Richmond Heights Author Will Take Educator Humor to Las Vegas

Richmond Heights resident Edward Scott Ibur recently took time to answer several questions by email about . Ibur, a teacher in the Webster Groves School District, has several upcoming book-signings and will speak about student assessments from the perspective of an educator next month in Las Vegas.

What are your thoughts on some of your upcoming events, including book-signings?

I am new to the world of book promotion, so it is certainly quite an honor to be asked to read at a bookstore, book club or even a bar, which is where one of my last readings took place. I recently had the pleasure of reading at a bookstore in Door County, WI. At the end of the presentation, an audience member came up with two books for me to sign, then informed me she works for the U.S. Department of Education and wanted to hand one off to her boss, Arnie Duncan, the secretary of education. I hope she followed through—I think.

There is quite a bit of music featured in the novel, so with each of my readings, I have asked various musicians to perform songs from the book. My daughters, Bella and Lily (who won a slot to perform at this year’s LouFest in Forest Park), have played in front of me for a few readings and will do so again at Left Bank Books.

In addition to my girls, actor William Roth will be reading from "Teacher of the Year" and we may have a couple other performers that night, too.

What will you be speaking about in Las Vegas?

I will be a presenter at this year’s NCTE convention (National Council of Teachers of English) which will be held from Nov. 14-19. My presentation will be an overview of how assessment has affected me as an educator and how No Child Left Behind inspired me to write a comedy.

Speaking of comedy, my discussion is billed as a “humorous” look at assessment. I hope the teachers there will not burst into tears when I mention key terms like No Child Left Behind, standardized testing or Common Core Standards. Sobbing seems to inhibit laughter.

What are people saying about your book?

The response to my novel has been quite good. Let me tell you, writing this book in isolation for more than three years before showing it to anyone left me feeling rather anxious once I handed it off for initial feedback, and that was more than two years ago. 

Once the book was published this past summer, I took more than a few TUMS. Now, any anxiety I may have is more about finishing my second book.

What other comments would you like to make?

I am part of a wonderful new project for adults and high school students called the LaBute New Theater Festival, a one-act playwriting competition created by William Roth, founder of the St. Louis Actors' Studio and narrator of the upcoming audio book version of Teacher of the Year.

New York screenwriter and playwright Neil LaBute will be debuting a new one-act play at the Gaslight Theater next summer.  In addition, Mr. LaBute will also be conducting a series of workshops for the writers of the winning one-act plays. Some of our city's top theater directors and actors will be involved in the selection process.

I truly think this is a fantastic and unique opportunity for both adults and young adults. I am thrilled to be involved with it

I also created and run the Gifted Writers and Artists Project that has included more than 1,600 students over the past 15 years.  I have the pleasure of working with some outstanding teachers and artists in this program.

More about Edward Scott Ibur on Patch:

• Richmond Heights Author Satirizes No Child Left Behind