An Evening with Walter Dean Myers

“Scribble, Scribble, Scribble. A Life in Books”

                                                 Thursday, March 24, 2011   7:30PM

                                      Hyman Forum, the Athenaeum at Goucher College

            What a wonderful evening!  Walter Dean Myers was an engaging, often humorous speaker who led the audience through his journey from smart kid with a serious speech problem and life in a dysfunctional family to his present life as an award winning author. He gave a compelling look at his early life and the impact it had on his choice to become a writer.  

            Although born in West Virginia in 1937, he was sent to live in Harlem with adoptive foster parents at the age of three.  Although Harlem was a wonderful place to grow-up in at the time – Mr. Myers expressed how vibrant Harlem was during that time period – it was discouraging for the young Myers to find reading materials that he could identify with as an African American individual. School was difficult for him because of his serious speech problem and although he was a smart student, there were issues. He recounted fondly his fifth grade teacher – Mrs. Conway – making a huge impact on him by introducing him to a collection of books. He expressed that it was in finding and reading a short story by James Baldwin that he found that for which he had been searching.

            Having dropped out of high school, than serving in the army, Mr. Myers found his post-army work life consisting of a variety of low paying jobs.  He decided to pursue writing as a career.  Although selling his writing here and there – he acknowledged writing for the Enquirer - his first of many novels was published in 1975.  

            Mr. Myers graciously answered many questions from the audience and shared that he was a “fabulous pre-writer”.  He showed the audience a notebook in which he was outlining, developing characters, setting and timeline for a new book.  It was an interesting look at how he develops an idea into a book.  When asked if he was ever worried about writer’s block – he expressed that writer’s block was “an indulgence he could not afford”. I thought it was interesting that after the characters of a book are developed, he has them painted and cut out to hang on the wall of his office while he writes. Mr. Myers spoke about visiting jails and detention centers throughout the United States. One of the statistics that Mr. Myers brought up several times toward the end of his talk was – “there are 90,000 children in jails in the United States” – a statistic not only horrendous but troubling on many levels.  

            Overall, I found his “talk” to be truly informative and interesting.  It was wonderful to see all the young people in the audience. I would say that the majority of questions for Mr. Myers came from the younger set. 

            I am very glad that I went to hear Mr. Myers.  It was entertaining and a terrific glimpse into his writing process and what drives him to write.  Although I decided not to have books signed by Mr. Myers – I did purchase the book Kick which he co-wrote with a young man (now 17 years old) named Ross Workman.