On Thursday, children’s author Beverly Cleary died at 104 years old. The author behind beloved the Ramona series, the Ralph S. Mouse collection, the Henry Huggins books, and more, has been entertaining young readers for generations.
As The New York Times noted in Cleary’s obituary, the author was inspired to write children’s books that were better than the ones she grew up reading.
“The protagonists tended to be aristocratic English children who had nannies and pony carts, or poor children whose problems disappeared when a long-lost rich relative turned up in the last chapter,” the Times wrote.
Cleary, front right, in red, poses with blues musician Buddy Guy, dancer and artistic director Suzanne Farrell, President George W. Bush, and actor-director Ron Howard in 2003, when she received the National Medal of Arts at the White House.
“I wanted to read funny stories about the sort of children I knew,” Cleary wrote in The Horn Book in 1982, “and I decided that someday when I grew up I would write them.” When she grew up and became a librarian, she noticed that the offerings for kids were still very much lacking.
The Times reported that a group of boys in the library once asked her, “Where are the books about us?” When she was a child, she had the same reflections, per the Times,
“‘Why didn’t authors write books about everyday problems that children could solve by themselves?,’ she wondered, as she recalled in her acceptance speech on receiving the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the American Library Association in 1975. ‘Why weren’t there more stories about children playing? Why couldn’t I find more books that would make me laugh? These were the books I wanted to read, and the books I was eventually to write.”
Cleary made it her life’s work to give children books to which they could actually relate and fully realized characters to which they could aspire.
“It’s the kind of writing that enacts its own emotional transformation, carrying the reader through that storm of fury so they can emerge a little better, a little wiser,” Kathryn VanArendonk wrote of Cleary’s work in Vulture. “As a kid reading it independently, it’s as powerful as the close third person in an Austen novel, enveloping you in Ramona’s emotions and her eventual, longed-for release. But because of my own first experiences with Cleary, and because of how much I have treasured reading her work out loud to my own daughter, I’m especially overwhelmed by what that third person voice does when it’s read aloud by a parent. That direct, firm, Cleary narrative voice pulls us close to Ramona, too. We become her again.”
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“If you don’t see the book you want on the shelf, write it.”― Beverly Cleary pic.twitter.com/k6qZQnOR43
— Eric Alper 🎧 (@ThatEricAlper) March 26, 2021
Her readers, who are now adult humans with Twitter accounts, paid tribute to the late author, her books, and the worlds she created.
Through Ramona Quimby, she gave us a feminist icon
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RIP Beverly Cleary. Millions of girls saw themselves in Ramona Quimby. Thank you from all the “pests” out there.
— Jill Biden (@FLOTUS) March 26, 2021
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Holding Beverly Cleary’s family and loved ones in my heart. Ramona brought me so much joy as a child and inspired me to ask my Grandma Ginger to quit smoking for my 8th birthday (she did!). Have loved sharing her books with my children.May her memory be a blessing. https://t.co/SMWPubdPzg
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) March 26, 2021
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Let’s remember that Beverly Cleary wrote a book in the 70s in which Ramona’s mom goes to work full-time, making her the sole breadwinner, & she doesn’t have time to sew Ramona’s Christmas pageant costume, so Ramona wears PJs. A toast to Beverly Cleary from moms who work.
— Faith Salie (@Faith_Salie) March 26, 2021
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As a young queer girl growing up in a small Kansas town, there weren’t a lot of things in the 1970’s that made me feel less alone.Then I discovered Ramona Quimby. She was curious, entrepreneurial & unapologetically different.Thank you #BeverlyCleary.
