logo

Say thanks by supporting us!

Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisement to our visitors. Please consider supporting to us by disabling your ad blocker.

Processing...

With my writing, what I want to do is humanize the young people I write about.

- Walter Dean Myers
logo
Author:
Walter Dean Myers
Tags:
People
Young
Writing
Related Quote
Show all

There have been two areas identified as being vital to reading - and that's for very young children between the ages of one month and five years and for teenagers. I've been trying to find ways of approaching both groups.

I had seen the ballet of 'Swan Lake' as a child but it was as an adult, when I saw a production featuring Erik Bruhn, that I first noticed how significant a part the ever-present threat of violence played. This juxtaposition of great beauty and grace with a backdrop of pure evil stayed with me for years.

I admired the work ethic of the cowboys I read about. The idea of these young people taking on this much responsibility was impressive. I would like modern readers to have an appreciation of this.

I wrote for magazines. I wrote adventure stuff, I wrote for the 'National Enquirer,' I wrote advertising copy for cemeteries.

I think that what we need to do is say, 'Reading is going to really affect your life.' You take a black man who doesn't have a job, but you say to him, 'Look, you can make a difference in your child's life, just by reading to him for 30 minutes a day.' That's what I would like to do.

I was a good student, but a speech impediment was causing problems. One of my teachers decided that I couldn't pronounce certain words at all. She thought that if I wrote something, I would use words I could pronounce. I began writing little poems. I began to write short stories, too.

The most difficult idea to reconcile in war is the notion that anything is going to be solved by killing a stranger, or in risking your life for a cause anchored in some distant political arena.

As a young man, I saw families prosper without reading because there were always sufficient opportunities for willing workers who could follow simple instructions. This is no longer the case. Children who don't read are, in the main, destined for lesser lives. I feel a deep sense of responsibility to change this.

What I found fascinating was just how quickly the best of the young Negro League players were drafted into the major leagues once Branch Rickey broke the color line by hiring Jackie Robinson. It was clear that all of the major league owners already knew the talents of the black ballplayers that they had refused to let into their league.

Showcase
Show all

With my writing, what I want to do is humanize the young people I write about.

With my writing, what I want to do is humanize the young people I write about.

With my writing, what I want to do is humanize the young people I write about.

With my writing, what I want to do is humanize the young people I write about.

With my writing, what I want to do is humanize the young people I write about.

With my writing, what I want to do is humanize the young people I write about.

With my writing, what I want to do is humanize the young people I write about.

With my writing, what I want to do is humanize the young people I write about.

With my writing, what I want to do is humanize the young people I write about.

With my writing, what I want to do is humanize the young people I write about.

With my writing, what I want to do is humanize the young people I write about.

With my writing, what I want to do is humanize the young people I write about.

With my writing, what I want to do is humanize the young people I write about.

With my writing, what I want to do is humanize the young people I write about.

With my writing, what I want to do is humanize the young people I write about.