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Child's suggestion started a long career for Cleary
Tuesday, August 03, 1999 By Karen MacPherson, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
It was a young boy who launched Beverly Cleary's career as an award-winning children's author.
Forty years ago, Cleary was working as a children's librarian when a boy asked her, "Why doesn't somebody write books about boys like me?"
"There just weren't any books about boys," Cleary said in a recent interview released by her publisher. "So that's why I wrote 'Henry Huggins.' "
Once she started writing, Cleary kept going, creating more books about Henry and her most famous character, Ramona. Over more than 40 years, Cleary has written more than 30 books and carved a niche for herself as one of America's most popular authors.
In 1984, she won the highest children's book honor, the Newbery Medal, for "Dear Mr. Henshaw." She won a Newbery Honor, a second-place award, in 1978 for "Ramona and Her Father" and in 1982 for "Ramona Quimby, Age 8."
Now in her 80s, Cleary is back with her eighth book about the irrepressible Ramona, titled "Ramona's World."
Ironically, Cleary herself had trouble learning to read. She was raised on a farm in Yamhill, Ore., a town so small it had no library. Cleary's mother had books sent from the state library, however, and set up a small library for the town in a room over a bank. Although her mother's stint as the Yamhill librarian ensured that Cleary was surrounded by good books, it wasn't until the third grade that she caught on to reading. Soon after, Cleary's family moved to Portland. She later graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, and then entered the School of Librarianship at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she specialized in children's books.
She moved to California after marrying Clarence Cleary. She and her husband had twins, a boy and a girl. They were the inspiration for several popular picture books Cleary wrote. Now that she's an octogenarian, Cleary wants to find the time to fulfill a promise to herself.
"I always said I was going to re-read my books in my old age. Then I thought one day, 'My word, I'm in my 80s! I'd better start reading!' "
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