September
- October 2004
Karen Strickler Dean, author of a popular YA series about a ballet dancer named Maggie Adams passed away at the end of December 2003. Karen was a pivotal figure in the growth of SCBWI in Northern California and she was named the National Member of the Year in 1987. She was one of the small group that started the Asilomar conference twenty years ago, and her friends honored her there, at a memorial tribute during this year's conference. Her quiet grace, her support of newcomers and her welcoming smile were mentioned again and again.
Karen will be greatly missed. The San Francisco South region has established a Karen Dean Memorial Scholarship to provide a scholarship to the Asilomar conference. Anyone wishing to contribute can contact Regional Advisor Jim Averbeck at sfra@scbwinorca.org.
REMEMBERING RUTH HELLER
Longtime SCBWI member Ruth Heller, who wrote and illustrated 23 children's books, and who entertained children with both the vibrancy of her palette and the joy of her words, died in late June in San Francisco. She was 81. Her books, which often revolved around wordplay, included such titles as Many Luscious Lollipops: A Book About Adjectives; Fantastic! Wow! And Unreal! A Book About Interjections and Conjunctions, and A Cache of Jewels and Other Collective Nouns. Her son, Phillip, also an author, said of her that,"nothing stopped her from making her contribution to the world. There's really no one else who did what she did which was to present children's non fiction in a way they really liked." She will be sadly missed not only her many readers, but by her many friends in the SCBWI, especially in the San Francisco Bay area. Contributions in Ruth’s memory may be sent to the Coming Home Hospice, 115 Diamond St., San Francisco 94114 or to the charity of personal choice.
REMEMBERING KATHLEEN A. MEYER
SCBWI member Kathleen A. Meyer of Fort Bragg, CA, died on May 30th. She was 86.
Mrs. Meyer was raised in New Jersey; then received a Journalism Degree from New York University in 1939. She worked as a nursery school teacher from the 1950's until retiring in 1995. In addition, she authored 25 children's books; published by Standard Publishing, Dillon Press, Bob Jones University Press and by Our Sunday Visitor.
Her book Ishi was on the suggested reading curriculum list for the California State Department of Education. Most recently, she was honored to learn that her book Little Bear Your Manners are Showing will appear in Standard Publishing's The Happy Day Book Family Treasury in March 2005. Memorial contributions are suggested to the Mendocino Coast Hospice Services 700 River Drive, Fort Bragg, CA 95437.
She will be missed by all those who knew her, as well as by those she touched with her books.
REMEMBERING PAULA DANZIGER: SCBWI BOARD MEMBER AND FRIEND
Longtime SCBWI Board Member, mentor to hundreds of aspiring writers and illustrators, and beloved author to children everywhere, died July 8th in New York City from complications following a heart attack.
After graduation from Montclair State College in New Jersey, she worked as a teacher and, though she dreamed of being a writer, she only took it up seriously following two car accidents in two days. Her first book, The Cat Ate My Gymsuit, was published in 1974 and is still in print today. In it, she drew on her own experiences of a difficult childhood and her years as a teacher to illuminate the perils of adolescence with a classic mixture of understanding and humor. In the 1990's she was a regular on a BBC's Saturday morning program devoted to children's books. Following her death the Manchester Guardian wrote, "Paula never shied away from showing that life was both difficult and fun, and that there was no contradiction between the two. Her light touch meant that across her more than 30 titles her books were never in danger of slipping into the region of problem novels, even though they touched on many 'problem' issues."
In recent years she co-wrote two books with Ann M. Martin, PS Longer Letter Later, and Snail Mail No More. And, in 1993, she introduced young readers to the unforgettable Amber Brown in Amber Brown Is Not A Crayon, a series that is still going strong.
A longtime member of the SCBWI Board of Advisors, Paula was a powerful advocate for the SCBWI and an always willing mentor to the scores of authors and illustrators she encountered in her many travels. "The SCBWI has lost a true and devoted friend," said SCBWI President Stephen Mooser. "She was as caring as she was unique, and her loss to the organization, to her friends in the children's book field, and to children everywhere cannot be measured."
Paula's editor, Margaret Frith, has said that "kids adored this wonderful, original woman who was their fierce ally and friend."
We all adored her. And she is terribly missed.
The SCBWI has helped establish the Amber Brown Fund. Proceeds will go to helping schools bring authors into their classrooms. Donations to the Amber Brown/Museum Fund can be sent to the SCBWI Executive Office.
