|
Walter Dean Myers celebrates his birthday on August 12th. He was born in West Virginia, but moved to Harlem at the age of three to live with foster parents after his mother died. His foster mother taught him to read. He loved comic books, but a librarian once caught him reading one, tore it up, and replaced it with library books. He loved reading but had a speech impediment and behavior problems in school and dropped out of school twice before joining the army at age 17. After, he worked at the post office during the day and wrote at night.
He wrote his first book, Where Does the Day Go?, as a contest entry. Some of his other titles include Fallen Angels, Slam, and Somewhere in the Darkness. Myers has received the Newbery Honor, Coretta Scott King Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the ALA's Margaret A. Edwards Award, among others. He first outlines a story, cuts out pictures of characters which his wife makes into a collage, and hangs the collage above his computer. He writes ten pages a day, no matter what. Walter lives with his wife, Constance, in Jersey City, New Jersey.
—Karen Ritz
|
|
|
|
|
|
