|
Author Information
 Peggy Parish was born in Manning, South Carolina on July 14, 1927. She developed a love for reading at an early age and, even as a child, enjoyed writing very much. She attended the University of South Carolina and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.
At the time of her graduation, not many people were becoming teachers. While visiting her brother in Kentucky, Peggy was persuaded to enter the teaching profession. After teaching creative dancing to young children, she moved to Oklahoma and taught third grade in the Panhandle, in addition to teaching dance and producing community shows.
By this time, Peggy knew that she wanted to work in some creative field but still wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do. So she decided to move to New York, hoping to gain a sense of direction. She was fortunate enough to get a job in a progressive experimental school where creativity was stressed, the Dalton School in Manhattan. Once again she instructed third graders.
This is when Peggy began writing --- not only the material for her classes but stories of her own. Peggy's first book, MY GOLDEN BOOK OF MANNERS, was published in 1961; this was followed by LET'S BE INDIANS in 1962. A parent of one of the students, who was an editor of adult books, found out she was trying to break into the writing field and introduced her to an editor at Harper who helped improve her skills as a storyteller. This, of course, led to her biggest breakthrough --- the creation of Amelia Bedelia in 1963.
Peggy went on to write 11 more Amelia Bedelia books. She also wrote a number of mystery novels, as well as arts and crafts books. Among these other titles are HAUNTED HOUSE, DINOSAUR TIME, THE CHIMP THAT WENT TO SCHOOL and LET'S CELEBRATE: Holiday Decorations You Can Make (which includes instructions on making decorations for different holidays, such as an Easter bush, a log cabin and a valentine mobile). In addition to writing books, Peggy did television pieces on preschool education and children's books, wrote book review columns and led a number of in-service training workshops for teachers.
 Sadly, Peggy died of an aneurysm on November 19, 1988. Her spirit, though, is very much alive, thanks in part to her loving nephew, Herman Parish. Even after her passing, Peggy still received fan mail from children. They wondered when the next Amelia Bedelia book would be available. Other children's authors volunteered to continue the series. But Herman did not want Amelia Bedelia to leave the family --- after all, he was in the fourth grade when Amelia Bedelia first appeared and he had literally grown up with her. So, with the blessing of his family, he picked up where his aunt left off and began writing a brand new Amelia Bedelia adventure.
Although he had experience writing in the advertising business, it took Herman a long time to write his first Amelia Bedelia book --- almost a year in fact. This is because he reread all of Peggy's stories to figure out what made them funny. He then began collecting and writing down as many ideas, homonyms and expressions as he possibly could. This hard work produced GOOD DRIVING, AMELIA BEDELIA in 1995. The success of this book has led to the publication of three more, which took less time to write: BRAVO, AMELIA BEDELIA, AMELIA BEDELIA 4 MAYOR and CALLING DOCTOR AMELIA BEDELIA. There is no doubt that Peggy would be very proud of her nephew for keeping this memorable character alive for a whole new generation of readers to enjoy.
Back to top.
|
