Retired teacher and community newspaper managing editor Howard J. Schwach started writing novels at age 78 in 2018, primarily to empty his bucket list and to maintain his mental health. “Vampire Liberty” is his sixth published novel and he is already hard at work on his seventh, “Ten Mile River.”

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As an editor for “Weekly Reader,” the vaunted school newspaper company, Schwach wrote more than a dozen non-fiction work books to be used in school classrooms, culminating with “Foundations in American History,” a two-volume U.S. History text written for high school students on a fifth-grade reading level for those with poor reading skills.

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He then taught American History and Language Arts in middle schools and high schools for 33 years, at the same time freelancing for the Board of Education and a number of educational publishers.

 

​After retiring from the school system, Schwach became the managing editor of The Wave, a 15,000-circulation paid weekly in the Queens borough of New York City. He was named by New York magazine as “the tenth-best reason for living in New York City,” and by the Village Voice as the best community newspaper in New York. He is also the recipient of a number of awards by the New York Press Association.

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At 78, he began writing novels. His published novels include: “American 587 Heavy,” “The Masada Complex,” “Ain’t Love Enough,” “The Cahokia Conspiracy,” “To Die in Jerusalem,” and Vampire Liberty.”​

When not at his computer bringing his favorite protagonist, Dave Rifkin, to life, Schwach can be found working with senior citizens who want to write their own novels and memoirs. His popular Zoom writing seminar, sponsored by a local community college as part of its “Healthy Living” program, has spawned several published novels over the past four years.