Natalie Babbitt

I'm so sad to hear that one of my most favorite authors in the world, Natalie Babbitt recently passed away.  I've always been a huge admirer of her work. In fact, back in 2011 when I found out one of my past teachers knew her personally, I begged for an introduction and was honored to go to lunch with her:

Natalie Babbitt, me & my old teacher Mary Brigid Barrett in 2011

It is truly one of my most treasured memories.  After I met Natalie, I decided I wanted to record a podcast interviewing as many of favorite authors of books I loved as a child. Unfortunately, with the advent of Rain Dragon I never got the podcast of the ground. However, I did get to record Natalie and I am so grateful that I did. In her honor, I hope to at least release that recording soon.  In it, I learned all about her childhood and more; and she even showed me the photo reference she used to paint the cover of Tuck Everlasting.

Which I am glad I got to see as a musical, too!

I told you I was a huge fan of her work!

Tuck Everlasting, is, of course, amazing.  But I have a soft spot for her book The Search for Delicious. It's one of my favorite books of all time and fostered my love of fairy tales and folk tales--in many ways, an inspiration for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.

What I loved about her books was that they did not have to be "dark" to be deep. In fact, it was their lightness that revealed life's poignancy.  Her work has always been an example for me to model mine upon and my dream is to reach her level of writing and readership.

Rest in Peace, Natalie Babbitt. You were loved.