Beverly Cleary will not write again
We might have expected the news. Beverly Cleary is 95, after all, we should be glad just that she鈥檚 sitting for an interview. But it still struck my heart to see the beloved author say she doesn鈥檛 plan to publish any more books.
鈥淚 hope children will be happy with the books I've written, and go on to be readers all of their lives,鈥� Cleary .
Cleary is famed as the creator of Ramona and Beezus and Henry Huggins and other heroes of her wonderful children鈥檚 books. Her characters remain so live and real decades after their introduction that my own 5-year-old once demanded to know why Ramona got to walk alone to kindergarten, when he was forced to take my hand just to walk to the bus stop.
Some of Cleary鈥檚 most satisfying works, though, are her lesser-known memoirs meant for adult readers, "A Girl From Yamhill" and "My Own Two Feet," which end just as Cleary starts her writing career. I had long hoped for a third volume. (Yes, she can engross readers for two books before she even gets to the piece of the story that most would have assumed is the interesting part.)
Interviewer Rachael Brown asked Cleary how she had balanced raising her own children, born after her career as an author began, while writing for thousands of others. Cleary answered that it wasn鈥檛 easy.
鈥淚 loved my family and I loved my young career. A neighborhood woman felt that I needed help and offered to come babysit the children. I would write while she looked after them. They would draw pictures and slide them under my door. It worked out nicely,鈥� she told Brown.
Other intriguing bits from their interview: Cleary said that she hasn鈥檛 read the Harry Potter series, and rarely reads children鈥檚 books. She thought actress Joey King did a good job playing Ramona in the recent movie adaptation, though some scenes were left out from the film that she would have liked to have seen included. She doesn鈥檛 think anything will ever replace the pleasure of holding a book and turning its pages. Also, she never goes on the Internet and doesn鈥檛 know how it works. (That鈥檚 something the might want to check out, as there鈥檚 a mostly moribund whose updates are dotted with exclamation points and smiley faces, encouraging readers to send her fan mail at a Gmail address.)
The Cleary Q&A was paired online at The Atlantic with and with describing what he calls a 鈥渟tylistic and substantive gap between Cleary鈥檚 early and later novels.鈥� I don鈥檛 agree with Schwarz鈥檚 conclusions, but I was still glad to read a thoughtful take on Cleary鈥檚 works, and to vicariously share Brown鈥檚 thrill walking down 鈥渓eafy Klickitat street.鈥�
I鈥檓 sad to think that I鈥檒l never again make a fresh visit there through Cleary鈥檚 eyes.
Seattle writer Rebekah Denn blogs at
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