Walter+deean+myers

Walter Dean Myear

BORN: in He was born on a Thursday, the 12th of August, 1937, in Martinsburg, West Virginia

ABOUT HIS/HER LIFE:

I was raised in Harlem by Herbert and his wife, Florence. Herbert was African American. Florence was German and Native American and wonderful and loved me very much. As a child my life centered around the neighborhood and the church. The neighborhood protected me and the church guided me. I resisted as much as I could. I was smart (all kids are smart) but didn't do that well in school. I dropped out of high school (although now Stuyvesant High claims me as a graduate) and joined the army on my 17th birthday. Basketball has always been a passion of mine. Sometimes at night I lie in bed thinking about games I've played. Sometimes I think about what would have happened if I had gone into the NBA (I was never good enough) or college ball. Anyway.... I wrote well in high school and a teacher (bless her!) recognized this and also knew I was going to drop out. She advised me to keep on writing no matter what happened to me. "It's what you do," she said.

ABOUT HIS/HER WORK: didn't know exactly what that meant but, years later, working on a construction job in New York, I remembered her words. I began writing at night and eventually began writing about the most difficult period of my own life, the teen years. That's what I do.