Press Release

Greenwich Life

My Favoutite Place - Book about Greenwich weaves history, fun for kids and adults

By Sara Poirier
Assistant Editor

Did you know that granite from a former quarry in Byram was used for the base of the Statue of Liberty and in the creation of the Brooklyn Bridge? or that 28% of the town is water?

Did you also know that when the spire of the Second Congregational Church was placed atop the building, eight people dined on the adjacent scaffolding?

From geography to recognition of landmarks, to identifying parks and favorite places to visit, Our Place Greenwich, the latest in a series of short, hardback history books for kids and adults, explains it all, and includes historical facts that could leave even longtime residents thinking they don’t know their town as well as they thought.

Chris Gorman and his wife Michelle Morfitt of Rowayton researched and wrote the book after many visits to the local library, the historical society and talking to people knowledgeable about Greenwich. But preparing for this book was nothing they hadn’t done before; this is their third published book, after Our Place Rowayton and Our Place Darien, and books about Westport, Fairfield, New Canaan and Ridgefield are in various stages of production.

"When we travel around we're always researching the history of the towns that we go to, and we always try to explain it to the children and make it as fun as we can," Ms. Morfitt said. "But we noticed a bit of a gap there in history books for children."

"We'd send our manuscripts to people and they’d say ‘Oh, I didn’t know that,’" the former Washington Times employee added. "We knew we had to write it in some sort of hardback book so parents could read to their children and children could read it themselves later on."

Told through the eyes of Jack, the golden retriever, the Our Place books strive to entertain and teach, said Mr. Gorman, a former energy commodities trader. Jack is based on the Gorman/Morfitt family’s dog, who died in January.

The books are alternatives, Mr. Gorman added, to the "accepted history book" of each town. He said that writing the book for different towns allows each history to shine through.

A running trend among the Our Place books is that each has a cover that is distinctively representative of that town — a drawing from a local elementary school student of his or her favorite place of beauty in town. Old Greenwich School fourth grader Kendall Gregory’s drawing of the front of her school was chosen from dozens of submissions for the front of Our Place Greenwich.

"Greenwich is so big, and yes, Old Greenwich School is on the cover, but it’s by no means just an Old Greenwich focus," Mr. Gorman told the Post.

For Kendall, the 10-year-old said getting chosen as cover artist is an honor.

"I couldn’t believe it," she said about being told she’d won. "I was like ‘Wow’."

When asked why her school was her favorite place, aspiring artist Kendall said it all came down to friendship.

"I wouldn’t have all my friends if I didn’t go to school," she said. "That’s where I met all my friends and my teachers and everybody that means a lot to me."

Old Greenwich School Principal Patricia Raneri said history books like Our Place Greenwich are positive for the town, and the contest for the cover is a great opportunity to "have a child become a professional artist."

Friends mean so much to Kendall, in fact, that the drawing, which shows the front of the school at pickup time, abuzz with activity, details people with characteristics of her close friends, including Julia, who loves pink, she said.

"I’ve won a few things for my pictures that I’ve drawn, painted, but never this big," Kendall said.

Mr. Gorman and Ms. Morfitt recognized Kendall’s work this week by presenting her with a copy of Our Place Greenwich in advance of the book’s May 2 launch at Arcadia Café.

"It just seems to work," Ms. Morfitt said of the Our Place format, which, for Greenwich, includes illustrations by Loryn Brantz and Ayesha Deane. "It’s just a great way to teach children, and parents seem to enjoy it as well, so we’re going to keep going."

The writing duo is working on a similar book about Hartlepool, England, where Ms. Morfitt grew up.

The process for each book, Mr. Gorman said, used to take about eight to 10 months, but now can be refined to about three to four months. That includes taking the final manuscript to each town’s historical society to validate certain facts, and sifting through submissions for cover art.

Portions of the proceeds from the sale of each Our Place book is always donated to local charities, Mr. Gorman said, and Greenwich is no exception. The Greenwich Alliance for Education and the Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich are recipients for this town. A foreword for Our Place Greenwich was written by former Greenwich Public Schools Principal Sandi Mond, who talks about the importance of education and what makes Greenwich special.

"I admire it when people do put history, such a complex subject, into childspeak and make it into a language they understand," Ms. Morfitt said, adding that she hopes reading the book and seeing the pictures might make a child interested in the subject and "hopefully they will go to the historical society as a result or listen harder in class."

Our Place Greenwich will be for sale at Just Books, Splurge, Gofer Ice Cream and Aux Delices.

For more information, visit Ourplacebooks.com.

- spoirier[at]greenwich-post.com