A Writer's Moment: 'Not a real safe occupation'

A Writer's Moment: 'Not a real safe occupation':   “If a big person invests time in reading, kids learn reading is important, the child is important, words are important, stories are impor...

'Not a real safe occupation'

 

“If a big person invests time in reading, kids learn reading is important, the child is important, words are important, stories are important.” – Gail Carson Levine

Born in New York City on Sept. 17, 1947 Levine is the author of the Newbery Award winning book, Ella Enchanted, and the wonderful semi-biographical novel Dave at Night, based loosely on her father’s “growing-up years” in an orphanage.

Although she grew up an avid reader, she didn’t have writing on her radar until later in life, wanting to be an artist or actress.  In her late 40s she finally gave it a try, starting with Ella, although it took 9 years of doing manuscripts before she got that one accepted.         After it won the Newbery and was made into a successful movie, it gave Levine the financial independence to focus on more, many based on fairy tales with a modern twist.  Her latest - her 26th - is Sparrows in the Wind.

“As a child, I loved fairy tales because the story, the what-comes-next, is paramount. As an adult, I'm fascinated by their logic and illogic,” Levine said.  As for why she didn’t get into writing sooner, she said (with tongue firmly in cheek), “Most of the authors I liked were dead, so it didn't seem like a real safe occupation.”

A Writer's Moment: Using 'The Powers of Observing'

A Writer's Moment: Using 'The Powers of Observing':   “I love the line of Flaubert about observing things very intensely. I think our duty as writers begins not with our own...

Using 'The Powers of Observing'

 

“I love the line of Flaubert about observing things very intensely. I think our duty as writers begins not with our own feelings, but with the powers of observing.” – Mary Oliver

 

Born on Sept. 10, 1935 Oliver won both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for her poetic stylings, and The New York Times described her as "far and away, [America's] best-selling poet.”  Oliver, who died in 2019, said she often turned to nature for both wonder and inspiration.  For Saturday’s Poem, here is Oliver’s,

      A Dream of Trees

There is a thing in me that dreamed of trees,
A quiet house, some green and modest acres
A little way from every troubling town,
A little way from factories, schools, laments.
I would have time, I thought, and time to spare,
With only streams and birds for company,
To build out of my life a few wild stanzas.
And then it came to me, that so was death,
A little way away from everywhere.

There is a thing in me still dreams of trees.
But let it go. Homesick for moderation,
Half the world's artists shrink or fall away.
If any find solution, let him tell it.
Meanwhile I bend my heart toward lamentation
Where, as the times implore our true involvement,
The blades of every crisis point the way.

I would it were not so, but so it is.
Who ever made music of a mild day?

A Writer's Moment: 'The heart of everything we do'

A Writer's Moment: 'The heart of everything we do':     "The illustrations in picture books are the first paintings most children see, and because of that, they are i...

'The heart of everything we do'

 

 

"The illustrations in picture books are the first paintings most children see, and because of that, they are incredibly important. What we see and share at that age stays with us for life."  – Anthony Browne

  

A British writer and illustrator of children's books, Browne was born on Sept. 11 1946, and started drawing and writing when he was 5.   Browne said as a teenager his goals were to be either a journalist, a cartoonist, or a boxer, but he always gravitated back to doing things for kids.  

 

“Never forget that children are at the heart of everything we do,” he said. “Respect them, listen to them, talk to them as equals and most of all, care about them.”

 

With some 40 books to his credit – headed by the multiple award-winning book Gorilla – he has twice won the Kate Greenaway Medal for his illustrations.  He also is recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international honor for children's book authors.

  

“I never want to make a child worried or afraid, and I don't think I do. My pictures are born from the belief that children are far more capable and aware of social complexities than we give them credit for.”

'The realist is an optimist'

 

"The realist . . . is really an optimist, a dreamer. He sees life in terms of what it might be, as well as in terms of what it is; but he writes of what is, and, at his best, suggests what is to be, by contrast." – Hamlin Garland

Born on a Wisconsin farm on Sept. 14 1860 to devotees, Garland was named Hannibal Hamlin after Abraham Lincoln’s vice presidential running mate.    But he never much liked the name Hannibal and went by Hamlin most of his life, particularly after his writing career took off.   

