Member Review
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Member Profile
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Rene Schmidt
René Schmidt was born in Holland in 1954 and immigrated to Canada in 1957. He remembers not wanting to speak English. He had many jobs including underground mine worker, truck driver, construction worker, taxi driver, ship officer trainee and upholsterer. René studied theatre performance at Ryerson and is a graduate of York University's Creative Writing Program and Faculty of Education. As a young teacher René wrote heroic stories for his students, using their names in title roles. René's first book, Canadian Disasters by Scholastic Canada, became a bestseller and three updated editions followed. Leaving Fletchville, an award-winning fiction novel, deals with parenthood, racism, friendship and bullying. Recently René built a house, directed a youth drop in centre and taught Senior Drama at a local high school. He is happily married to Shirley. They have two sons, Adrian and Daniel, who now travel the world and do interesting things. René enjoys writing, cutting wood, riding his motorcycle, and carpentry. He is also compiling a series of humorous short stories for adults.
