Ben Gundersheimer '89
Name
Ben Gundersheimer
Place of Birth
Philadelphia, PA
Current Home
Whately, MA
Education
Amherst, Berklee College of Music, Smith (M.Ed)
Why I chose Amherst
I wanted a college where someone could be both an athlete and an artist. Amherst had a great baseball team and a vibrant arts culture.
Most memorable or influential class
Anthony Lake’s course on the Vietnam war.
Most memorable or most influential professor
My baseball coach, Bill Thurston. I spent four years playing for Bill—far more exposure than any I had with any professor. He was tough on me and I had a lot to overcome to end up where I did by my senior year. In retrospect, it was all great preparation for what I encountered in the music business.
Awards and Prizes
Latin GRAMMY Award, 5 Parents’ Choice Awards, songwriting scholarship to Berklee College of Music, full fellowship to Smith
Favorite Book
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
Favorite Author
William Steig
Tips for aspiring writers?
There’s a common misconception that writing should be a tortured process. We can gain artistic inspiration from painful experiences, but the act of writing, and creativity in general, should be full of as much curiosity and joy as possible. Find the authors who inspire you, start down the path and don’t stop. Turning art into commerce is bound to be full of ups and down that have nothing to do with your work, so let the act of writing be a source of solace and inspiration for yourself.
Tell us a bit about your path to becoming an author
I was profoundly impacted by books as a child, and I’m sure that immersion in stories set me on a path to becoming a songwriter/author. Writing books for kids feels like coming full circle, particularly since my mother was an author and illustrator for children. I’d been writing songs since I was a kid myself, and the economy of words required in songwriting turned out to be good preparation for writing children’s books.
Ben Gundersheimer (MISTER G) is a Latin GRAMMY Award-winning artist, author, activist, and educator. Hailed as “a bilingual rock star” by the Washington Post and "irresistible" by People, he tours internationally playing everywhere from Lollapalooza and Lincoln Center to climate change rallies on Capitol Hill. His spirited bilingual performances aim to help children see each other across borders and foster cross-cultural connections.
Learn more about the book on the author's website.
Photo credit: Sarah Crosby