I’m about to head out to Tufts for the Excellence in Children’s Media awards, so it’s a short & bittersweet post this morning. This week has seen the children’s book industry lose three people – Margaret K. McElderry, Janet Schulman, & L.K. Madigan. Here’s what I’m reading to remember them.
In this 1997 NYT piece for Children’s Book Week, Eden Ross Lipson speaks with Margaret McElderry, not just as a publisher, but a person. Fantastic story and marvelous quotes – definitely worth reading.
PW remembers Margaret McElderry with memories from people close to her. This may sound cliched, but it really is a touching piece. My fave line right now? Neal Porter–”I never really thought of her as grand—she was warm, generous, extremely funny and on occasions, bawdy. And brilliant.”
Also at PW, memories of author and editor Janet Schulman. Fave line in this one? Author and artist Marc Brown – “After my first meeting with Janet Schulman at Random House, around 1980, I felt like roadkill. She could be brutal.”
Here’s a great 2009 interview with Janet, by one of her illustrators, Linda Davick. I love it.
YA author Malinda Lo remembers Lisa Madigan, and offers a gorgeous poem by Mary Elizabeth Frye.
An October 2010 Q&A with L.K. Madigan about The Mermaid’s Mirror at The Book Butterfly. Some of the images are missing now, but the interview still shines.
Later, a bonus memories edition of the Coffee Break on Dwayne McDuffie, and a few quick thoughts on the Children’s Media Event I’m headed to. And don’t forget to enter my book giveaway! It ends tonight, at midnight EST!