                    

 Novelist, poet, essayist, short story writer, Garland is best known for his fiction involving hard-working Midwestern farmers – a reflection of his “Growing Up Days” in Wisconsin, Iowa and South Dakota.  His first major success, in fact, was a book of short stories Main-Travelled Roads, inspired by his days on the farm. He then serialized a biography of Ulysses S. Grant in McClure's Magazine, publishing it as a book in 1898, the same year he traveled to the Yukon to witness the Klondike Gold Rush and inspiring his best-seller The Trail of the Gold Seekers. 

While he was a prolific writer in many genres, his work as a memoirist brought him his most acclaim, beginning with his autobiography A Son of the Middle Border, its Pulitzer Prize-winning sequel A Daughter of the Middle Border, and a number of other memoirs about farm life, the people, and the harsh land they strove to tame – “...the hard, unromantic truth," he said, "of pioneer life on the plains.”

A Writer's Moment: 'There's only one rule'

A Writer's Moment: 'There's only one rule':   “Write what you like; there is no other rule.” – O. Henry William Henry Porter – known by the pen name O. Henry – ...

'There's only one rule'

 

“Write what you like; there is no other rule.” – O. Henry

William Henry Porter – known by the pen name O. Henry – is perhaps America’s greatest short story writer.   His works set a standard for generations of writers and today the O. Henry Award is a prestigious annual prize given for outstanding stories in the genre'.

 

Born in North Carolina on this date in 1862, O. Henry grew up in Texas.  Working as a banker in Houston in 1895, he was accused of embezzlement and in a panic fled the country.

 

While the charges were never proven, he lived for a time in South America where he began writing short stories and coined the term “Banana Republic,” first used in his story “Cabbages and Kings.”  Drawn back to America when his wife developed a fatal illness, he was arrested and sentenced to 5 years in prison.  While there he wrote many successful stories, publishing under various names to hide his identity.  One of those names was O. Henry.

 

After being released early for good behavior, he wrote steadily and had dozens of best-selling stories and story collections published, establishing himself as one of America’s most well-known and beloved writers. 

 

Among his most famous stories, still popular today, are The Gift of the Magi; The Last Leaf; The Ransom of Red Chief (where a kidnap victim is so horrible that the kidnappers end up paying his family to take him back); and Caballero’s Way (introducing the world to The Cisco Kid).

 

O. Henry died from liver disease at age 47 but on his death bed said he loved every minute of his life and being a writer.  “When one loves one's art,” he said, “no service seems too hard.”

A Writer's Moment: 'The world awaits'

A Writer's Moment: 'The world awaits':     “They say no land remains to be discovered, no continent is left unexplored.   But the whole world is out there, waiting, just waiting f...

'The world awaits'

 

 “They say no land remains to be discovered, no continent is left unexplored.  But the whole world is out there, waiting, just waiting for you and me.”  - Lisa Ann Sandell

 When I was a kid growing up on a South Dakota farm my Mom and Dad would spend days building us up for "day trips," and my brothers and I would look upon them with as much anticipation as if we were going to Europe.  So, you can about imagine the excitement a three-day vacation somewhere might generate.  

 

It built a love for discovery; and a lifelong resonance for enjoying whatever might be found around the next corner and then writing about those discoveries.  Writers' moments, if you will.   

 

“The real voyage of discovery," says author Marcel Proust, "consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”

A Writer's Moment: That 'Encouragement and Inspiration' factor

A Writer's Moment: That 'Encouragement and Inspiration' factor: “Other writers definitely influence my writing. What encourages me and inspires me is when I read a good book. It makes ...

That 'Encouragement and Inspiration' factor

“Other writers definitely influence my writing. What encourages me and inspires me is when I read a good book. It makes me want to be a better writer.” – Kimberly Willis Holt

 

 Born into a Navy family in Pensacola, FL on this date in 1960, Holt once said her biggest disappointment as a writer is that once she's finished working on her characters she really expects to see them in the flesh some day, finding it hard to let those characters go.