— Chely Wright (@chelywright) March 27, 2021
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RIP 👑Beverly Cleary ❤️ pic.twitter.com/B7Qv8sl0tN
— Danny Pellegrino (@DannyPellegrino) March 26, 2021
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Ramona Quimby was a nosy ass little cutie with a big heart which obviously made me feel seen as a kid. I think it’s v special how kids often feel invisible or like annoyances and that Beverly Cleary showed a generation of kids (perhaps 2!) they had more to contribute than that
— Amanda Hugankiss (@Muna_Mire) March 27, 2021
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Saddest day. Just got word that Beverly Cleary has died (at 104!). Thank you, maam, for narrating the best parts of my childhood. And thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for THIS badass: pic.twitter.com/TsRx4frMB2
— Patricia Smith (@pswordwoman) March 26, 2021
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Ramona Quimby made being loud and reckless and annoying and sensitive and conflicted feel like traits to aspire to, not run from. I wanted to be a pest like Ramona. And I’ll love you forever, Beverly Cleary.
— Anne T. Donahue (@annetdonahue) March 26, 2021
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Beverly Cleary turned me into a lifelong reader. That feeling of so deeply connecting with a fictional character that you feel like you know her, and learning about yourself and your life in the process — it’s such a gift. Thank you and rest easy, BC.
— Lauren Kelley (@lauren_kelley) March 27, 2021
Instantly, everyone became really nostalgic
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Stuff that literally always make me think of Beverly Cleary:- taking the first bite of an apple- getting my hair washed at a salon- No Smoking signs – seeing perfectly formed curls- hard-boiled eggsRIP to an extraordinary writer about ordinary things
— Hillary Busis (@hillibusterr) March 26, 2021
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Raise your hand if a Ramona book was one of the first chapter books you ever read. Keep it raised if you can trace your love of reading directly to that experience. What a gift she gave us. Love you, Beverly Cleary.
— Kelli María Korducki (@kelkord) March 26, 2021
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Her characters were bold and brave, unruly and unstoppable, and she changed our ideas of what girls could be. Thank you, Beverly Cleary. You will be missed. pic.twitter.com/dEpN3T0ygW
— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) March 27, 2021
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Beverly Cleary wrote a Ramona book when she was 80. My dog Ramona was named after said Ramona. What joyous books. Making it to 104 was quite a run.
— Paula Poundstone (@paulapoundstone) March 26, 2021
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My whole feed tonight is fellow authors whose life work was shaped by Beverly Cleary. She didn’t just give us Ramona and a way to feel less alone. She inspired us to share our own stories – our own versions of Ramona – to reach all kinds of kids. That, my friends, is a legacy.
— katemessner (@KateMessner) March 26, 2021
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Beverly Cleary never responded to my fan mail from 35 years ago, but I forgive her. RIP.
— Maris Kreizman (@mariskreizman) March 26, 2021
And very thankful
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Sit here for the present. Jumping through the hole in the house. Brick Factory. Squeezing out all the toothpaste. The (not) hardboiled egg. Nosmo King. The pile of jiggly chicken skins. Picky-picky. Thank you, Beverly Cleary, for these and so much more.
— Celeste Ng (@pronounced_ing) March 26, 2021
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Goodbye, Beverly Cleary, and thank you. Reading your books was an escape from my often miserable childhood. pic.twitter.com/lAeomziQ3t
— Sarah Thyre (@SarahThyre) March 26, 2021
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Beverly Cleary giving us Ramona, Beezus and Henry Huggins and then living to 104 is queen shit so thank you ma’am ❤️
— Chelsea Cirruzzo ✨ (@ChelseaCirruzzo) March 26, 2021
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As a kid I felt so seen by Ramona wearing the crappy PJ sheep costume and as a mom, I feel so seen by that mom. Thank you Beverly Cleary. (Also for Beezuz, patron saint of insecure overachieving good girls.) https://t.co/hYgP17wCJi
— Virginia Sole-Smith (@v_solesmith) March 27, 2021
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Dear Beverly Cleary, thank you for understanding childhood so beautifully. My life would not have been the same without Ramona and Beezus and the Quimby family. Your words were my companion and comfort. They still are. ❤️
— Beth Nguyen (@bichminhnguyen) March 26, 2021
Thank you, Beverly Cleary—from every kid whose best friends were the characters you created for us.
Источник: www.elle.com
