Encinitas author Robert Pacilio’s latest book “The Revival of Molly O’ Toole” is a love story about second acts, about people finding a purpose later in life and having the courage to do it.
The novel is told through the lens of Molly, an aging actress who has taken on a project to restore the reimagined La Paloma Playhouse in Encinitas, carrying themes of regrets and rebounds.
“It is never too late to start again, even when that beginning may be something so foreign or even sinister to the person who has finished one career, either because they are forced out or reluctant to continue the dubious battle,” Pacilio wrote. “Molly’s journey begins with the acceptance that she needs to move back to her hometown of Encinitas, leaving the allure of Hollywood behind. She must face the responsibility that her twin sister has carried, namely the care for her failing father. She also rediscovers the community of friends who try to save the community theater (in this case reworked as the La Paloma Playhouse) that has been in financial ruin after the pandemic. In addition, the male protagonist, Alan Bernstein, has to deal with the tragic death of his wife also a result from the conditions brought on by COVID-19. “
The book is part of Pacilio’s own second act as an author. For 32 years, he was a teacher at Mt. Carmel High School, teaching English and history, shaping young writers through the literary magazine and coaching the state champion speech and debate team. He was even named the 1998 San Diego County Teacher of the Year.
In the 17 years since he retired, the soon to be 70 year old has penned seven books, including his memoir.
“Molly O’Toole” is dedicated to his longtime colleague Linda Englund, the teacher who took him under her wing when he started at Mt. Carmel as a young 21-year-old teacher in 1977. Englund was the drama teacher and the two would collaborate when Pacilio would write Reader’s Theater plays for the students to perform—“That’s when I realized even though I loved teaching, I also loved writing,” he said. “It became obvious my second act was to be an author.”
Englund retired the same year as Pacilio, and embarked on an acting career, pursuing a long-held dream of performing in community theater. “It was a 12-year journey for her. She had to start from the rock bottom and prove herself, as she has done, winning two Aubrey Awards,” Pacilio said. This year, Englund won the Aubrey from ACT San Diego for outstanding direction of a drama for “I Never Sang for My Father” at Poway Community Theatre.
The novel borrows from Englund’s experience, the setbacks and the thrills, and also draws from conversations with Dana Fares, another local professional actress who spent time in Hollywood.
Like his real-life friend and character Molly, Pacilio also uneasily embarked on his second career at age 55, launching into being an author at a time when the publishing world had undergone many changes. After some exploration with a book agent, he went his own way, telling the stories he wanted to tell the way he wanted to tell them (no vampires or violence or unnecessary swearing), publishing through Amazon Kindle Direct and starting his own company with editors, designers and readers.
Like his previous books “Meet Me at Moonlight Beach” and “Whitewash”, San Diego and Encinitas serves as the idyllic setting. But this book, Pacilio feels, is his best and most touching character study.
“My editor told me that I really hit a nerve about what a woman feels like when all of the sudden she’s viewed as aged out or what a man feels like when all of the sudden, his whole trajectory, the staircase he’s been climbing, is gone because his wife is killed. We can relate to the characters; we can all relate to those fears and how it’s so important to remain relevant.”
Something he misses most about being a teacher is being relevant to the 150 kids who leaned in every day as he taught not just about American literature but about the “invisible things”—“love, compassion, trust, grit and the darker parts of the human condition”. In his second act, writing has become a way to continue to be relevant and share his experiences and life lessons.
“The Revival of Molly O’Toole” is in both trade paperback and Kindle on Amazon or online at website robertpacilio.com