About Steven Krasner

Steve's sense of humor and the way in which he interacts with the children is a gift.
-- Margaret LeMay, Halliwell Memorial School, Slatersville, RI

Steven Krasner wears three writing "hats" – and that doesn’t include the gorilla mask he dons when he wants to “monkey” around.

Steve, as he prefers to be called in the classroom, is a national education consultant, the creator of "Nudging the Imagination," as well as an award-winning children’s book author and a retired award-winning sports writer who covered the Boston Red Sox on a daily basis for 22 of the 33 years he worked at the Providence (RI) Journal.

The "hat" he has been wearing the longest is actually a baseball cap.

Lifelong Passion for Baseball

In keeping with his lifelong passion for baseball, Steve enjoyed a 33-year career as a sports writer for the Providence (RI) Journal, specializing in baseball coverage until his retirement in 2008.

Steve began covering the Boston Red Sox on a daily basis during the 1986 season, his career experiences including one of the baseball world’s most dramatic and heralded achievements, the organization’s first World Championship in 86 years, claimed by winning the 2004 World Series.

Along the way, Steve witnessed four big-league no-hitters in addition to covering numerous World Series and All-Star Games for the Journal.

Steve was presented the Dave O'Hara Award for "long and meritorious service" as a baseball writer by the Boston Baseball Writers Association at its annual awards dinner in January, 2010.  

Earthquake

One unforgettable memory occurred during the 1989 World Series in San Francisco. Steve was in the Candlestick Park press box when a 6.9-magnitude earthquake rumbled through the area, postponing the Series and causing devastation and the loss of lives in the Bay Area. Steve chronicled news events surrounding the natural disaster until the World Series was resumed a week later.

In addition to baseball, Steve also covered the New England Patriots football team in four Super Bowls, as well as reporting on such sports as hockey, basketball and soccer, to name a few.

Steve was inducted into the Words Unlimited (RI) Association's Hall of Fame for his contributions as a sports writer in February, 2009.

Columbia University MVP

His interest in sports, in general, and baseball, in particular, dates back to his youth when he was always busy playing sports with friends in pickup games. Steve played Little League baseball, and he also starred at Cranston West (RI) High School (All-League third baseman) and Columbia University (team MVP in senior season, 1975) before playing for many years and running his own team in the Rhode Island Amateur Baseball League.

Steve helped create the R.I. Men’s Senior Baseball League, and played on one of the teams until 2002. He also has played in numerous games at Fenway Park in Boston and at Yankee Stadium in New York, participating in games between media that cover the Red Sox and the Yankees, respectively.

"Nudging the Imagination" seeds

The other “hats” began appearing around 1985.

The seeds for Steve’s "Nudging the Imagination" workshops were planted initially at The Little Red Hen Pre-School in Warwick, R.I. His oldest daughter, Amy, was enrolled there, and Steve volunteered to read stories and tell stories to Amy’s schoolmates.

The workshops grew in depth and grade-level appeal as Amy continued through the East Greenwich, R.I., public school system, with Steve visiting Amy’s classrooms and then the classrooms of his other children, Jeffrey and Emily, as they also went through the system, devising different types of sessions to encourage writing skills and massage the students’ creative muscles.

Children’s Books and the Gorilla Suit

As time went on, and as the kids got older, Steve began writing children’s books. By 2005, he was the author of six published books, the first three of which he self-published under the name of Gorilla Productions.

Steve chose that name, Gorilla Productions, because he owns a gorilla suit, complete with head, hands, feet and a full furry body. When his kids were younger, he was known in town for the suit, which he wore as he took them around the neighborhood trick-or-treating on Halloween.

Steve’s first production, a picture book, is special because his family is in it – his wife, Susan Oclassen, and their three kids, Amy, Jeffrey and Emily.

Another of Steve’s picture books is titled "Have A Nice Nap, Humphrey."

Steve’s other books are non-fiction baseball books, titled "The Longest Game," "Pedro Martinez," "Play Ball Like the Pros" and "Play Ball Like the Hall of Famers." He earned a Parents' Choice Silver Award in 2002 for "Play Ball Like the Pros," the second edition of which came out in 2010.

Happily Married

On a personal note, since 1977, Steve has been married to Susan Oclassen, the woman he refers to as his "Hall of Fame wife" in the dedication of his "Play Ball Like the Hall of Famers" book.

Want to work with Steve? Contact him.