Thursday, October 1, 2026
On Monday April 30, the fourth-and-fifth graders at Lynbrook’s West End Elementary enjoyed a visit from famous author Dan Greenburg for Author Day.
Greenburg has known success as a humorist, a novelist, a journalist, a screenwriter, and a playwright — and now he has turned his considerable talent to writing an original new series of books for a younger audience. Inspired by his own son Zack, for whom the hero of his new series, The Zack Files, is named, Greenburg has combined his love of humor, his interest in things paranormal, and his talent for writing to create books that kids like Zack will want to read.
Greenburg talked with the children about the writing process and how important it is to constantly re-write your material until you get it just the way you want it. He shared stories about his son Zack, who is also a writer, and shared with the students how he started out reviewing video games for Boy’s Life and how painstaking he felt the re-writes were. Yet, the revising paid off and today Zack writes for Forbes magazine and has published several books.
Greenburg shared how he used his writing to overcome his fears. He allowed his assignments to be adventures where he would face his fears head on and share the experience with readers. He told students about the lions he met and how he went into a cage with four at once, scared and shaking, making clear how he overcame the fear and what the rewards the experience gave him. He explained how he used this in his writing and how they could do the same with their experiences or ones that they imagine.
The students enjoyed Greenburg’s visit and received a personalized signed copy of a book from The Zack Files, “Through the Medicine Cabinet,” courtesy of the PTA.
