Island playwright launches first novel

Part time Islander Jeff Baron has had a successful career as a playwright, film and television writer, but had never thought about becoming a novelist until Sean Rosen spoke to him.

“His voice was there from the beginning,” Mr. Baron said about his main character in “I Represent Sean Rosen,” to be published by HarperCollins this today.

“Originally, it occurred as a movie idea in my head right here on Crescent Beach,” Mr. Baron said, looking out on the expanse of beach below the home he and his partner acquired on Stearns Point Road 10 years ago.

Channelling a teenager wasn’t difficult, he explained. “I’ve never been 86 either,” he said, noting he was able to capture the voice of an elderly protagonist in his best known play, “Visiting Mr. Green.”

It’s that play, staged at the Union Square Theatre in Manhattan starring Eli Wallach and running for more than a year, that has enabled Mr. Baron to concentrate on Sean Rosen without worrying about a weekly paycheck.

“Visiting Mr. Green” has gone on to be staged in 41 countries around the world.

Mr. Baron has also written several other plays and television episodes for “The Tracey Ullman Show,” “Almost Grown,” “Sisters,” “A Year in the Life,” “Aaron’s Way,” and various projects for Nickelodeon. His film, “The Bruce Diet,”won the CINE Golden Eagle Award that honors emerging and established producers of works for the big screen. The film has been featured at festivals around the world.

Sean Rosen is a young man with a big idea for the entertainment industry, Mr. Baron said. He wants to sell his brainstorm, but he’s cautious about sharing for fear someone will either steal the idea or mishandle it.

The book opens with Sean’s voice: “I have an incredible idea. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you what it is. People have stolen my ideas before. They pretend it was their idea, and then they don’t even ask me to be part of it. That’s a mistake, because I understand the idea way better than they do, and if I’m not there to explain it, they usually get parts of it wrong. Then it doesn’t really work. Or it sort of works, but it could have been a hundred times better. It’s a waste of a good idea.”

The book chronicles Sean’s process of getting his idea past the gatekeepers to the important person who could embrace both the concept and the young man who brought it to the table.

The reader becomes an insider, privy to all of Sean’s thoughts about what he’s doing and the lessons he’s learning.
Is the book autobiographical?

“I was creative, even as a small kid,” Mr. Baron said. But, no, he wasn’t revisiting his 13-year-old self. It might have been his love for the “Hardy Boy” books he read growing up, he said about his inspiration.

HarperCollins loved the concept so much, Mr. Baron signed a two-book deal and following the next installment, “Sean Rosen Is Not for Sale,” he’s not ready to let go of his character.

“I would happily keep writing for this kid for awhile,” Mr. Baron said.

Readers will be surprised to find that Sean Rosen’s references to podcasts he creates actually exist online. Produced by Mr. Baron, the voice of Sean Rosen is done by the son of a friend with the understanding that the young man wouldn’t be identified. He was 12 when they started and is now 13 and will be adding new podcasts in the near future, Mr. Baron said.

Various Islanders appear in the podcasts and Mr. Baron said he thinks it will be fun for people here to see them and “hear some familiar voices and see some familiar places and partial faces.” His agreement with them was that their names wouldn’t be used.

But be warned, Mr. Baron said mysteriously, if you’re going to follow those podcasts, you’re going to crave doughnuts.

With the book expected to be on the shelves this month, Mr. Baron is on tour to promote it with readings around the country.

He’ll be reading it at the Shelter Island Public Library at a date to be determined.