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Post by the panopticountolaf on Mar 27, 2021 6:54:44 GMT -5
Beverly Cleary passed away on Thursday, in Carmel, California. She was 104.
I first read BEEZUS AND RAMONA when I was thirteen — far from the target demographic. I was sick and had nothing to do but stay in bed, so I started listening to audiobooks and chose the Ramona audiobook collection. It was over 24 hours long and I thought that if it was absolute garbage, I could find something else. From the first chapter I was enthralled. Looking back on it, Cleary’s books, especially the Ramona series, are comedies of manners, but there was also something more. All through that week as I lay in bed and listened to all nine books, I heard Ramona grow up, and that was a bizarrely comforting thing. No matter how bad things seemed to get for her, things always smoothed out, usually through her own ingenuity. It came at a time where I felt a little lost, and I listened to Ramona’s zero-teenth birthday party wondering how I had never read these books before. (Looking back on it, Tracy Dockray’s black and white shaded illustrations probably gave the impression of a cheap product. It’s fascinating how much a book’s presentation can change one’s perception.) That was a few years ago, but I still come back to the books. I have a younger sister now who will come up with RAMONA THE PEST in hand and ask me to read it to her. I hope that she gets as much out of these books as I did. It’s very, very strange how these books gave me such a powerful message years and years after I was “supposed” to read them. I was the master of my own destiny, no matter how out-of-control the world may seem. That’s something that I carry with me to this day.
Her influence on (and appearance in!) Lemony Snicket’s work shouldn’t be forgotten, either. ASOUE might look very different (as in, non-existant) had she never put pen to paper. Beverly Cleary will be sorely missed.
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Post by counto on Mar 27, 2021 18:15:34 GMT -5
RIP Beverly Cleary 1916-2021
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Post by HAL 10,000 on Sept 21, 2021 21:37:26 GMT -5
Rest in peace. For some reason I thought she had passed years ago. I remember reading Ramona, Henry Huggins/Ribsy, Ralph Mouse, Ellen Tebbits, Emily's Runaway Imagination, and Socks.
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