Denise M. Jordan - Walter Dean Myers. A Biography of an Award-Winning Urban Fiction Author

A Biography of an Award-Winning Urban Fiction Author

Drawing upon his own struggles and experiences, Myers has written award-winning novels such as Hoops, Scorpions, and Slam!realistic stories that appeal to readers of all backgrounds and cultures. Today, Walter Dean Myers is a New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed author who has garnered much respect and admiration for his fi ction, nonfi ction, and poetry for young people. Winner of the fi rst Michael L. Printz Award, he is considered one of the preeminent writers for children.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Denise M. Jordan started writing for young people aft er she completed her masters degree in nursing. She has also written Muhammad Ali: Meet the Champion and Julian Bond: Civil Rights Activist and Chairman of the NAACP for Enslow Publishers, Inc.

Walter Myers stood in front of the class and began to read. He tried to read smoothly and clearly, but the words seemed to trip over his tongue. They came out in a rush, a jumble of sounds.

Walters fifth-grade classmates snickered and made faces. They said things like He cant talk and whispered behind their hands. Finally, the reading was over. He had read to the end of the passage; now he could sit down. Angry and embarrassed, Walter made his way back to his seat.

Years later, Myers recalled, I never understood the source of my speech difficulty. I didnt hear anything unusual when I spoke. I knew what was in my mind but others apparently didnt understand what came out of my mouth.

They say they have a name for it now, but at the time they just called it mushmouth, he said.

Mrs. Conway, Walters fifth-grade teacher, understood how difficult it was for Walter to read aloud in class. But despite his speech problems, she could not excuse him from this class requirement. However, she came up with an idea that might make things a little easier. She told the students that if they wished, they could write something of their own to read in class. They did not just have to read from the textbook.

That was a happy day for Walter. There were many words that I could not, for the life of me, pronounce, said Myers later.

Walter worked hard to find words that fit together in a pleasing pattern but were not hard to say. He left out words that started with w, u, and r. He left out words that had sh or ch sounds in the middle. These were the words and sounds that gave him trouble, and he was determined to avoid them.

The next time Walter read in front of the class, the words came out smoothly. His tongue did not trip over difficult sounds. His classmates had nothing to laugh at. Instead, they heard a wonderful poem, and they heard praise from the teacher. Walter had written poetry that expressed his thoughts and feelings but used words he did not have trouble saying. He has been writing ever since.

Walter Dean Myers makes his living writing for children and young adults. What started out as a way to keep classmates from laughing at him has turned into a very successful career. His writing has won numerous prizes and awards. He has won the Coretta Scott King Award for African-American writers five times and the Newbery Honor Book award twice.

The first major prize Myers won was for his manuscript Where Does the Day Go?, which he submitted to a competition in 1968. He had been writing professionally for many years, but mostly short stories and magazine articles for adults. His work had appeared in several African-American magazines, including the Negro Digest and The Liberator. He had also written for numerous travel and adventure magazines.

Where Does the Day Go? tells about an African-American father who takes his child and a few others on a walk to the park. As darkness falls, the children wonder where the day goes. Each child tries to answer this perplexing question. After all the children have had a chance to explain, the father tells them what really happens.

Where Does the Day Go? was published as a picture book by Parents Magazine Press in 1969. Prior to this time, Myers had focused his attention on adult writing. Now he began to explore the world of childrens literature.

When Myers looked back and recalled the books and stories that he had read in his youth, he could not remember many characters like himself. Most of the children represented in those early stories were white, middle-class children. None of them lived in Harlem, New York. They did not play the kind of games he played or share a lifestyle similar to his.

Where were the African-American children? Where were the brown and black mothers and fathers, calling from doorways or walking to town? Where were people like the ones he saw every day? These people were not present in most of the books he read. According to Myers, When the overwhelming absence of blacks in most books were telling the children of my generation that being black was not to be taken seriously, they were delivering the same message to white children.

The few African-American characters that Myers could remember were caricatures. A caricature is an exaggeration or a distortion of something. The caricatures of African-American people made them look stupid or reinforced negative stereotypes and prejudice.

These images deeply affected Myers. He believed that African-American children deserved better. They deserved books that allowed them to see themselves and their families as they really were. They deserved to see African-American peoplemothers, fathers, childrenstruggling with various problems, sometimes making it and sometimes not. They deserved stories that indicated that the African-American childs world had value.

Myers did not try to pretend that no problems existed, but he also did not let the problems or the environment overwhelm his characters. With inner strength and courage, the characters could succeed. In the stories Myers wrote, he created realistic pictures of his world, his Harlem. He drew on personal experiences to write these stories.

Walter Dean Myers no longer has a speech impediment. His writing is not limited because of specific words or sounds. He no longer lives in Harlem. But his early speech impediment and his life in Harlem have had a profound impact upon who and what he became.

Walter Milton Myers was born on August 12, 1937, in Martinsburg, West Virginia. His parents, George Ambrose Myers and Mary Green Myers, welcomed him into their large family. They already had two boys, Douglas and George, and four girls, Geraldine, Ethel, Viola, and Gertrude.

George Myers had been married once before, but that marriage ended in divorce. His first wife, Florence Brown, was the daughter of a German immigrant and an American Indian. Her marriage to a black man caused her family to disown her. When Florence Brown and George Myers separated, she left their daughters, Geraldine (called Gerry) and Viola, with their father. She was not sure what she was going to do and decided it was better to leave the girls with him. Later, George Myers married Mary Green.

When their son Walter was about two years old, George and Mary Myers shared some news with their children. There was going to be another baby. The house was small and crowded, and there was little money. What they did have was love and lots of it. They were ready to welcome this new little person into the family.