Happy birthday, Jerry Spinelli! This American writer of children's novels that feature adolescence and early adulthood was born 1941 (age 75) in Pennsylvania, he is best known for Maniac Magee and Wringer. Jerry's hilarious books entertain both children and young adults. Readers see Jerry's life in his stories as he describes his own memories as a library where he does much of his research.
Growing up, Jerry was really serious about baseball. He played for the Green Sox Little League team in his hometown and dreamed of one day playing for the major leagues, preferably as shortstop for the New York Yankees. One night during high school at the age of sixteen, he watched the football team win an exciting game against one of the best teams in the country.
While everyone else rode about town tooting horns in celebration, Jerry went home and wrote "Goal to Go," a poem about the game's defining moment, a goal-line stand.
His father submitted the poem to the local newspaper with his knowledge and it was featured in the middle of the sports page a few days later. It was at this time that he then traded in his baseball bat for a pencil because Jerry realized that he wanted to become a writer.
After graduating from college with an English degree where he became the editor of the school's literary magazine and wrote his first short stories, he worked full time as a magazine editor for men's wear of a department store. Everyday on his lunch hour, Jerry would close his office door and craft novels on yellow copy paper.
He also wrote after dinner and during weekends. Jerry wrote four adult novels in those 12 years of writing but none of these were accepted for publication. When he submitted a fifth novel about a 13-year-old boy, adult publishers once again rejected his work but children's publishers embraced it. Jerry feels that he accidentally became an author of children's books. He now has 30 published books.
Jerry currently lives with his wife and fellow writer, Eileen, in Pennsylvania. While they write in separate rooms of the house, the couple edits and celebrates one another's work. Their six children and 21 grandchildren have given him a plethora of clever material for his writing.
Growing up, Jerry was really serious about baseball. He played for the Green Sox Little League team in his hometown and dreamed of one day playing for the major leagues, preferably as shortstop for the New York Yankees. One night during high school at the age of sixteen, he watched the football team win an exciting game against one of the best teams in the country.
While everyone else rode about town tooting horns in celebration, Jerry went home and wrote "Goal to Go," a poem about the game's defining moment, a goal-line stand.His father submitted the poem to the local newspaper with his knowledge and it was featured in the middle of the sports page a few days later. It was at this time that he then traded in his baseball bat for a pencil because Jerry realized that he wanted to become a writer.
After graduating from college with an English degree where he became the editor of the school's literary magazine and wrote his first short stories, he worked full time as a magazine editor for men's wear of a department store. Everyday on his lunch hour, Jerry would close his office door and craft novels on yellow copy paper.
He also wrote after dinner and during weekends. Jerry wrote four adult novels in those 12 years of writing but none of these were accepted for publication. When he submitted a fifth novel about a 13-year-old boy, adult publishers once again rejected his work but children's publishers embraced it. Jerry feels that he accidentally became an author of children's books. He now has 30 published books.
Jerry currently lives with his wife and fellow writer, Eileen, in Pennsylvania. While they write in separate rooms of the house, the couple edits and celebrates one another's work. Their six children and 21 grandchildren have given him a plethora of clever material for his writing.
No comments:
Post a Comment