Jane Yolen lives and writes in Hatfield, Massachusetts. She.is an author of children’s books, fantasy, and science fiction. She is also a poet, a teacher of writing and literature, and a reviewer of children’s literature.
Jane’s books and stories have won the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, two Christopher Medals, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards, the Golden Kite Award, the Jewish Book Award, the World Fantasy Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Association of Jewish Libraries Award among many others.
Jane told me that her husband, David Stemple, was her mentor “in all things of the natural world.” She she grew up in New York City and was more at home in the concrete canyons, but David was a West Virginia boy who knew his way around the woods.
“When we first began to get serious about one another” Jane said, “we took a trip to Montauk Point in on Long Island, for the weekend. David said, as we were quietly cresting the dunes, ‘If we're very lucky, there will be a deer on the other side.’ He showed me the tracks. We went silently over the top, and surprised a deer who leaped away from us in a flurry of sprayed sand.
Everything I learned after that about birds, trees, tracks, water courses, animals, I learned from David, and it enlarged and engaged my abilities as a writer. Without him I would never have written my award-winning picture book OWL MOON. He was Pa in the book, the child our daughter. Until the day he died, he was the first reader of my manuscripts, and my go-to guy for anything about the natural world.”
Like Jane Yolen, many of us have fond memories of someone who mentored us. Who was yours?
Comments
One of the most memorable mentors that I have ever had was Dr. Dan Cottom, a professer who I studied with in graduate school. Graduate school was especially confusing as I was a first generation college student and then a first generation graduate student. He helped me to understand and navigate the graduate school culture, writing structure, and adjust to the method of teaching --largely Socratic. When I received a teaching assistantship, he gave me very practical advice on teaching undergraduates. In addition, he inspired me not to give up when I was trying to truly comprehend post-modernism & deconstruction, which was especially challenging for me as I had such a limited background in classical philosophy and the history of litery theory to begin with. We worked it out through a couple of independent study courses. I am thankful that I had his guidance to help me make it through graduate school so smoothly.
This article is fantastic! Thanks for telling this story! I'm a kindergarten teacher in Arkansas as well as a dabbling poet and literacy consultant for other elementary teachers of writing. This story reveals how our most talented heros can identify those who have extended their wings with their simple gifts of time and teaching. We use Yolen at my school as a mentor author at many grade levels. This week my K students will be using Jane's book, The Scarecrow's Dance as a structure to help them write their own scarecrow stories. I wish she could be a fly in the room when my kids talk about her book and how they will use it to help them write. :) She is a gift to children and teachers everywhere.
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