{"id":17,"date":"2003-07-01T14:04:36","date_gmt":"2003-07-01T18:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=17"},"modified":"2024-10-27T09:55:18","modified_gmt":"2024-10-27T13:55:18","slug":"rip-robert-mccloskey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=17","title":{"rendered":"R.I.P., Robert McCloskey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Robert McCloskey, author of Make Way for Ducklings<\/a>\"\"<\/i>, Blueberries for Sal<\/a>\"\"<\/i>, One Morning in Maine<\/a>\"\"<\/i> and many others, has died.<\/a><\/p>\n

In the blunt words of my nephew Cashel: “I’m sad.”<\/p>\n

McCloskey’s books are absolutely beloved by the O’Malley family. We grew up on them. We memorized parts of them (“CLAM CHOWDER FOR LUNCH”), and I obsessed over the illustrations<\/a>. They were absolute magic for me. I wanted to creep through a crack in the atmosphere, and be in that big windy house in Maine, digging clams with Sal and her father. Also, both my parents are from Boston-Irish families, so “Make Way for Ducklings”, taking place in Boston’s public gardens, with the swan-boats, felt, somehow, when I was little, that it was written FOR me. I rode in those swan-boats! I rode in those swan-boats! I know that place! That book is about me!<\/p>\n

He is a treasure. His books are classic.<\/p>\n

His books, for me, contain my entire childhood. And now he is gone.<\/p>\n

Thank you so much, Mr. McCloskey, for your books. I never wrote you a letter or anything, and now it’s too late, but wherever you are, I want you to know that your books meant, and still mean, the world to me. If I ever have children, I will continue the tradition, and read all of your books to them.<\/p>\n

Writers like you (writers who not only are talented, and good story-tellers, but who somehow create stories that enter people’s personal landscapes, writers who somehow get into the hearts of their readers forever) are a rarity. So rare.<\/p>\n

MORE<\/b>:<\/p>\n

Here’s the “obituary” piece in The New York Times<\/a>, honoring this man.<\/p>\n

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