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On Page, In person,
She’s In Full Blume
Books are a time machine, it is rightly said, but so too are bookstores.
Indeed, the double-glass doors of “Books & Books” in Key West’s Old Town recently served as a magical portal that transformed my middle-aged wife into a young schoolgirl. Having taken no more than three steps inside the charming shop, my much-better-half stopped in her tracks and, her voice rising in pitch, declared: “I know you! You’re Judy Blume!”
No schoolboy was ever more excited to come face-to-face with LeBron James or Roger Federer.
“Yes, I’m Judy,” the Books & Books’ co-founder replied warmly.
Lisa and Judy Blume … and me.
“I read all your books growing up,” my wife-turned-child gushed as my mind’s eye flashed back to our daughter, as a teen, meeting author Ray Bradbury in Santa Barbara. “I loved them! Your writing was like a friend.”
Blume, whose Young Adult novels include “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” and “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing,” smiled. It was not merely a polite grin, but rather broad and sincere for she surely could feel that my wife’s sentiments were heartfelt.
“I’m sorry,” my wife-turned-child said in her next breath, returning into a more-reserved adult. “You must have people tell you all the time how much your books meant to them.”
Blume, whose works have sold more than 80 million copies in 32 languages since arriving on the literary scene in 1969, relaxed in posture as if now chatting with an old friend. With the radiance of the Key West sun she replied, “I always enjoy hearing such kind compliments. Thank you.”
Meeting a hero – or, in this case, shero – from childhood can be dicey. The risk is that in real life the person will topple off her pedestal. Blume, however, proved to be a rarity by figuratively standing even taller. For the ensuing ten minutes she visited with my wife, answered questions and even asked some of her own.
During their conversation, Blume learned that our daughter actually spent an afternoon at her nearby home while attended the Key West Writing Workshop six years ago. Asking for an update and learning that Dallas’ debut YA novel – “The Best Week That Never Happened” – will be published this coming spring, Blume on her own accord wrote down the title and publisher so as to carry it in Books & Books. No small kindness, that.
Googling Blume afterwards, I discovered that my wife – and daughter, too, for she likewise once devoured Blume’s books – chose a gifted writer to admire. As evidence, among Blume’s numerous honors is being recognized as a Living Legend by the Library of Congress.
Equally estimable, if not more so, Blume has been a courageous writer. Indeed, she was a groundbreaker who broached controversial – and important – topics that previously had been largely sidestepped in YA literature. These included teen sex, birth control, menstruation, racism, divorce and death.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever find myself in a bookstore half as magical, with a proprietor a fraction as affable, as Connie Halpern and “Mrs. Fig’s Bookworm” in Camarillo, but Blume and Books & Books is very nearly a matching East Coast bookend.
Whenever I visit an independent bookstore I make a point to leave with a book as a show of support. This time, my wife and I left with an armful. Two of them – one recommended to me by Blume – makes my annual list of best books I’ve read in 2019, which I’ll reveal in this space next week.
In the meantime, I think it’s time I finally read a Judy Blume YA novel.
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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @woodywoodburn. His books are available at www.WoodyWoodburn.com.
Check out my memoir WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece” and my essay collection “Strawberries in Wintertime: Essays on Life, Love, and Laughter” …
- Personalized signed copies are available at WoodyWoodburn.com