Member Interview: Author Cynthia Levinson

Where did you grow up, and how did that place (or those places) shape your work?

I grew up in Columbus, Ohio, which, at the time, was a very boring, nondescript, and stodgy place to live. Although I love my family, some of whose members remain there, and although I returned after college and graduate school to teach at the same school I had gone to for two years, I was glad to leave and be able to live around the country and in two other countries, which probably shaped my outlook more than Columbus did. However, writing a weekly essay from sixth through twelfth grades and taking innumerable pesky tests on “Warriner’s English Grammar and Composition” also shaped my work by making me a strict grammarian. (But I must have been sick when we learned about colons; I still don’t use those the right way.)

Did you always want to be an author, or did that come later?

I always wanted to be a teacher. And I was, on and off, for a number of years. Then, I worked in education policy for many more years. I didn’t hanker to be a writer until our children graduated from college: tuition is very expensive. (Did I use that colon the right way?) But a college friend always wanted me to be a writer. She was right, but I had to wait for the right time. I’m awed by writers who also have day jobs and children at home.

If someone were to follow you around for 24 hours, what would they see?

Here’s what I say on my website about that: fortunately, my office has a comfy couch. Anyone following me wouldn’t get very far. Mostly, I sit at my desk reading, thinking, researching, writing, erasing, and staring. Every couple of hours, I get up to stir the soup or take a walk. But my stalker should bring a good book and settle in for the long haul.

How does your everyday life feed your work?

EVERYTHING feeds my work! I’m ALWAYS attuned to a good story—listening to the news, reading the paper or a magazine, watching documentaries, chatting with friends, taking walks, traveling, going to museums … But there are two things in particular that feed my work—curiosity and deadlines. The former amounts to my antennae. And deadlines keep me rooted to my desk.

Tell us about some accomplishments that make you proud.

I am both justifiably and inordinately proud of our daughters and their families. In fact, I follow a tradition my husband (of whom I’m also proud) started with his first book of acknowledging them, even if they had nothing to do with a book, by saying that they “are thoroughly splendid people!” Winning awards, including the Robert F. Sibert Medal, the Carter G. Woodson Award, and the Jane Addams Book Award, among others, is very gratifying. But what pleases me the most is developing relationships with the people I write about, brave people in Alabama, Israel, and elsewhere whom I otherwise would not know or learn from.

What surprises you about the creative life?

How hard it is.

When a reader discovers your work, what do you hope they find?

Surprise. I hope my readers learn about other people their age who do remarkable things and make a difference, just as they can.

Quick-Fire Questions:

Favorite childhood non-fiction “character?”

Abraham Lincoln. Reading a book about his childhood helped me realize that even bigger-than-life heroes are people and that maybe I could learn enough about them to make them come to life for readers.

Advice for collaboration conundrums?

View the work as a partnership. Respect each other’s expertise. At the same time, recognize that we’re all learning together.

If you hosted dinner for some friendly extraterrestrials, who else would you invite?

Several of the space lawyers who helped me with WHO OWNS THE MOON? An astrodynamicist at the University of Texas. My thoroughly splendid family. And a reporter from NPR. Also a chef; I like to cook but I wouldn’t want to be distracted for even a moment.