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Lydiksen Alum and New York Times Best-Selling Author Grant Blackwood Returns to School

In an assembly with students at Lydiksen Elementary, the thriller writer touts the value of lifelong curiosity.

The best way to find success is to be curious.

That’s the life lesson New York Times best-selling author, Grant Blackwood, shared with more than 200 fourth- and fifth-grade students during an assembly at Lydiksen Elementary on Friday.

Blackwood, who attended Lydiksen Elementary for seven years in the 1970s, returned to Pleasanton last week for the first time since 1983.

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During his visit, he spent a couple of hours at his elementary alma mater, answered dozens of question from students and received a tour of the school from Principal Colleen Henry.

Blackwood and his wife, Julie, along with friend and action-adventure author, Kathleen Antrim of Pleasanton, arrived at the school after a visit to Blackwood’s childhood home on Flagstone Drive.

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“If the number hadn’t been on there, I wouldn’t have recognized the house,” said Blackwood, noting the home’s significant remodeling and renovations.

Approaching the microphone when Principal Henry introduced him, Blackwood provided students with a brief overview of his background and the path that took him from Lydiksen to a successful career as a writer.

Blackwood explained that, after finishing 6th grade at Lydiksen, his family moved to Minnesota. Several years later, he joined the Navy, where he spent three years on active duty as an Operations Specialist and Pilot Rescue Swimmer.

It was during his time in the Navy that Blackwood, a veteran, cultivated his love of reading thriller novels.

At the time, his favorite author was Clive Cussler. But he never could have guessed as a young man, he said, that a good deal of his publishing success would come from pairing up with Cussler to co-author the Fargo Adventure Series.

In the two decades between writing his first novel, which he said was “not good enough to publish,” and pairing up with Cussler, Blackwood published several successful books of his own including the Briggs Tanner Series.

He also co-authored Dead or Alive in 2010 with Tom Clancy.

During his assembly with the Lydiksen students, he explained that his first novel, The End of Enemies, was published in 2001, the same year in which at least half the students present were born.

He then turned the discussion over to the children, prompting them to think.

“If any of you could pick one thing you think I’d say was important to being a success in life, what would it be?” he asked.

Dozens of hands shot up, with answers ranging from reading skills to perseverance.

While Blackwood agreed that these skills were important, he ultimately named curiosity as the key to success.

“If you’re curious about something, you’ll get excited about it,” he said.

That excitement, he indicated, was the key ingredient in the search for knowledge and for lifelong learning.

Soon, children raised their hands excitedly to tell the author what interested them.

“I’m curious about being an old man. I want to be young forever,” said one boy.

“Well, that’s called the study of longevity,” replied Blackwood.

“And I'm sure your librarian, Mrs. Hamm, can help you find books that’ll tell you more about that.”

Other children’s curiosities included how the world was made, and how to become a successful published author.

“I’m curious how you became famous for writing books and how they were really awesome as usual,” said one boy in the audience, adding without a pause,

“And I have bad news for you. I’ve never read any of your books so far.”

Blackwood assured the boy that there were many years ahead in which he could read Blackwood’s thriller novels, and proceeded to explain how the novel writing and publishing process works.

On a campus tour after the assembly, Blackwood appeared impressed by many changes at the school.

Most notable were the closed pods serving each grade. The pods now feature dividing walls between each classroom and computer labs in the centers of most grade-level buildings.

Leaving the library toward the end of his tour, he stopped to speak one-on-one with Lydiksen’s library assistant Emma Hamm.

“I just want to thank you,” he told Hamm. “Because without libraries and books, I would not be where I am today.”

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