A Beverly Cleary book I kept from my childhood bookshelf.
As a young girl, I connected most with books. On Friday afternoons, my parents picked me up from school and dropped me at Nicholson Memorial Library. When I close my eyes, I still envision the beige building, the gray steps and the electronic doors with a red carpet welcoming my entry. I spent hours perusing the shelves, trying to find “the book” in the card catalog and eventually landed on a comfy couch to seek refuge with a paperback. As I write this post, several terms rush back in quick succession: “Dewey Decimal,” “library card,” “microfilm” and “stacks.” I remember checking out the magazine racks and having just enough money to grab a snack from the vending machine.
When it was time to go home, I’d stack multiple books, cradle them in my arms and find a way to balance them like I was walking on a tight rope. In those stacks, I recall Beverly Cleary and her books. Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins and the adventures Cleary penned were entertaining, relatable and key in keeping reading an enduring lifeline in my childhood.
Cleary celebrated her 100th birthday yesterday and I felt lucky to hear an interview about her on NPR. She worked part-time in a bookstore and decided at age 30 to write a children’s book. She focused on the everyday lives of children – something she desperately wanted to depict in her books. It worked. I found the characters relatable and I Iove that my daughter embraced a few books from her series, particularly gravitating toward Ramona and Beezus. It brought a special kind of moment into fruition – meeting my adolescent self in my daughter. I sensed my surprise when she asked whether I read her books. My answer automatic – “Yes, of course, honey, I’ve read several of her books.”
And there were so many. Cleary has written 41 books and sold 81 million copies. She wrote “Ramona’s World” at age 83. Looking at her prolific career pushed me to contemplate her process. How does a writer create such an enduring legacy and body of work? The answer, I discovered in the interview. Her daughter Marianne Cleary explains:
“My ancestors crossed the plains in covered wagons …And so my mother is from Pioneer stock. … She’s very disciplined. When she would write every morning, she would sit down after breakfast, my brother and I would go to school, and she’d write, till noon or so. She never waited for inspiration, she just got to it.”
I’ve heard “not waiting for inspiration” from so many writers. Writing is practice. It means writing when you don’t feel the muse or aren’t compelled to sit still enough to piece together a few sentences. More and more, the words persistence and discipline land at my feet when I consider my writing practice. In my office, I hear a woodpecker chipping away at a tree, the staccato beats consistent. The metaphor isn’t lost on me.
Here’s to Beverly Cleary. Her 100th birthday helped me revisit some of my favorite memories about reading. And hearing about her process offered a relevant reminder – writing is about showing up. Every single day.
Welcome! I am a lawyer turned freelance writer, essayist, and editor. On staff at Literary Mama and the co-founder and co-editor of the literary journal, The Sunlight Press, my essays and reported work have appeared in The Washington Post, The Lily, Saveur, Civil Eats, Brain, Child, ESPN and elsewhere. I am currently at work on a memoir on grief and culture and how it provides perspective on life’s ordinary graces. I invite you to appreciate the ordinary with me. I hope my daily practice of seeing the magic in the mundane helps you celebrate and find more of these moments in your life too.
Oh, I love Beverly Cleary so much. We just recently read the entire Ramona series to my kids and we all adored them. I was kind of shocked by how timeless they are, emotionally. Your description of being at the library staring at the books searching for “the one” describes me as a kid at my favorite bookstore, and really, I’m still that kid 🙂
It’s great you are still that kid. I think I am too. I love revisiting books I read in my childhood and now am able to share them with my daughter. Past and present intersecting at once! It’s a little unnerving, but also one of those moments you know you will always remember.
What a great tribute! Loved her too!
She is definitely awesome and inspiring.
Although she started publishing before I was born, I actually never read any of Cleary’s books until I started teaching children’s literature to college students! So I admire her more from afar–for how her work affected and impressed others. She’s definitely an inspiration. As far as the writing is practice notion, apparently so is reading. My 81-year-old mother told me yesterday that she is finally starting to “get” poetry because she’s been reading a little every day. Now she likes it because she “gets” it. That gives me even more confidence that practice in writing, practice in reading, practice in cooking–it all leads to more successes than failures.
Agree, Luanne. Writing and reading are integral for the practice. I love what you shared about your mom – invaluable insight. Thanks for sharing.
Love her! I’ll have to check out the interview on NPR.
Have you seen Nicholas Kristoff’s interview in the NY Times?
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/opinion/sunday/happy-birthday-beverly-cleary.html?smid=tw-nytopinion&smtyp=cur&_r=0
Terrific post, Rudri! This makes me want to re-read her Ramona books. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed the post, Jackie. I will have to check out Kristoff’s interview. Thanks for the heads up!
Whoa. Makes you feel inspired.. that she started at age 30 and published books into her old age. And she’s still kicking!
She totally inspired my..entire childhood.
It’s an incredible legacy she’s created. Such a staple of my childhood too.
She definitely has been dedicated to her craft and excelled at it. She has inspired many (myself) included through the many decades of her career.
I love how her characters stay with you after several decades and am in awe of her prolific career.
I loved her books as a kid – but had no idea that she’d written so many! I just recently picked up “Ramona the Pest” for my older son. He hasn’t opened it yet, but now it’s just sitting there waiting for him to be interested. I have the feeling he’ll love it when he does read it.
I hope he enjoys it. I love when the past intersects with the future (especially through our children).