Walter Dean Myers

1
Walter Dean Myers

• Born August 12, 1937 in West Virginia
• Raised in Harlem, New York City
• Currently lives in Jersey City, New Jersey

2
Early Life

• Born in Martinsburg, West Virginia in 1937
• Mother died when he was 2 yrs. old
• Moved to Harlem after being adopted by
  Florence and Herbert Dean at age three

3
Family

• At age 4 mother taught him to read
• Father told scary stories
• Grandfather told God gonna get ya kind of
  stories

4
Family

• Considered the Deans his real parents
• Writes about surrogate parenting

5
Starting School

• With the ability to read
• Head full of stories
• Severe speech impediment
• Became a behavior problem
• 5th grade teacher told him to write
• and gave him decent books to read

6
Harlem

• Grew up in the 40s and 50s
• Sunday morning Bible school
• Afternoons at the park, activities at church
• Famous Afro-Americans still lived there
• Remembers his years in Harlem before adolescence
  as good years

7
Adolescence

• Placed in accelerated junior high school program
• Stuyvesant High School
• Teacher Bonnie Liebow
• Spent more time out of school
• Wrote stories and poems
• Acquired first typewriter

8
Young Adulthood

• Thought familys finances ruled out college
• Fell into gang culture
• Dropped out of high school twice
• At 17 joined the army

9
Life After the Army

• Starving artist period back in Harlem
• Job in post office
• Married and divorced
• Attended City College and a writers workshop at
  Columbia University
• Worked at various jobs

10
Beginning of a Career

• 1968 Where Does the Day Go? wins first prize in
  Council on Interracial books for Children Contest
• 1969 published by Parents Magazine
• 1970 becomes senior editor for Bobbs-Merrill
• In 1972 with The Dancers pays tribute to his
  foster parents and changes name
• 1977 became full-time writer

11
Variety of Genre

• Poetry
• Short Stories
• Childrens Books
• Young Adult Fiction
• Historical Fiction
• Non-Fiction

12
Poetry

• Began writing poems in Ms. Conways 5th grade
  class
• Hasnt stopped writing since

13
Childrens Books

• Picture books
• Juvenile fiction

14
Young Adult Fiction

• Realistic urban novels
• Mystery and adventure
• Critically acclaimed works

15
On Being a Young Adult Author

• The young adult and middle grade periods of my
  life were so vivid and, in looking back, so
  influential in how I would live the rest of my
  life, that I am drawn to them over and over
  again.
• My ideas come largely from my own background.
• I lived in Harlem, and I write about Harlem.

16
Themes

• Friendships and peer relations
• Family
• Individual and social responsibility
• Love
• Growing up
• Finding oneself

17
Historical Fiction

• Writes from his own background
• Enjoys history

18
Non-Fiction

• Magazine pieces
• Childrens books
• Biographies
• Historical

19
Myers and Myers

• Son Christopher illustrated several of his
  fathers books

20
Books I Read

• Fast Sam, Cool Clyde and Stuff, 1975
• Scorpions, 1989
• The Dream Bearer, 2003

21
Major Awards

• ALA Best Books for Young Adults
• ALA Margaret A. Edwards Award
• for lifetime achievement
• ALA Notable Books
• ALAN Award
• for outstanding contributions to the field of
  young adult literature
• Caldecott Honor Book
• Coretta Scott King Award
• Michael L. Prinz Award
• National Book Award Finalist
• Newberry Honor Book
• Parents Choice Award

22
Myers Today

• Helped establish The Walter Dean Myers Publishing
  Institute
• part of the Langston Hughes Childrens Literature
  Festival
• NBAs "Read to Achieve" program
• Lives with his wife Connie in Jersey City, NJ