 

Best known for her novel When Zachary Beaver Came to Town – winner of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature – Holt spent most of her “growing up” years in Forest Hill, LA, inspiration for her award-winning first novel My Louisiana Sky.   And her experiences as a “Navy brat” are reflected in her Piper Reed series of books.   The author of nearly two dozen books, her most recent is The Hurricane Girls.

 

 “I come from a line of hardworking people who never made much money but were rich in stories," Holt said.  "My family's roots are very important to me.  When you're looking for stories, look to your own heart.”

A Writer's Moment: 'The poet speaks to all'

A Writer's Moment: 'The poet speaks to all':   “The poet speaks to all men of that other life of theirs that they have smothered and forgotten.” –   Edith Sitwell Born in Britain...

'The poet speaks to all'

 

“The poet speaks to all men of that other life of theirs that they have smothered and forgotten.” –  Edith Sitwell

Born in Britain on Sept. 7, 1867 Sitwell was both a patron of the writing and art worlds and a critic and noted poet herself.  She started writing while still in grammar school and had her first poem, The Drowned Suns, published in London’s Daily Mirror in 1913.   A patron of rising young poets like Dylan Thomas she also authored hundreds of poems, many of which remain popular and several that have been set to music. 

For Saturday’s Poem, here is Sitwell’s

                                             Answers

                            I kept my answers small and kept them near;
                            Big questions bruised my mind but still I let
                            Small answers be a bullwark to my fear.

                            The huge abstractions I kept from the light;
                            Small things I handled and caressed and loved.
                            I let the stars assume the whole of night.

                            But the big answers clamored to be moved

                            Into my life. Their great audacity
                            Shouted to be acknowledged and believed.

                            Even when all small answers build up to
                            Protection of my spirit, still I hear
                            Big answers striving for their overthrow.

                            And all the great conclusions coming near.

A Writer's Moment: 'Our life is a book'

A Writer's Moment: 'Our life is a book':   “ Our life is a book that writes itself and whose principal themes sometimes escape us. We are like characters in a novel who do not alwa...

'Our life is a book'

 

“Our life is a book that writes itself and whose principal themes sometimes escape us. We are like characters in a novel who do not always understand what the author wants of them.” – Julien Green

The first non-French national (he’s American) to be admitted to the famed Académie Française, Green was born on this date in 1900 to American parents living in France.  After spending time in America in his late teens, he returned to France and in 1922 –  after a false start as a painter – began a nearly 80-year writing career.

 He remained there for the rest of his long life (he died in 1998) except during World War II, when he went back to the U.S.  There, he played a major role in the United States Office of War Information as   the “French” voice for Voice of America and keeping up contacts with the French Resistance. 

Most noted for his 19-volume diary, spanning some 80 years, Green gave the world a unique window on the artistic and literary scene in Paris.  The popularity of his diary was, he said, based on his free form and spontaneous writing style, folksy and highly readable.

 

“The secret is to write just anything, to dare to write just anything,” he said,  “because when you write just anything, you begin to say what is important.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Have the willingness to fail"

A Writer's Moment: 'Have the willingness to fail":     “I don't teach writing. I teach patience. Toughness. Stubbornness. The willingness to fail. I teach life. The odd...

'Have the willingness to fail"

 

 “I don't teach writing. I teach patience. Toughness. Stubbornness. The willingness to fail. I teach life. The odd thing is most of the things that stop an inexperienced writer are so far from the truth as to be nearly beside the point. When you feel doubt about your talent, that is your talent. People who have no talent don't have any doubt.” ― Richard Bausch

 

Born an identical twin at Fort Benning, GA in 1945, Bausch is a novelist, short story writer and Professor in the Writing Program at Chapman University in Orange, CA.  He is the author of 13 novels – highlighted by the multi-award winning Peace – 9 short story collections and 1 volume of poetry.  His most recent novel is 2023’s Playhouse.

 

His twin brother Robert, who died of cancer in 2018, also was a noted writer and produced 9 novels – led by the award-winning A Hole in the Earth and Almighty Me (which became both a best-selling book and the popular movie Bruce Almighty).  He also wrote a  collection of short stories and was a writing professor at several universities.

