Students at Upper School Assembly were treated to a visit from writer Rick Moody, whose 1994 bestseller The Ice Storm was made into a movie directed by Ang Lee and starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver.  Thanks to English teacher Christy Hutchcraft, who set up the visit, Poly students got a sneak peek (via live reading) of Moody’s unpublished ghost story about the card game Hearts, then soaked up his interview with English teacher Sean Mullin about his second memoir, The Long Accomplishment. Mullin gamified things by having Moody play a (figurative) came of “speed chess,” where he responded, rapid-fire, to words and ideas from his memoir as well as his other non-fiction writing.

There’s no doubt Moody was able to relate to his live audience. His published work focuses on mature themes, but he told the New York Times that he tried to write his first novel in sixth grade—at the same age as some of our students—about a kid who attempted to become Vice President of the United States by designing prosthetic limbs for himself so he could look like an adult. Decades later, Moody still isn’t Vice President, but instead a successful novelist and short story writer, bringing inspiration and excitement to a new generation at Poly Prep.