Walter Dean Myers was a writer of children’s books who wrote more than a hundred books for children and young adults. He was born in Martinsburg, West Virginia, in 1937.

He had a decent, loving family – which the average man dreams of having – that included his wife, two sons, and a daughter. His daughter Karen sadly passed away before him.

One of his sons, Christopher, became an author and illustrator and illustrated his father’s work.

Myers had a rather lengthy writing career – a whopping 45 years in total. Sadly, he died in New York City on July 1, 2014, after a brief illness.

Early Life

Myers had an unfortunate childhood. His mother died when he was just two. When he turned three, he was then given over to Florence Dean, his biological father’s wife. Florence and her then-husband, Herbert Dean, raised him in New York City.

Later in life, Myers took “Dean” as his middle name in honor of his foster parents Florence and Herbert.

Myers was not a good student, but he was smart. He had a speech impediment and was often teased for this, making him lash out at the bullies. Because of the bullying and his lack of interest in traditional education, Myers dropped out of school many times.

He dropped out of Stuyvesant High School in 1954 and joined the U.S Army when he was just seventeen. After serving in the United States Army for three years, Myers left because he did not like what he was doing.

After a brief period of struggle, he joined the Harlem Post Office and later worked at the New York State Department of Labor.

He later attended classes at different colleges before finally graduating from Empire State College in 1984.

Writing – His Way of Expressing Himself

Myers struggled to find work after leaving the Army. He found a construction job in Chicago for a little while. He remembered his teacher’s words during this job – Bonnie Leibow – who saw his writing skills and advised him to continue to write.

He worked in the day and wrote at night. He started writing about his tough adult years. As he kept writing, he understood his teacher’s advice and why she insisted him to keep writing.

In no time, he was writing columns for men’s magazines and tabloids. It was going great for Myers, and it was not until he got inspired by James Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues that he started writing stories about his experiences growing up.

Myers then won a contest sponsored by the Council of Interracial Books for Children with his first-ever children’s book, Where Does The Day Go?

This was the start of an illustrious writing career, and Myers made his name among some great children’s book writers.

Acclamation/Awards

Myers’s love for books is the real reason we have so many brilliant writings today. He said in an interview that he valued books the most and that “They were my only real friends growing up.”

In 1968 his first-ever storybook – a children’s book – was a contest winner. After that, it was all praise and glory for him. He went on to win more awards than any author for young adults and is considered one of the most prolific writers, with more than 110 books to his name.

Myers won the Coretta Scott King Award five times and received two Newbery Honors. He was also a finalist for Young People’s Literature; in 1999 for Monster, in 2005 for Autobiography of My Dead Brother, and 2010 for Lockdown.

His book, Monster, was also the inaugural winner of the Michael L. Printz Award, was a National Book Award Finalist, and a New York Times Bestseller.

He was bestowed with the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults. For his lifetime contribution as a children’s book writer, he was a U.S. nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2010.

Among all the prizes and awards, Myers also had the honor of delivering the 2009 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture, which is reserved for an individual who has made notable contributions to the field of children’s literature.

Myers was also on the Board of Advisors of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).

Writing Style

His teacher advised him to use writing as a tool to express himself, which he did brilliantly and developed writing skills in poetry and short stories.

He started from children’s books but soon found himself writing for young adults with topics ranging from science fiction to sports to biography to fantasy to African-American history. He even wrote on adventure and mystery.

Myers’s writing focused on his challenging experiences as a teen. His words authentically portrayed African-American youth, but the appeal was not limited to any particular ethnic group. His writing illustrated the experience of an average teen in urban America.

His 1988 novel, Fallen Angels, was challenged several times in the U.S. because of its adult language and its realistic depiction of the Vietnam War.

Myer’s realism in his writing clearly showed how good he was at writing and how much he loved it. In an interview, he said, “It is not something that I am doing just for a living. This is something that I love to do.”

He explained his writing process in the same interview. He first outlined the story, then he cut out pictures of all his characters, and his wife used to put them in a collage and pasted them on the wall above his computer.

He looked at them closely and prepared a rushed draft, which he then rewrote again until a fine piece of writing was achieved. In his own words, “rewriting is a lot more fun for me than the writing is.”

He was an exceptional writer who had a unique writing process that enabled him to achieve what many can only dream of!

https://walterdeanmyers.net/