Members You Need to Meet
Karen and Mick Hirsh
June, 2010
Here are two people (almost) in your Neighborhood
Karen and Mike Hirsh moved to Punta Gorda from Los Angeles in 2002. Like most newcomers, they knew no one here and discovered the best way to meet people was to join the cleverly named Newcomers Club in the PGICA.
Unlike many who move to Punta Gorda, Karen and Mike are not retired. They still actually work for a living. A sense of humor helps. Karen needs one to do the work she does as a program specialist for Charlotte County’s Human Services Department. Mike uses his to cope with less-than-stellar golfing ability and his day-job, writing non-fiction books. The latest, his fifth, is THE LIBERATORS—America’s Witnesses to the Holocaust, published by Bantam/Random House. He’s written three previous military titles, including NONE BRAVER, for which he was embedded with Air Force Para Rescue units in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan shortly after moving here. He also co-wrote the New York Times bestseller TERRI—The Truth with Michael Schiavo.
Because they are known to occasionally dine out, Karen and Mike were asked to review restaurants for the “Eating off the Beaten Path” column in the monthly online real estate newsletter found at www.harborparadise.com.
Married for almost forty-two years, the Hirsh’s two children live in New Jersey with four grandchildren ages six and under who, coincidentally, also live in New Jersey. Their children wanted them to move from LA to Jersey, not Florida, but Mike and Karen declined due to a severe psychological condition: winter-aversion. Originally from Chicago (where she was a social worker and later, a full-time mom…he worked in public TV and hosted a radio talk-show), they were all-too-familiar with sub-zero temperatures and blizzards, and wanted no part of them. The usual response when they tell this story is, “Yeah, but you moved where there are hurricanes.” And their comeback is, “You’re right, but we left where there are earthquakes.” They’d gone through the 1992 Northridge earthquake, which was somewhere between 6.8 and imminent death on the Richter scale. Mike says, “The only warning you get with an earthquake is the sound and feel of the house shaking and a god-like voice inside your head saying, ‘You’re about to die!’ With a hurricane, you get several days warning—it’s what you do with that warning that matters.” (They left for Fort Lauderdale at 1:30 a.m. on Friday, August 13, 2004. Timing is everything.)
Karen has been working for County Human Services for seven years. Most recently, she was able to use federal stimulus funds and act on an idea that came to her several years back, developing a budget management class for low income people in cooperation with Calusa National Bank that may become a model for similar programs statewide if funding can be found.
Having spent the last two years enmeshed in researching and writing his Holocaust book, Mike is glad to be back at work on something lighter. He’s rewriting his humorous buddy-mystery about murder and insurance fraud in Punta Gorda following Hurricane Charley. Then, it’ll be back to non-fiction, which is where he spent most of his life (after service as an army combat correspondent in Vietnam) as an award-winning investigative reporter, documentary and network TV specials producer. In addition to dealing with serious subject like child sexual abuse, teen pregnancy, PTSD in Vietnam veterans and college suicide, Mike has had a long association with M*A*S*H, producing the PBS documentary Making M*A*S*H, doing all the story research for After MASH, and producing, writing and directing the 20th anniversary special Memories of M*A*S*H for CBS.
There is a third member of the Hirsh family who needs mentioning: Alfie, the incredibly handsome and brilliant Australian Shepherd. A Delta Society certified therapy dog for four years, Alfie spends most Friday mornings at Charlotte Regional Medical Center taking care of kids having surgery. Welcome to PGI…glad we have you.