Local author creates colorful world of Perry the Poodle

by Emily Canning-Dean

Even as a young boy, Robert Hasman had a way with words.

The Brecksville resident fondly remembers arriving home from baseball practice one day as a kid and noticing a hole in the toe of his sock.

“My mom was teaching a Jazzercise class and wouldn’t be home until late and I needed to get to bed so I left her a poem called, ‘Sew my toe.’ It was about eight or 10 stanzas long,” he said. “The next morning I found a note in my lunch and she had written a poem back to me and there was the repaired sock.”

Hasman said the exchange left a lasting impression on him and he often enjoyed putting expressions into fun rhyming, rhythmic stanzas. Years later, after retiring from a career in human resources and banking, Hasman sat on his porch with his beloved dog, a standard poodle named Perry, and found himself stringing some rhyming stanzas together.

“I didn’t have any intention at the time of writing a book, but it just started spilling out of me,” he said. “I ended up reading it to my five grandchildren and they loved it. They asked me what kind of pictures I would put with it and then I remembered my brother-in-law, Jack Millie, had been a commercial artist.”

Hasman went to Millie with his idea and the two began to collaborate. Soon, the first book in the series of “The Adventures of Perry the Poodle: Perry Goes to the County Fair,” was born.

“I had always gone to the Berea fair growing up and I always thought it was so wonderful and musical with all sorts of sights, smells and sounds that would be very fun to describe in a book,” he said. “There were a lot of things I could work with and draw on.”

Hasman said he would often draw on his own life experiences as inspiration for the series. In the past, Hasman had been involved with community theater, so for his second book, “Perry Goes to Hollywood,” Perry’s life takes an unexpected turn when he is selected to perform in a local theater production where his performance gets him noticed by Hollywood producers. In the story, Perry goes on his first plane ride and spends time in Hollywood. There is an earthquake and Perry saves the life of a little cat.

A few weeks later after returning home, Perry receives a letter from the cat expressing its gratitude.

“I would always end the story with a positive note,” Hasman said. “I thought it would be nice that when a parent is reading the book to the child there is a final question like ‘What do you want to be?’ or ‘Who is your best friend?’ to stimulate some discussion and conversation.”

Since authoring the first book roughly four years ago, Hasman has completed a series of six books with “Perry Goes to the Moon” being the most recent. Both Perry and Millie passed away last year, so Hasman said he thinks there will be no more books in the series.

“Jack did such a wonderful job with the illustrations,” Hasman said. “I could find someone else to do [them], but I just don’t think it would have the same look and feel.”

Currently Hasman is writing a book geared toward adults.

“It’s not fully developed yet. It is more of an adventure novel about a group of characters that is set in the future,” he said.

Anyone interested in learning more about the series or purchasing a book can visit Hasman’s website, perrythepoodle.com.

Photo: Robert Hasman is the author of six books in a series known as “The Adventures of Perry the Poodle.” Photos submitted.