Jeff Henigson, Author of the Book Warhead, Visits Poly

Jeff Henigson, author of the book Warhead, attended the Polytechnic School back in the 80s. As a fifteen year-old in high school, in addition to all of the changes that come along with growing up, he found out that he terminal brain cancer, and had little chance of surviving to adulthood. Despite his epic battle with brain cancer, he asked the Starlight Children’s Foundation for one wish: to be able to meet with Mikhail Gorbachev in Russia to plead for nuclear disarmament. Although he did not meet directly with Gorbachev, he did meet with the Russian ambassador to the United States, whom helped distribute Mr. Henigson's letters to his fellow countrymen in Russia. Jeff pulled through this unbelievable ordeal, and three decades later, these responses to his letters would spark Mr. Henigson's desire to write a book about his personal journey.

A graduate of Poly, the London School of Economics, and Columbia University, Mr. Henigson worked for UNICEF and the United Nations in humanitarian emergencies. He is now a full-time writer living in Seattle. Looking into Mr. Henigson's writing process a bit further, I appreciated his sage advice on how to become a better writer. One of his key insights was that to be a better writer, you sometimes need to retreat from the world around you and to carve out time dedicated to your writing. For him, retreating to Southeast Asia helped him to make enormous progress on his book without the distractions of his typical world. He also emphasized the importance of persistence, and the ability to cope with rejection, when getting a book published. Knowing that he actively honed his skills as a writer with intention and purpose, as well as had to rewrite his work several times, serves as an inspiration for all.