There are several famous Jewish author couples currently writing in the United States. Faye and Jonathan Kellerman are known for their mysteries. Ayelet Waldman and her husband, Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon, have received accolades. In Kansas City we have our own author duo, Sunie and Lee Levin. Both in their 80s, this couple have been writing for more than 15 years, as they keep busy during their “retirements.”
The first of the couple to have a book published, Sunie started writing as a natural growth from her life as a mother and an educator. This Paseo High School graduate was an educator before she married and had children. When her children were young, she went back to the University of Missouri-Kansas City and earned a master’s degree in special education and remedial reading.
For 22 years she owned Midwest Reading and Dyslexia Clinic, which helped children with dyslexia. She also taught Hebrew school at Congregation Beth Shalom, where they continue their membership.
Over the years her three daughters’ families increased, and now Sunie and Lee have a combined 15 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It was the grandchildren who inspired Sunie to write her non-fiction books. The first was “You and Your Grandchildren,” published in 1991. It was soon followed by “Mingled Roots,” which focused on raising interfaith grandchildren.
“I was inspired to write because there was nothing out there that had the information I was interested in,” Sunie said. “When I wrote ‘Mingled Roots,’ I spoke to rabbis and priests. I interviewed people and looked up information.”
She credits her research in making her books so well read because they fill a void for the public.
“These books help people,” she said. “I have people come up to me and say things like, ‘you inspired me to make peace with my daughter in law.’ It makes me feel good … absolutely … really good.”
Sunie does her writing on a built-in hallway desk just off her kitchen. She works six to seven hours a day when working on a book.
“I am always thinking about the next book and what to do,” she said. “It helps to keep me young.”
Turning 80 this year did not slow Sunie down. She just pushes health issues to the side and moves on.
“I have never in my live been bored,” she said smiling. “Some people my age say they are so bored. My favorite expression is, ‘You can’t hit a moving topic.’ So if you are active and interested in things, you stay young.”
Her latest book came about when she and Lee started going to Naples, Fla., for the winters.
“Many were having a hard time making new friends,” she said. “Some were shy, some didn’t know what to do. So I wrote ‘Make New Friends, Live Longer….A Guide for Seniors.’ ”
Her next book will continue with topics for seniors. It will deal with the next stage of life that she herself is looking at, how to pick and adjust to a retirement community.
Although Sunie and Lee do not give each other ideas for an original book, when they proof they do offer suggestions, critiques and comments, mostly done through e-mails they send each other. Sunie’s hallway desk is across the house from Lee’s office, lined with bookcases and windows.
After 59 years of marriage — they met at the Jewish Community Center when it was located on Linwood — they work well together.
“He’s a male chauvinist,” Sunie says with a smile when explaining why he has the office. “It’s the generation.”
HISTORICAL FICTION SPECIALIST
Lee, 83, is a veteran of the Korean War. Although he worked as an insurance executive, he always wanted to be a writer and had a great interest in history. In 1978, while working, he arranged his schedule so he could go back to school, and earned a master’s degree in history from UMKC.
When he is working on one of his historical fiction books, he locks himself away in his office.
“I always write in the mornings,” Lee said. “I seem to be more alert then.”
His first book almost wrote itself.
“I wrote ‘King Tut’s Private Eye’ very quickly, in about 90 days,” Lee said. “It seemed to be on auto pilot. The other books took longer. This last book took three years, mainly on research.”
‘King Tut’s Private Eye’ came about because Lee loves murder mysteries.
“I wondered who wrote the first mystery,” he said. “I know Edgar Allen Poe … but what if someone did it before him. So I came up with the idea of a really ancient murder mystery, and an archaeologist who discovers the scrolls in Egypt.”
Lee also researches every book. Although he doesn’t stay in the library to work, he relies heavily on the library and inter-library loans. The newest book, ‘The Messiah of Septimania,’ came about while he was doing research on a different book, which now is forgotten.
“It was the result of pure accident,” he said. “I ran across information on the Jewish kingdom of Septimania. Then I discovered this incredible story about a Jewish kingdom in medieval France. It is all historically true. This king brought the Babylonian Talmud to the West; he was the Jewish uncle of Charlemagne. The Jewish Kingdom of Septimania lasted 140 years with six very able Jewish kings.”
By necessity, Lee fictionalizes the life of this king. He knows that it has happened through his research, but he does not know the how or the why. That is where the fiction came through.
The Levins Jewish roots do impact some of their writings.
“I was brought up in an Orthodox home and kept kosher,” Sunie said. “I think being Jewish is part of my writing, because I am curious about everything and I want to help.”
Lee admits being Jewish had no impact on his early writings, but the newest book is different.
“ ‘The Messiah of Septimania’ was entirely formed by my being Jewish,” he said. “It really told the story of how brilliantly and effectively Jews were able to express themselves and their culture when they had a chance to do it. This kingdom was a forerunner of Israel. It was able to be a peer of the Christian kingdoms around it, including having an effective army.”
Writing is not the Levins only professions. While their earlier books were published by well-known publishers, they have joined the growing trend of authors who are forming their own companies. Their company is Royal Heritage Press. Their most recent books are available at Barnes & Noble and on Amazon.
“Fewer and fewer books are getting published by hard cover publishers,” Lee said. “They just want best sellers because of the change in the publishing industry.”
Besides writing and publishing, Sunie also wants to inspire others.
“Lee spoke to the ROMEOs, and someone came up to him and said he was bored,” Sunie said. “Well they should write their memoirs, write ethical wills for their grandchildren, write a journal for their children. I want to inspire people that even though they are in their 80s they can leave something for the next generation.”