Louise Fitzhugh
Louise Fitzhugh | |
|---|---|
| Fitzhugh, date unknown Fitzhugh, date unknown | |
| Born | October 5, 1928 Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | November 19, 1974 (aged 46) New Milford, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer, illustrator |
| Period | 1959–1974 |
| Genre | Children's and young adult fiction |
| Notable works | Harriet the Spy |
Louise Fitzhugh (October 5, 1928 – November 19, 1974) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books, known best for the novel Harriet the Spy and its sequels, The Long Secret and Sport.
Biography
Early life
Fitzhugh was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to wealthy parents in 1928. Her parents divorced when she was an infant and her father, Millsaps Fitzhugh, gained custody; she lived with him in the South. She attended Miss Hutchison's School and three different universities. She lived in Washington, D.C., France, and Italy.[1]
She attended Bard College where she became involved in politics and anti-racism. She studied art in Italy and France, and continued her studies at the Art Students League and the Cooper Union. She lived most of her adult life in New York City and had houses in both Long Island and Bridgewater, Connecticut.[1]
Career
Fitzhugh was the illustrator of the 1961 children's book Suzuki Beane, a parody of Eloise; while Eloise lived in the Plaza, Suzuki was the daughter of beatnik parents and slept on a mattress on the floor of a Bleecker Street pad in Greenwich Village. Fitzhugh worked closely with author Sandra Scoppettone to produce Suzuki Beane, which incorporated typewriter font and line drawings in an original way. Although a parody of both Eloise and beatnik conceit, the book sprang to life as a genuine work of literature. Today, it is much sought after on used-book websites.
Fitzhugh's best-known book was Harriet the Spy, published in 1964 to some controversy since so many characters were far from admirable.[2] It has since become a classic.[3] According to her New York Times obituary, published November 19, 1974: "The book helped introduce a new realism to children's fiction and has been widely imitated".[4] Harriet is the daughter of affluent New Yorkers who leave her in the care of her nanny, Ole Golly, in their Manhattan townhouse. She wrote two other books in the same universe, The Long Secret and Sport.
Fitzhugh, like many of Harriet's fans, was a lesbian. "Although Harriet's sexuality is never touched on in the book, her boy's clothes and bravado sent a message to some kids who felt different and didn't know why."[5] Another young adult manuscript, Amelia, concerned two girls falling in love. This manuscript was not published and was later lost.[6]
Fitzhugh illustrated many of her books and had works exhibited in Banfer Gallery, New York, in 1963, among many other galleries.[citation needed]
Her 1974 novel Nobody's Family is Going to Change was adapted into the 1983 Tony-nominated musical The Tap Dance Kid.[7]
Death
Fitzhugh died in 1974 of a brain aneurysm, eight days before the publication of Nobody's Family Is Going To Change. Her obituary was published in The New York Times.[4]
Works
Novels
- Harriet the Spy (Harper & Row, 1964)
- The Long Secret (Harper & Row, 1965) – sequel to Harriet the Spy
- Nobody's Family Is Going to Change (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1974), LCCN 74-19152
- Sport (Delacorte, 1979) – posthumously published quasi-sequel to Harriet, LCCN 78-72861
Children's books
- Bang, Bang, You're Dead, (co-written with Sandra Scoppettone), illus. Fitzhugh (Harper & Row, 1969), LCCN 69-14440
- I Am Five, written and illus. by Fitzhugh (Delacorte Press, 1978), LCCN 78-50404
- I Am Four, illus. Susan Bonners (Delacorte, 1982), LCCN 82-70309
- I Am Three, illus. Susanna Natti (Delacorte, 1982), LCCN 81-15218
As illustrator only
- Suzuki Beane, written by Sandra Scoppettone, (Doubleday, 1961), LCCN 61-7513
Awards
- New York Times Outstanding Books of the Year citation, 1964
- Oklahoma Sequoyah Book Award, 1967 (Harriet the Spy)
- Posthumous
- Children's Book Bulletin, 1976 (Nobody's Family is Going to Change)
- Children's Workshop Other Award, 1976 (Nobody's Family is Going to Change)
- Emmy Award for children's entertainment special (The Tap Dance Kid, based on Nobody's Family is Going to Change).
References
- ^ a b Nodelman, Perry. "Louise Fitzhugh (5 October 1928-19 November 1974)." American Writers for Children Since 1960: Fiction. Ed. Glenn E. Estes. Vol. 52. Detroit: Gale, 1986. 133-142. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 52. Dictionary of Literary Biography Complete Online. Web. 17 Feb. 2016.
- ^ Helson, Ravenna (1976). "Change, Tradition, and Critical Styles in the Contemporary World of Children's Books". Children's Literature. 5 (1): 22–39. doi:10.1353/chl.0.0757.
- ^ Elleman, Barbara (1987). "Current Trends in Literature for Children" (PDF). Library Trends. Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 35 (3): 413–26. Retrieved March 17, 2013.
- ^ a b "Louise Fitzhugh Is Dead at 46; 'Harriet the Spy' Author-Artist". The New York Times. November 21, 1974. p. 50.
- ^ Grant, Neva (March 3, 2008). "Unapologetically Harriet, the Misfit Spy". NPR.
- ^ Horning, Kathleen T. (April 18, 2014), Spying on Louise Fitzhugh, Horn Book
- ^ Gans, Andrew (January 13, 2021). "Watch Dulé Hill Perform 'Fabulous Feet' From The Tap Dance Kid". Playbill. Retrieved October 18, 2021.>,
Further reading
- Brody, Leslie (December 1, 2020). Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy. Seal Press. ISBN 978-1-58005-769-1. OCLC 1150927952.
- Stahl, J. D. (1990). "Satire and the Evolution of Perspective in Children's Literature: Mark Twain, E. B. White, and Louise Fitzhugh". Children's Literature Association Quarterly. 15 (3): 119–122. doi:10.1353/chq.0.0723.
- Stahl, J. D. (1999). "Louise Fitzhugh, Marisol, and the Realm of Art". Children's Literature Association Quarterly. 24 (4): 159–165. doi:10.1353/chq.0.1156. hdl:10919/25448.
- Wolf, Virginia (1991). Louise Fitzhugh. New York: Twayne Publishers. ISBN 0805776141.
External links
- "Purple Socks: A Louise Fitzhugh Fan Site." at the Wayback Machine (archived February 6, 2012)
- Grant, Neva. "Unapologetically Harriet, the Misfit Spy." NPR, March 3, 2008.
- Bard College. "Women Arrive." (Photograph 5 shows Fitzhugh as a model for a painting c.1949.)
- Louise Fitzhugh at Library of Congress Authorities, with 16 catalog records
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- 1928 births
- 1974 deaths
- American children's writers
- American women illustrators
- American illustrators
- 20th-century American novelists
- American lesbian writers
- Writers from Memphis, Tennessee
- Novelists from Tennessee
- Writers from New York City
- American young adult novelists
- American women novelists
- American LGBT novelists
- LGBT people from Tennessee
- American women children's writers
- 20th-century American women writers
- 20th-century American women artists
- Women writers of young adult literature
- Deaths from intracranial aneurysm
- Novelists from New York (state)
- Writers who illustrated their own writing
- 20th-century LGBT people