Reed School Teacher Michelle Failla

Has Published A Novel About Van Gogh

By Laurie Borst

On the morning of March 23, 107 Accelerated Readers at Reed Intermediate School gathered in the library for a presentation by health teacher Michelle Failla on the book she had just published titled Theo’s Dream. Mrs Failla co-wrote the book with her husband, Pino, about the post-Impressionist genius Vincent van Gogh.

“I think it’s really cool that our health teacher is writing a book not about health. She teaches health and PE [physical education] and still has time to write a book,” marveled fifth grader Caroline Wollman, as she waited for the talk to begin.

Mrs Failla told the students that the genesis of the book occurred eight and a half years ago. Mrs Failla said she had always been a great admirer of Vincent van Gogh’s work. Coincidentally, her husband, Pino, an artist by trade, painted in the post-Impressionist style like van Gogh.

She also enjoyed contemplating “what if.” “What if what we know about Vincent isn’t 100 percent true?” she opined. She asked the students what they knew about van Gogh.

“He cut off his ear,” came a reply from the audience.

“Every story has a grain of truth in it,” Mrs Failla said. She explained that van Gogh had been angry with his friend and fellow artist, Paul Gauguin, and, after an argument, cut off his earlobe, supposedly to give to Gauguin.

Other “what ifs” that ran through her mind were, “what if Vincent hadn’t died that day in 1890” and “what if he was alive to see what became of his work.”

Mrs Failla discussed the process she went through writing the book. She first prepared by reading everything she could find about the artist. She visited museums to see van Gogh’s work. She reported to the students that she amassed six boxes of information while working on the book.

“Writing is something you do for yourself,” the author stated. “It doesn’t matter if others read it.”

She turned to her friends who read and critiqued her manuscript and, ultimately, encouraged her to publish it.

Theo’s Dream refers to Vincent’s brother, Theo, who was an art dealer, Mrs Failla explained. His dream was for Vincent to realize his great gift — his talent. Vincent’s dream was twofold. He wanted his art acknowledged and he wanted all his work displayed in one place. As with many artists, neither event occurred in his lifetime.

Many van Gogh family members were involved in the art world. Like Theo, many were art dealers. Several family members were artists themselves, although none acquired Vincent’s fame. Theo was responsible for much of Vincent’s success.

There was also a history of mental illness in the family. Vincent exhibited signs of depression and was in and out of institutions. Today, based on available accounts, the belief is that he suffered with epilepsy.

As the eldest in the family, Vincent would have been expected to support the family. It further depressed him that he could not fulfill this role. Vincent was dirt poor, and Theo had to support him.

Van Gogh did not have a wife, which troubled him greatly. He had loved a woman from afar, but she was engaged to someone else.

Vincent did not start painting until 1880. He produced more than 2,000 paintings, drawings, and sketches before his death in 1890. Before embarking on the career that would eventually bring him fame, he was a preacher. He was also fluent in many languages and translated the Bible into many of those languages.

He was friends with Gauguin, and the two of them worked to start an artists’ colony. Unfortunately, the colony did not come to fruition.

Van Gogh was living at an inn located in Auvers-sur-Oise, northwest of Paris. On July 27, 1890, he headed to the meadow to paint. He took a revolver with him, as he usually did. That way, he was prepared if he found a rabbit or other small game that would be the evening’s dinner.

That day, he shot himself in chest, but did not die until two days later on July 29, 1890.

It is at this point the book begins. What if he hadn’t died? Mrs Failla writes about real places Vincent lived and worked. And explores what may have happened if events were different.

After Vincent’s death, Mrs Failla explained, family members tried to retrieve his paintings that had been sold for a pittance. One painting was found covering a hole in a chicken coop. It is now worth $53 million.

At a recent auction, one small painting sold for $1.2 million, another sold in 1987 for $41 million. The Metropolitan Museum of Art just acquired one of his paintings. A collection of 200 pieces of van Gogh’s work are on tour now.

The acknowledgement that had eluded him during life has increased a thousand times over since his untimely death.

Mrs Failla answered questions after her talk. One student asked her to read a paragraph from the book. She selected the opening paragraph, saying it set the tone for the story.

After the presentation, Mrs Failla signed a copy of the book for the library, and then signed copies the students had preordered.

Accelerated Reader

Accelerated Reader is a software program produced by Renaissance Learning. Reed School uses it for its independent reading program. The software has an extensive list of books and quizzes that accompany them. Students can select a book to read, and upon completion, take the quiz.

Students earn points based on the difficulty of the book and points on the quiz. Some books are worth just a few points. A book like one of the Harry Potter stories is worth 40 points.

Students set goals for themselves for the number of points they want to earn in a specific time period. The students can choose any book from the list. As they earn points, various incentives are offered. There are bookmarks, pins, etc they can choose from.

Students who had accumulated 100 point or more were invited to the presentation of Mrs Failla’s book. Reading Theo’s Dream is worth 100 points to students.

There are also rewards based on class points amassed. If a classroom earns 500 points, they get their picture on the AR Hall of Fame. One thousand points gets an AR Star placed on the classroom door.