 

Richard Bausch said he often gets questions about what to do if you get “writer’s block” and find yourself stuck.  “When you reach a place where you feel blocked, lower your standards and keep on going,” he said.  “There is no possible way to do permanent damage to a piece of writing. You cannot ruin it. You can only make it a little better a little at a time.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Life's greatest adventure'

A Writer's Moment: 'Life's greatest adventure':   “Learning should be a joy and full of excitement. It is life's greatest adventure; it is an illustrated excursion ...

'Life's greatest adventure'

 

“Learning should be a joy and full of excitement. It is life's greatest adventure; it is an illustrated excursion into the minds of the noble and the learned.” – Taylor Caldwell

Born in England on Sept. 7, 1900 Caldwell emigrated to the U.S. in 1907 and spent many of her formative years living in poverty after her father died.  It shaped her values and she said she always wanted to have money and never again live in fear of want.  That goal was achieved with her writing successes; her book sales exceeding 40 million copies.

 

A writer even before leaving England (where she won a Charles Dickens Prize for young writers) she became a prolific author of popular fiction, writing under her own name and the pen names Marcus Holland, Max Reiner and J. Miriam Reback, her actual married name.

 

In her fiction, she often used real historical events or persons combined with her own vivid imagination, writing bestsellers like Dynasty of Death, Dear and Glorious Physician (about Saint Luke), The Earth is the Lord's (about Genghis Khan), and Captains and the Kings.   Before her death at age 85 she had 50 novels published and purportedly discarded 150 more. 

 

 A self-proclaimed “born skeptic” Caldwell said her mantra was simple: “Acquire an education, work extremely hard, and never deviate from my goal to make it.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Enduring literature that Impacts lives'

A Writer's Moment: 'Enduring literature that Impacts lives':   “ I hope to be remembered for writing books about social justice that also have enough aesthetic value to endure as wor...

'Enduring literature that Impacts lives'

 

“I hope to be remembered for writing books about social justice that also have enough aesthetic value to endure as works of literature.” – Jonathan Kozol

 

Born on Sept. 5,1936 Kozol is an American writer and educator best known for his books on both public education and homelessness.

 

After writing a novel The Fume of Poppies, he began a string of award-winning nonfiction works with the book Death at an Early Age in 1967.  A description of his first year as a teacher in the Boston Public Schools it won the National Book Award in Science, Philosophy and Religion and has sold more than two million copies in the United States and Europe alone.

 

His book Rachel and Her Children: Homeless Families in America also won numerous awards including the Conscience-in-Media Award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors.   His book Amazing Grace:  The Lives of Children And The Conscience of a Nation earned him the prestigious Ainsfield-Wolf literary award, which honors works that make important contributions to the understanding of racism and the appreciation of the rich diversity of human culture.

 

Kozol also founded The Education Action Fund, which serves as a nonprofit charitable fund to provide assistance to many of the children and families profiled in his books.

  

“I try to write a narrative that will not only challenge but also entice the reader into the lives of children.”

A Writer's Moment: 'The power of imagination'

A Writer's Moment: 'The power of imagination':   “The power of imagination makes us infinite.” – John Muir Born in Scotland in 1838, Muir emigrated to the U.S. i...

'The power of imagination'

 

“The power of imagination makes us infinite.” – John Muir

Born in Scotland in 1838, Muir emigrated to the U.S. in 1849 and also became known as "John of the Mountains.”  Author, environmental philosopher and early advocate for the preservation of our wilderness areas, his letters, essays, and books describing his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada, have been read by millions.

More than just a “naturalist,” Muir’s musings on nature and his writings about the roles that people must play in preserving our natural world – not only for our own enjoyment and the sake of the plants and animals, but also for future generations and our planet’s well-being – are still the standard followed by most Americans.    

                                   

So, next time you “take a hike” or just drink in the beauty of our amazing national parks – especially on a weekend like this one where so many are doing just that – thank Muir for his vision and wisdom.

 

  “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread; places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.”