Gary D. Schmidt
Gary D. Schmidt | |
|---|---|
 Schmidt at the Mazza Museum in 2012 | |
| Born | April 14, 1957[1] Hicksville, NY[2] |
| Occupation | Academic, writer |
| Genre | Realistic fiction |
| Notable works | (Just Like That) |
| Notable awards | |
| Spouse | Anne E Stickney
(m. 1979; died 2013) |
Gary David Schmidt[5] (born April 14, 1957) is an American author of children's and young adults' fiction books. He currently resides in Alto, Michigan, where he is a professor of English at Calvin University.
Life and literary career[]
Early life and education[]
Gary D. Schmidt was born in Hicksville, New York, in 1957. As a child, Schmidt says he was underestimated by teachers at an elementary school where students were classified by aptitude. Concerning his early education, Schmidt explained in an interview with NPR: "If you're Track One you're the college-bound kid; if you're Track Two you'll have a good job; if you're Track Three you're the stupid kid. And I was tracked as Track Three."[6] After intervention from a concerned teacher, Schmidt found a love for reading, an event which served as inspiration for his novel The Wednesday Wars.[6]
In the mid 1970s, Schmidt attended Gordon College, earning an undergraduate degree in English in 1979. Thereafter he attended University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, obtaining a master's degree in English in 1981 before graduating with a PhD in medieval literature in 1985. Schmidt has since worked as a professor for the English department at Calvin College.[7]
Awards and honors[]
In 2005, Schmidt's novel Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy was awarded a Newbery Honor, which recognizes "the most distinguished contribution[s] to American literature for children",[8] and a Printz Honor. In 2008, he was awarded a second Newbery Honor for The Wednesday Wars.[9]
Schmidt's novel Okay for Now, the 2011 sequel to The Wednesday Wars, was a National Book Award finalist.[10]
Personal life[]
In 1996, Schmidt was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer. While being treated, he was exposed to a variety of other cancer patients whose stories, he claims, served as inspiration for future novels and encouraged him to write primarily for children and young adults.[11]
Schmidt and his late wife, Anne, have six children; one is a teacher. He is a practicing Christian and describes himself as religious.[11] He also enjoys teaching writing courses in prisons and detention centers, and experiences there served as inspiration for his novel Orbiting Jupiter.[12]
Selected bibliography[]
(In order of publication)
- The Sin Eater (Dutton Publishers; New York; 1996)
- The Blessing of the Lord (Eerdmans; 1997)
- William Bradford: Plymouth's Faithful Pilgrim (Eerdmans Publishing Company; Grand Rapids; 1999)
- Anson's Way (Clarion Books; New York; 1999)
- Ciaran: The Tale of a Saint of Ireland (Eerdmans Publishing Company; Grand Rapids, MI; 2000)
- Mara's Stories (Henry Holt; New York; 2001)
- Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy (New York; Clarion Books; 2004)
- In God's Hands (Jewish Lights Publications; Woodstock, Vermont; 2005)
- First Boy (Henry Holt; New York; 2005)
- The Wednesday Wars (Clarion Books; New York; 2007)
- (Clarion Books; New York; 2008)
- Straw into Gold (Clarion; 2009)
- Okay for Now (Clarion Books; New York; 2011)
- What Came from the Stars (Clarion Books; New York; 2012)
- Martín de Porres: The rose in the desert (Clarion; 2012)
- Orbiting Jupiter (Clarion; 2015)
- Pay Attention, Carter Jones (Clarion; 2019)
- (Clarion; 2021)[13]
References[]
- ^ "Schmidt, Gary D. 1957–". Encyclopedia.com.
- ^ Something About the Author Volume 193, p. 169.
- ^ Anderson, Myrna DeVries (Spring 2006). "Opening the Book that is Gary Schmidt". Spark. Calvin College. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
- ^ "Announcing the New Anne Stickney Schmidt Scholarship in Young People's Literature". Hamline University. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
- ^ Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy in libraries (WorldCat catalog).
- ^ Jump up to: a b "With Audubon's Help, Beat-Up Kid Is 'Okay For Now'". NPR. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
- ^ "Gary Schmidt". Calvin College. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
- ^ admin (November 30, 1999). "Book & Media Awards". Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). Retrieved November 12, 2017.
- ^ "Gary Schmidt". WorldCat.org. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
- ^ "Gary D. Schmidt, Okay for Now – National Book Award YPL Finalist, The National Book Foundation". nationalbook.org. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Calvin College". calvin.edu. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
- ^ "Gary D. Schmidt | Kirkus Reviews". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
- ^ "Just Like That | HMH Books". www.hmhbooks.com. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
External links[]
- Gary Schmidt faculty webpage at Calvin University
- Opening the Book that is Gary Schmidt, The Calvin Spark
- Gary D. Schmidt at publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Gary D. Schmidt at Library of Congress Authorities, with 43 catalog records
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- 1957 births
- Living people
- American children's writers
- Newbery Honor winners
- Calvin University faculty
- Gordon College (Massachusetts) alumni
- 20th-century American novelists
- 21st-century American novelists
- People from Hicksville, New York
- American male novelists
- 20th-century American male writers
- 21st-century American male writers
- Novelists from Michigan