the country and the forest, and
especially helping people.
21.
DID YOU HAVE YOUR
BOOK / BOOKS PROFESSIONALLY EDITED BEFORE PUBLICATION?
All of my most
important books have been edited by professional editors. While this has improved the quality of these
books considerably, I am occasionally disturbed by the fact that the meaning of
some passages in my books get altered in the editing process and no longer says
what I intend to say. Fortunately, all
the editors I have worked with are sensitive to this matter and have been willing
to let me revert back to the original or change things accordingly.
22.
DESCRIBE YOUR
PERFECT DAY.
My perfect day
consists of accomplishing some important writing, doing my exercising and
walking, helping someone, and enjoying some time with my wife Nancy and our children
Charlene and Susan.
23.
IF YOU WERE STUCK ON
A DESERT ISLAND WITH ONE PERSON, WHO WOULD IT BE? WHY?
It would definitely be with my wife Nancy. We have been together for almost fifty years now
and married for more than thirty. We are
best friends in addition to being husband and wife, can talk about many
different things, and are totally at ease with one another.
24.
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY
IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO SPEAK TO WORLD LEADERS?
I would say
that the present global system is not working and a new global system is
required to deal with the difficult and dangerous problems confronting humanity.
I would then explain why I think it is imperative
to have a global system based on culture, especially if we are to be successful
in coming to grips with climate change, global warming, the environment crisis,
huge disparities in income and wealth, and escalating conflicts and tensions between
the many different social and ethnic groups, races, religions, countries, and
civilizations.
25.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS
FOR THE FUTURE?
I plan to continue
making the case for the centrally of culture, cultures, and the arts, as well
as for a cultural age, as long as I can.
I also intend to spend more time writing about Canada and the potential it
possesses to play a leadership role in the world as an exemplar rather than empire
builder.
When I created
the World Culture Project in 1988, I divided it into an international component
and a Canadian component. I did this so
I could use the Canadian component as a case study to demonstrate how my beliefs
and convictions about the centrality of culture, cultures, and the arts could
be applied to a specific country in the world.
This resulted in writing and publishing several monographs and two books
on Canadian culture, most notably Canadian
Culture: Key to Canada’s Future Development, Canada’s International Cultural Relations: Key to Canada’s Role in the
World, Culture and Politics in
Canada: Towards a Culture for All Canadians, and most recently, Celebrating Canadian Creativity and Will This Be Canada’s Century?
26.
WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS
ON BOOK TRAILERS? DO THEY SELL BOOKS?
I have never
had any experience with book trailers and don’t know if they play a useful role
in selling books.
27.
DO YOU SEE YOURSELF
IN ANY OF YOUR CHARACTERS?
One of the books I wrote for the International
Component of the World Cultural Project was The
Cultural Personality. While it was
designed to make the case that a new prototype of the human personality is required
for the world of the future – a prototype based on culture and holism rather
than economics and specialization – there are various aspects of this prototype
that mirror my own life and the type of cultural life I am trying to live that demonstrates
what it would be like to live in a cultural age.
28.
DOES THE PUBLISHING
INDUSTRY FRUSTRATE YOU?
There are
times when the publishing industry frustrates me a great deal, especially with
respect to the way some publishers treat authors in general and their own
authors in particular, as well as the way certain publishers deal with the
marketing and selling of books.
29.
DID YOU EVER THINK
OF QUITTING?
No. I have never thought of quitting and never
will, despite the difficulties I have experienced being an author at times. Despite
these difficulties, I really enjoy my work and experiences as an author and
plan to maintain this role in the future. One of the major reasons for this is
that am working with a wonderful publisher – David Stover, founder of Rock’s
Mills Press – who is very committed to my writings and has published a number
of my books on culture and Canadian culture over the last few years.
30.
WHAT WAS YOUR
FAVOURITE MANUSCRIPT TO WRITE? WHY?
My
favourite manuscript to write was The
Secrets of Culture. This is because it
is based on my journey in life and the many professional and personal experiences
I have had over the years to unlock culture’s deepest and most profound secrets.
This book is semi-autobiographical in
the sense that I used my quest to unlock the secrets of culture as a vehicle
for shedding light on the central role culture is capable of playing in the
world of the future. As John Stuart Mill
said many years ago, the most important thing about a journey is not arriving
at the destination, but rather the process and route that is taken to get
there.
31.
HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE
‘SUCCESS’ AS A WRITER?
I would
define success in terms of how well a writer gets things down on paper in a
form that is personally fulfilling and stimulating to readers, as well as getting
things published and sold.
