| In Memoriam-Beverly Cleary (1916-2021) Beverly Atlee Bunn was born in McMinnville, Oregon, on April 12, 1916. She earned a Bachelor's of Art in English from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1938, and a Master's in Library Science from the University of Washington in 1939. She worked as a youth librarian in Yakima, Washington, and as the post librarian at the U.S. Army Hospital in Oakland, California. She married her husband, Clarence Cleary, in 1940, and became a full-time writer in 1942. Cleary's first book, Henry Huggins, was published in 1950; she would go on to publish 42 complete works over the course of a 57-year career, including two memoirs. Her goal was to take experiences from her own life and those around her, translate them into fiction, and thereby provide children with the very books she couldn't find when she herself was a child: funny, heartwarming books about regular kids (and some fantastic animals) navigating the world. Check out her books here. |
