Literary Birthday – 16 November – Jean Fritz

Jean Fritz was born 16 November 1915 and died 14 May 2017.

Quotes

  1. When I discovered libraries, it was like having Christmas every day.
  2. My interest in writing about American history stemmed originally, I think, from a subconscious desire to find roots — I felt like a girl without a country.’
  3. Only when a book is written out of passion is there much hope of its being read with passion.
  4. I kept thinking as a child that there was more than I was being told, more than just dates and wars. I wanted to get acquainted with the people.
  5. The question I am most often asked, is how do I find my ideas? The answer is: I don’t. Ideas find me. A character in history will suddenly step right out of the past and demand a book.
  6. My mother had been a Latin teacher, and she was always very fascinated with words. She and I shared books and responded to them.
  7. As a biographer, I try to uncover the adventures and personalities behind each character I research. Once my character and I have reached an understanding, then I begin the detective work reading old books, old letters, old newspapers, and visiting the places where my subject lived. Often I turn up surprises, and of course, I pass them on.

Jean Fritz was an American children’s writer. She wrote about her childhood in China in Homesick: My Own Story, which was a Newbery Honor Book and winner of the National Book Award. She won the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for her career contribution to American children’s literature in 1986.

See Author here

 by Amanda Patterson

Are you interested in more authors’ birthdays? Please click here: Literary Birthday Calendar

Posted on: 16th November 2018
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