32.
WHAT SHOULD READERS WALK AWAY FROM YOUR BOOKS KNOWING? HOW SHOULD
THEY FEEL?
Readers
should walk away knowing that I have put a great deal of effort into
communicating with them, and that my ideas and beliefs are relevant to the world
situation even if they are not in vogue at present. They should also feel good about the
experience they had reading my books and conclude that this will help them in their
lives in the future.
33.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE YOUR BOOKS MADE INTO MOVIES? EVER WRITTEN A
SCREENPLAY?
I don’t
think my books are conductive to being made into movies and I have never
written a screenplay.
34.
HOW MUCH THOUGHT GOES INTO DESIGNING A BOOK COVER?
I think a
great deal of thought and effort should got into designing a book cover because
a good book cover is the key to giving potential readers a real impression of
the overall nature and substance of the book.
Being a believer in the adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words,”
I tend to use images for covers that make powerful statements about the contents
and character of the book. I especially like to use architectural edifices,
natural landscapes, and sunrises and sunsets for this purpose, since concern for
nature, the natural environment, and the power of symbols figures prominently in
my writings.
35.
WHAT’S YOUR ULTIMATE DREAM?
My ultimate
dream is to see some positive signs that humanity is entering a cultural
age. Such signs would include focusing far
more attention and placing a much higher priority on the development of culture,
cultures, and the arts in the world, making the shift from wealth to well-being,
seeing more creativity, diversity, inclusivity, and equality throughout the
world, and enhancing relations between the diverse peoples, countries, races, and
religions of the world. Like
Rabindranath Tagore, I believe “we must prepare the field for the cooperation
of all the cultures of the world where all will give and take from each
other. This is the keynote of the coming
age.”
36.
WRITING IS ONE THING. WHAT
ABOUT MARKETING YOU, YOUR BOOKS AND YOUR BRAND? ANY THOUGHTS?
This is
without doubt the biggest problem I face at present and will probably face in
the future. To date, I have not given a
lot of attention to marketing myself, my books, or my brand because I have been
preoccupied with researching and writing about culture, cultures, cultural
development, and the need for a cultural age.
However, whenever I have worked on marketing, branding, and so forth, I
have found that the results are not commensurate with the effort, especially in
the modern world where there is so much competition for the attention of
readers.
37.
ARE YOUR BOOKS
SELF-PUBLISHED?
I have not
had any experience with self-published books.
38.
DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN FIVE WORDS.
I am very
cause-oriented.
39.
WHAT PISSES YOU OFF MOST?
Nothing really pisses
me off at present. However, this could
change in the future, but I doubt it.
40.
WHAT IS THE TITLE OF THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? GOOD ONE?
I have just finished
reading Brian Holihan’s superb book Thinking
in a New Light: How to Boost Your Creativity and Live More Fully by Exploring
World Cultures. I would strongly
recommend this book to readers who are interested in culture, cultures, and the
need for a cultural age. It provides
many wonderful insights and concrete examples into how experiencing
spirituality and a sense of paradise on earth can be achieved by broadening,
deepening, and intensifying our knowledge and understanding of the many diverse
cultures in the world. I share his
beliefs that there is an enormous amount to be learned from our own culture and
the cultures of others, and that one of the greatest challenges of the future will
be to expand education of all the many different cultures in the world.
41.
WHAT WOULD BE THE VERY LAST
SENTENCE YOU’D WRITE?
We have
barely scratched the surface of the rich potential culture possesses to lay the
foundations and create the conditions for a more peaceful, harmonious,
equitable, and fulfilling world.
42.
WHAT WOULD MAKE YOU
HAPPIER THAN YOU ARE NOW? CARE TO SHARE?
Seeing the
same amount of attention and priority given to the development of culture and
cultures over the next three hundred years that was given to the development of
economics and economies over the last three hundred years. In order to achieve this, I believe it is
necessary to interpret history from a cultural perspective and focus much more attention
on the values, ideals, and potential of culture.
43.
ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO ADD?
I think we
need to begin a movement throughout the world to bring a cultural age into
existence and would welcome your thoughts and suggestions on this.
In conclusion, I would
like to thank Clancy Tucker for providing these questions and posting my
answers to them on his blog, as well as to readers for reading my responses and
reactions to the questions. This is much appreciated.
Clancy's comment: Thank you, Paul. I'm impressed by your determination and passion, and your brush painting. More people should follow in your shoes.
I'm ...
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