>The New York Times obituary for Eden is a gracious tribute but does that thing I hate: “Eden Ross Lipson . . . was a force in bringing the enchanting but often overlooked world of children’s literature to wide public awareness.”
The REASON children’s literature is overlooked is because we persist in regarding it as ENCHANTING.
Okay. I’ll stop shouting. And, to answer a query on yesterday’s note, Eden was terrific at negotiating between the world of the professional children’s-book critic and that of the Times children’s-book-reviews reader, the educated parent. She knew what I didn’t know about what they didn’t know.
About Roger Sutton
>I didn’t know a thing about Eden Ross Lipton before this week, or Craig Virden, but seeing and hearing from people who did has been moving. This field isn’t always enchanting in the way people outside of it may think, especially in this season of layoffs, but without sentimentality we can say it does have its enchantments.
>This reminds me of the joke inside my head. How I’m expected to be in my Laura Ashely dress, wide brim hat and sipping tea in the graden because I write and illustrate for children. I love punk and hard rock music, radical politics and would never be caught dead or alive in Laura Ashely.
>Oh, for goodness sake, big time attention has not always been such a good thing for children’s books, as M. Sendak noticed years and years ago. If “enchantment” keeps the bean counters and English PhD’s at their distance, then bring it on.
>Oh, no, Phil–the bean counters LOVE enchanting!
>Julie Just has a lovely piece about Eden here:
http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/13/remembering-eden-ross-lipson/#more-3339
Roaring Brook made a copy of her forthcoming book just for her.