About Me
About The Writer
Arnold Clickstein was born in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1936. He attended Lynn Public Schools up through grade 10 and went on to graduate Lawrence Academy in Groton. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota with a B.A. in Psychology and minors in Humanities and Biology. His graduate degree is from Northeastern University with a M.A. in English literature. He pursued post-graduate education at Boston University.
Arnold began his teaching career at a small private school in Connecticut and went on to be a faculty member of Lesley College, now University. He then served as academic dean and then headmaster of Charles River Academy for 20+ years. He also was an adjunct faculty member of Cambridge College in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Arnold also served for two years as the CEO of the American Jewish Historical Society when it was on the campus of Brandeis University and nine years as a regional director for the International Hostel Federation’s American operation known as American Youth Hostels. He is the author of Cardinal Principles of Governance: Strengthening The Governance of Nonprofit Organizations in America’s Communities. Other publications include: “A Good Egg on Howe Street” which appeared in Of Juliet, Spring 2019. September through June, he maintains a blog at www.UlyssesonMainStreet.com.
Articles from early in his career occurred in the Boston Globe, The Proceedings of the 1st International Congress on Social Psychiatry, and the 1978/79 edition of The Educational Register. At some point around the spring of 1997, he wrote and presented a white paper on the environment at Tokyo Gakugei University.
Arnold has been writing fiction for the past forty years, but never attempted to publish much of it. This past fall, he completed a book of short stories entitled, Full Moon, Full Sun. urrentlyUnfortunately, the publisher (Mcmillan Book Publishers) failed to print the ISBN numbers creating an unusual first page for a published book. The ISBN numbers do exist. Whether the publisher takes the responsibility of honoring its contracts/agreements with me is n the hands of his publisher. Hopefully, you will be able to read it at the beach this summer. In addition, Arnold is writing the third draft of a novel, "The Quardrants of Thanksgiving". he wrote three years ago.. His goal is to complete it by the end of 2025. Throughout the past year, he read about France during World Wars I and II, the Resistance movement in the second war and the French Jewish community from the Fin de Siècle through the 20th century. In his spare time, he is outlining this exploration for yet another project.
He blames his interest in literature on a student in Minneapolis who encouraged him to take a Humanities course taught by the poet John Berryman. He remembers Professor Berryman introducing him to his friend and colleague: “Clickstein, this here is Saul Bellow”. They exchanged pleasantries. The details and circumstance are another story. Arnold did buy and read the book, The Adventures of Augie March...after he got back to Boston. He was blown away by the book and Bellow’s erudition. Lightening and awe struck Arnold's creative soul. He was convinced that teaching and writing were what was meant for his life despite the disappointment his parents felt about his not pursuing medical school.
Arnold Clickstein is a member of Pen America, National Writers Union, Biographers International Organization, the Academy of American Poets, The Center for Fiction and the Straw Dog Writers Guild. His travels have taken him to Japan, the Caribbean, Scandinavia, Iceland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain, France, Italy, Israel and Jordan. He resides in a Greater Boston suburban community where he maintains his “private Yaddo”. Most of his five children and four grandchildren live near-by.