From June Cummins...
Sid Fleischman, a Newbery Award-winning author who never set out to write for children but flung himself into the field on a dare, died at his home in Santa Monica, Calif., on March 17, the day after his 90th birthday.
Sid Fleischman, a Newbery Award-winning author who never set out to write for children but flung himself into the field on a dare, died at his home in Santa Monica, Calif., on March 17, the day after his 90th birthday....
Presented annually by the American Library Association, the Newbery Award is widely regarded as the Pulitzer Prize of children’s literature. Sid Fleischman received his in 1987 for “The Whipping Boy” (1986, illustrated by Peter Sís). A novella for 6-to-10-year-olds, it centers on the developing relationship between a spoiled young prince and the street urchin engaged to undergo punishments in his stead.
Mr. Fleischman’s work was praised by critics for its sly humor, carefully controlled suspense and dexterous sleights-of-hand — characteristics that had served him well in his previous careers as a magician, Hollywood screenwriter and novelist for adults.
His other children’s books include “Humbug Mountain” (1978, illustrated by Eric von Schmidt), which was a National Book Award finalist; and a multivolume series of tall tales starring Josh McBroom, the owner of a wondrous farm that despite its negligible size — precisely one acre — produces staggering bounty.
Mr. Fleischman’s nonfiction books for young people include a memoir, “The Abracadabra Kid” (1996), and biographies of Houdini and Mark Twain. A third biography, “Sir Charlie,” about Charlie Chaplin, is to be published by Greenwillow Books in June.... While at San Diego State College, he began selling short stories to magazines.
Mr. Fleischman’s studies were interrupted by World War II, in which he served with the Navy in the Pacific. After the war he worked as a reporter on The San Diego Daily Journal and in 1949 earned a bachelor’s degree in English from San Diego State....
Read more in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/books/25fleischman.html?emc=eta1
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