Notes and Links to Larry Strauss’ Work

Larry Strauss is the author of five novels, most recently Light Man and Now's the Time—now an Earphone Award winning audiobook—and numerous non-fiction titles, including Students First and Other Lies, a collection of essays mostly about education, and 2025’s A Lasting Impact in the Classroom and Beyond, a guide for new and struggling teachers.

His short fiction has appeared in Streetlight, Extract(s), and elsewhere. Op-eds and other non-fiction have appeared in USA Today, for which he is an opinion columnist, and The Guardian, among others. If you grew up in the 1980s, you might have seen some of the episodes he wrote for the first-generation Transformers cartoons.

Buy A Lasting Impact in the Classroom and Beyond

Larry Strauss' Article Listing

The Chills at Will Podcast, Episode 83, with Larry Strauss

At about 1:45, Larry highlights positive feedback for his book, including a lawyer who found the book so instructive

At about 4:50, Larry recounts a tale from the book’s Preface,

At about 7:40, Larry talks about the “contagion” that is fun that can and should come with teaching, and how this relates to him wanting to write the book

At about 9:20, Larry talks about his first teaching job allowed him to “find [his] way”

At about 10:30, Larry reflects on a Catch-22 that balances systematic change and day-to-day work

At about 13:10, Larry recounts conversations dealing with guilt for teachers in taking days off

At about 15:20, Larry talks about administration and the demands they feel and what they ask of teachers

At about 16:00, The two discuss the travails of teaching during the early days of the Covid pandemic-Larry had an active 40 person class!

At about 20:30, Larry reflects on ideas of “saving kids” as a teacher

At about 23:55, Larry talks about learning, including in literature, as “life-saving” and “writers as the first psychologists"

At about 25:30, The two discuss cinematic displays of teaching and “inspirational” teaching

At about 28:25, The two reflect on early days for teachers and ideas of teaching “authenticity”

At about 33:30, Larry talks about

At about 34:25, Larry references Willy Loman in talking about “salesman” as one of the myriad roles that a teacher plays, and Pete cites extracurriculars like basketball and the difference in working with students in a voluntary situation

At about 36:20, Larry expands on his first year(s) teaching and ways in which students bought in

At about 39:00, The two discuss the importance of passion and enthusiasm and getting to know students

At about 40:40, Larry responds to Pete’s question about how he came to understand that a loud classroom is not necessarily a bad thing

At about 44:10, Larry recounts a story of a former student discovering journalism stories that already existed in his life

At about 45:30, Larry reflects on a revelation he had about never surrendering to resistant learners and about how all/most students want to learn

At about 47:25, the two talk about being adaptable as students both change and remain the same

At about 50:20, Larry draws a distinction between talking about students’ incredible qualities versus complaining to other teachers about the students

At about 52:45, Larry talks about a second-generation student and parent complaints

At about 55:25, Larry and Pete discuss the need for adaptability and “improv” as a teacher, illustrated by a lesson that has become a stalwart

At about 57:20, The two discuss the need for joy and empathy in the midst of sadness and the grind of teaching-a great Cain and Abel story!

At about 58:50, The two discuss the pros and cons of small schools

At about 1:05:15, Pete highlights an early publication of Larry’s as the two talk about supporting the students unconditionally

At about 1:07:00, The two discuss different ways of being an advocate as a teacher

At about 1:08:10, Pete compliments the book’s mixture of art and science

At about 1:08:45, Larry talks about unique new writing assignments for himself

At about 1:11:30, in talking about horrible hires for US Secretary of Education, Larry highlights the way in which John King’s fifth-grade teacher “saved his life” through field trips and other ways

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Please tune in for Episode 321 with Carolina Ixta, a writer from Oakland, California. Her debut novel, Shut Up, This Is Serious, was a Morris Award finalist, an LA Times Book Prize finalist, and the winner of the Pura Belpré Award. Few Blue Skies is her sophomore novel, forthcoming from HarperCollins on February 3, 2026.

The episode airs on February 3, Pub Day.

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