Amagansett Man's Second Chapter, Finds New Life As Author At 81

AMAGANSETT, NY — At 81 years old, Allan Retzky is a far cry from sitting back, feet up, enjoying retirement. Instead, he's busy at work writing his second novel, and getting ready for a book signing to promote his first best-seller, "Vanished in the Dunes," which will be officially released in paperback in June.

Retzky published "Vanished in the Dunes," a mystery set in the Hamptons, at 73 years old: The book symbolizes a man pursuing a lifetime dream and seeing that vision realized.

On Saturday, May 18, Retzky has a reading and book signing of "Vanished in the Dunes" slated for BookHampton, located at 41 Main Street in East Hampton, at 4 p.m.

For Retzky, who has lived with his wife in Amagansett for more than 25 years, the book marked a new beginning: After a distinguished career in commodities training, he attended the the MFA program in Creative Writing and Literature at Stony Brook University in Southampton.

Retzky grew up in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn and later graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's School of Engineering. Although he worked in the field for awhile, Retzky felt another calling and later earned an MBA in business at Harvard University.

After working in finance and international trading for 20 odd years, Retzky said, "It got a little less rewarding than I thought it might have been. I reverted to the idea of something I'd always played with and liked the idea of doing — writing. If you have creative juice in you, it comes out one way or another."

After retiring from business, Retzky attended Southampton University — now Stony Brook Southampton University — and earned his MFA. The experience was invaluable not only for honing his writing chops and learning specific fiction-writing techniques, but also, for networking and making good contacts in the field, he said.

He wrote a novel for his graduate thesis to lukewarm reviews, he said. "My advisor said it was very nice, but it wasn't going to sell — which is very much real world advice. Coming from the business environment, I knew that."

After graduating, he began "Vanished in the Dunes," a book that took some years to craft, with his writing coming in "fits and starts. When you're alone and trying to create something, you need some encouragement, which I got from my family," Retzky said.

After he finished the novel, he brought it back to one of his teachers at the MFA program, who showed it to an agent; it was ultimately put out by Oceanview Publishing in Sarasota, FL.

According to a description of the book on Amazon.com, "A web of deceit spins out of control in this terrorizing psychological thriller."

The novel's protagonist, Amos Posner, "has a lovely house in the upscale Hamptons beach community of eastern Long Island. But recent events in Amos's life are preventing him from enjoying it. His employer, an international trading firm, fired him after making him the scapegoat for some shady business deals. His wife, a highly successful Manhattan lawyer, has not taken kindly to his job situation, and their marriage is under considerable stress," the synopsis reads.

"Amos is spending most of his time at the beach house, alone, and not at all happy. So he is highly vulnerable when a beautiful woman approaches him on a bus . . .from Manhattan to the Hamptons and persuades him to show her around the area on her day off from her job as a psychiatric resident at a Manhattan hospital. When Amos reluctantly agrees, he gets far more than an ego boost. He gets a nightmare beyond imagination. And the cascading events could cost him more than the loss of his job and his wife. They could cost him his life," the description said.

Retzky said the idea for the novel was born after an incident on the Hampton Jitney, an exchange between a man sitting in front of him and a woman who came over and asked him about nice beaches in East Hampton — and if he'd be willing to show her a good spot.

"He waved his wedding ring, apologized, and said 'no,'" Retzky said. "But what would have happened if he had been more amenable? This is wherein it starts — with the 'what.' What if he had agreed to what she wanted to do?"

From there, the book spun into its own tale, he said. "Some nasty stuff happens and it goes on, with twist and turns from there," Retzky said.

The book was well-received, "an amazing best seller" when it came out in hardcover, with e-book sales significant, Retzky said.

The paperback signals a new chapter in the book's evolution, Retzky said — and another dawn in the new day of his second career, a sensation he savors.

"I'm over 80 and I'm still writing," Retzky said. "It feels very good, very refreshing. Like taking a cold shower on a hot day. It's very rewarding. It's not every time in your life that you have more than one reasonably successful period."

The dream to write is a flame that's flickered within since he was a child, Retzky said. "My father died when I was just short of 13 — it still hurts a little bit."

After his father's death, Retzky spent weekends with his mother's family. "When I was 16 and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, my uncle said, 'Your father always thought you'd be a writer.'"

The words were prophetic — and held an important message Retzky hopes to impart. "One thing you learn as you get older is that you shouldn't waste any time doing what you want to do. Whether it's the creative arts, traveling, or romance — you should not waste any time," he said. "We only go around once."

Retzky, who's been married to his wife Susan for 56 years, said she and their two daughters, Deborah and Andrea, have been fully supportive of his dream.

"Both daughters are more than happy to read my drafts — and are very free with their criticism," he laughed, adding that his wife reads every word. His daughters also offer helpful insights and suggestions to improve his plots and move them forward, he said.

"My father was always a wonderful storyteller," Andrea Retzky said. "I have distinct memories from my childhood of him occasionally putting pen to paper, writing short stories that often drew upon his own childhood recollections. To see him follow his dream and return to school for a Master’s in creative writing, get his first novel published, and continue to pursue his writing has been a tremendous inspiration for myself as well as our family and friends. Our family really marvels at what he's accomplished."

It's the unwavering support from his loved ones that's meant everything, Retzky said.

"Family is very important," he said. "You need somebody to come in and give you kick in the rump sometimes."

Retzky, who is working on a new novel about a serial killer on the East End, infuses his work with the essence of the Hamptons.

"The book is really much more than a mystery," he said. "It's about the East End — the tang of the ocean smell when you walk on the beach. It's about the wind in your hair on a gusty day. It's the loneliness you feel on the beach at night when no one else is around."

The novels are also peppered with iconic Hamptons businesses and places, including Citarella, BookHampton, and the Montauk overlook, he said.

One review of "Vanished in the Dunes" by the San Francisco Examiner said the novel's "sense of place was like another character," he said. "That was a very pleasing thing."

His previous life, including a wide range of experiences and world travel, has set the stage for Retzky's next chapter.

But it took a leap of faith and courage to venture out onto a new path — and it's a journey he's fully embraced, one he whole-heartedly urges others to follow. For anyone who has a dream, Retzky's advice is simple: "Make time."

Even having spent the past five years confined to a wheelchair hasn't slowed him down. "Your motivation doesn't end if you have a limitation," Retzky said. "You should never hold back from doing something that you really want to do."