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Re: Walter Dean Myers
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From: Helen Frost <helenfrost_at_comcast.net>
Date: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 14:11:32 -0400
Tim, What a good memory of Walter. Thank you for sharing it. That double quality of humility/mastery keeps coming up. A treasure in my memory box: everyone milling around before the 2004 Printz reception, and I told someone how strongly I associated the Printz Award with Walter Dean Myers. She said, "Would you like to meet him?" And there he was, just feet away, and we were introduced, and he seemed to know who I was, and to have read my book. A tall man who didn't make others feel small. There was another year when he won the Lee Bennett Hopkins Award, and I received an honor, and the honor was so much bigger because he had won. He would read at Poetry Blast events sometimes, and his voice was an exactly perfect vehicle for his poems. Really, it's an honor to have shared the planet with him, to say nothing of sharing the air in a room on a few occasions. Helen
> On Jul 5, 2014, at 10:09 AM, Tim Ditlow <timditlow_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Helen,
>
> Your email reminded me of a Walter story. For the audiobook production of Monster, Walter agreed to read the afterword, and the night before he called me to say he had concerns about his speaking voice. I assured him that not only did he have a fine voice, but that his words about this novel were so powerful that it would carry extra meaning for teens to hear him speak them aloud. Of course he gave a masterful reading and what sticks with me to this day was the humility he had about writing this book.
>
> Tim
>
>
>> On Sat, Jul 5, 2014 at 12:01 AM, Helen Frost <helenfrost_at_comcast.net> wrote:
>> I'm really loving all the tributes to Walter Dean Myers, the memories and interviews. Something I don't remember noticing before is what he says about being teased (we'd probably call it bullying) about his speech when he was a child. He says he got in a lot of fights about that, and then with that endearing little smile, he says that was good because "I liked to fight." Another place, he says, "I liked playing ball and fighting."
>>
>> He was, and will remain, universally beloved. Or so it seems to me.
>> Helen Frost
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Received on Sat 05 Jul 2014 01:11:50 PM CDT
Date: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 14:11:32 -0400
Tim, What a good memory of Walter. Thank you for sharing it. That double quality of humility/mastery keeps coming up. A treasure in my memory box: everyone milling around before the 2004 Printz reception, and I told someone how strongly I associated the Printz Award with Walter Dean Myers. She said, "Would you like to meet him?" And there he was, just feet away, and we were introduced, and he seemed to know who I was, and to have read my book. A tall man who didn't make others feel small. There was another year when he won the Lee Bennett Hopkins Award, and I received an honor, and the honor was so much bigger because he had won. He would read at Poetry Blast events sometimes, and his voice was an exactly perfect vehicle for his poems. Really, it's an honor to have shared the planet with him, to say nothing of sharing the air in a room on a few occasions. Helen
> On Jul 5, 2014, at 10:09 AM, Tim Ditlow <timditlow_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Helen,
>
> Your email reminded me of a Walter story. For the audiobook production of Monster, Walter agreed to read the afterword, and the night before he called me to say he had concerns about his speaking voice. I assured him that not only did he have a fine voice, but that his words about this novel were so powerful that it would carry extra meaning for teens to hear him speak them aloud. Of course he gave a masterful reading and what sticks with me to this day was the humility he had about writing this book.
>
> Tim
>
>
>> On Sat, Jul 5, 2014 at 12:01 AM, Helen Frost <helenfrost_at_comcast.net> wrote:
>> I'm really loving all the tributes to Walter Dean Myers, the memories and interviews. Something I don't remember noticing before is what he says about being teased (we'd probably call it bullying) about his speech when he was a child. He says he got in a lot of fights about that, and then with that endearing little smile, he says that was good because "I liked to fight." Another place, he says, "I liked playing ball and fighting."
>>
>> He was, and will remain, universally beloved. Or so it seems to me.
>> Helen Frost
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Received on Sat 05 Jul 2014 01:11:50 PM CDT
