I had gone to bed more than once with these
individuals. We spent nights curled up together on the couch, in the recliner,
and multiple times in the bed. I always shared my favorite blankie. When I
actually met them in person, it made those nights even more special.
Each year, the literary world loses greats, those
individuals whose lives were changed by great books and who went on to change
lives. This loosely penned blog is no place to begin writing about Maya
Angelou. What I have to say won’t make her more than what she made herself, as
she wrote in “Phenomenal Woman”: “I’m a woman / Phenomenally. / Phenomenal
woman, / That’s me.”
I’m always shocked when I hear about the death of an
author. After all, I grew up reading books by dead authors. Perhaps it’s
because they give life to so many characters. Perhaps it’s the growth of young
adult literature. I envision a young person driving the plot, dealing with teen
angst or grappling with first loves or racism or sexuality or poverty. Perhaps
it’s due to social media bringing the authors into our lives and classrooms
through Skype or Twitter.
When
I last saw Walter Dean Myers, he didn’t even look like a man in his mid-70’s.
He had attended the National Council of Teacher’s of English (NCTE) annual
conference numerous times where I had the great fortune to see him. I posted a
picture on Facebook that was taken in 2013; I didn’t stand in the autograph
line that was around two hours long. He lived what he wrote. On Twitter, Kylene
Beers (@KyleneBeers) posted about Myers, “Reading is not optional.”
It was the recent passing of Nancy Garden that truly
inspired this post. The A&E section of the Chicago Tribune listed 84 Notable Deaths of 2014. There was no date
listed for the scrolling picture column nor were there 84 deaths noted (some of those
images were advertisements), but there was a picture and mention of a director
who died on July 2 which was more than one week after Nancy Garden passed away.
Angelou was No. 16 on the list. Fred Phelps, Sr., a documented bigot, hater of human
rights for all individuals, and someone who willingly disrespected funeral
rites for military servicepeople, was No. 41. Garden did not appear on the
list.
I had the great fortune to sit at a roundtable
discussion with Garden at NCTE in Boston last November (2013). It was actually
blind luck. I entered a room late to listen to authors talk about censorship
and they broke off into roundtables. Due to my untimeliness, I ended up at a
back table, but it was a table that welcomed Garden. Garden is special to me
for a number of reasons. She was a brave and courageous woman during a time
when those traits were not embraced. I wrote about her extensively in my
dissertation.
She was a groundbreaking author in regard to writing
about issues of sexuality. It has been oft written about, and she discussed it
that November day, why she chose to write Annie
on My Mind: As a young lesbian, she was looking for a book about a young
lesbian who did not commit suicide, die, get sent away, or get turned into a
heterosexual. According to Lambda Literary online (http://www.lambdaliterary.org/features/rem/06/24/in-remembrance-nancy-garden/),
Garden was set to receive the 2014 Lee Lynch Classic Award from the Golden
Crown Literary Society because Annie was “one of the most important classics in lesbian literature.”
While I can still take any of these authors to bed with me, each of
these people will be greatly missed. Just as in life, these individuals will
live greatly in death.
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