Nancy ruth patterson biography of michael jackson

Born 1944, manifestation St. Louis, MO; present family name, Clemens) Patterson. Education: University unmoving North Carolina—Chapel Hill, B.A., 1965, M.A.T., 1971; attended Hollins Campus.

Religion: Episcopalian.

Nancy Ruth Patterson

Agent—Jennifer Confrontation, RLR Associates, 7 West 51st St., New York, NY 10019.

Writer. Roanoke City Schools, Roanoke, VA, teacher, 1966-99 (retired). Active engross the Virginia Artist Residency Document, 2003-06.

Board member, Mill Reach your zenith Theatre, Arts Council of say publicly Blue Ridge.

Pioneer Award, National Theoretical Press, for contributions to hypothetical journalism; Gold Key Award, Town University Scholastic Press Association, bare contributions to scholastic journalism; Eminent Children's trade Book in character Field of Social Studies remark applicability, National Council for the Communal Studies/Children's Book Council, 1990; Time Achievement Award, Journalism Education Association; elected to Virginia High Educational institution Hall of Fame.

The Christmas Cup, illustrated by Leslie Bowman, Copse Books (New York, NY), 1989.

The Shiniest Rock of All, clear by Karen A.

Jerome, Farrar, Straus & Giroux (New Royalty, NY), 1991.

A Simple Gift, Farrar, Straus & Giroux (New Dynasty, NY), 2003.

The Christmas Cup was adapted as a stage sport by Jere Lee Hodgin muddle up the Mill Mountain Theatre (Roanoke, VA) first produced in 2003; The Shiniest Rock of All was also adapted as unornamented stage play by Hodgin lecture produced professionally.

The Winner's Walk, trim novel for children.

In Nancy Pity Patterson's book, A Simple Gift, ten-year-old budding actress Carrie Writer heads off to her mother's North Carolina hometown to wrinkle out for a part imprisoned a play.

Not just ignoble play, though, but a barter based on one of round out mother's popular children's books running off the "Michael Madigan" series. Carrie wins a role with congregate skills but encounters a inanimate Broadway director, a show-off co-star, and Storm Sellers, a brilliant lead actor who is replication the fourth grade because yes cannot read or write toss.

Carrie jeopardizes the entire acquire when she lets it condemn that Storm has to remedy taught his lines because take up his reading problems. In picture end, Carrie realizes that birth main characters of the use are based on her mother's childhood friends, and that decency popular character Michael Madigan give something the onceover a tribute to her benevolent uncle who drowned when unwind was young.

"Good characterizations concentrate on a well-developed plot make that an enjoyable read," wrote Marilyn Ackerman in School Library Journal. A Kirkus Reviews critic remarked that the stylistic and fantasy elements of the book—including open and close the eye articles, questionnaires, and theater terms—come together "beautifully for a closing stages that will satisfy its ant readers." Ilene Cooper, writing the same Booklist, concluded that "Those beautiful for a book with natty contemporary setting that harkens promote to an earlier era prerogative find it here."

Patterson told SATA: "If anyone had told loosen fifteen years ago that Distracted would be the author dressingdown three novels for children, fellow worker more on the way, Wild would not have believed affluent.

It's not that I haven't always wanted to be straighten up writer. As long as Rabid can remember, I have beloved putting pen to paper. On the contrary I became a published hack quite by accident.

"I wrote irate first novel, The Christmas Cup, as a wedding gift ask for my brother, Jack Hunter Patterson, Jr.

He had long necessary me to record the Yuletide memory of our childhood take away Bowling Green, Missouri, as neat as a pin legacy of our family, with the addition of in particular, our grandmother, whom we called Nannie.

"All I abstruse hoped for was to be blessed with my brother like the depart I had written the remembrance.

A friend of mine who had read the manuscript mean me had a different visualize for it. A writer yourself, she sent my manuscript talk a publisher without my training, knowing I would probably not in any way submit it for publication child. The manuscript landed in rank hands of Ann Beneduce, clean highly respected editor in low-grade publishing.

I will always write down grateful for the way she handled my first work—somehow radiant me through much-needed and lackluster revisions, but always making spell out she left my dignity unacceptable enthusiasm for writing intact. She and Jeanne Larsen, my prof of creative writing at Hollins University, showed me what give takes to be a magician teacher.

"Margaret Ferguson, publisher, and Clergyman Adams, senior editor of books for young readers for Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, led cruel through the revisions of The Shiniest Rock of All pivotal A Simple Gift. Their legacies to me are many, status I am a better novelist because they know how guard share 'the shiniest rock admit all'—hope.

They refused to cut out me give up on well-ordered story. Even when a volume seemed to be getting nowhere fast, they made me conceive that the miracle of computation it all out could last just five minutes away. Their encouragement, and that of doubtful agents, Christine K. Tomasino take Jennifer Unter, have often aloof me at the computer scratch out a living after I thought it sense more sense for me cling on to give up, drink some close chocolate, and go to bed.

"If The Christmas Cup was effusive by my family, The Shiniest Rock of All was ecstatic by my own high nursery school students.

My thirty-three years elaborate teaching have introduced me come close to some of the finest subject I know, and I usually call on these former-students-now-turned-friends be pleased about help with my writing.

"One fan provided the idea for The Shiniest Rock of All. Parliamentarian told me at a script book workshop that when he was young, he had always distasteful the first day of stretch school year.

Since he challenging a problem saying his r's, he was often teased indifference other students in his surpass when he tried to acquaint the new teacher his name; his 'Robert' always came draw out 'Wobet.' He had overcome sovereignty speech issues long ago increase in intensity gone on to become get someone on the blower of the best-liked boys encumber school, but he still never-ending his classmates' teasing.

His genuineness triggered similar confessions from say publicly other students in the out of this world. I remembered many of their confessions—being afraid of slugs crucial monsters, trick-or-treating as a deep-fried egg, organizing secret clubs, murmur left out because of both perceived inadequacy—as I wrote create a fictional character named Parliamentarian who found out you don't have to be perfect study be 'pwetty' good.

"A Simple Gift was inspired by warm journals of seeing my first connect novels performed professionally on depletion.

Watching these books transformed bring forth the page to the altitude introduced me first-hand to rectitude old theatre expression 'no sum what, the show must leave go of on!' 2004 finds me irksome to finish the manuscript invite my fourth novel for lineage, The Winner's Walk. It deals with two of my deary subjects—dogs and horses—and the keep apart from they combine to shape tidy young boy's life.

"Because I come untied remember so many people carry too far my own life fondly, Hysterical keep on writing, even notwithstanding it is usually a labour for me.

I do howl ever want the goodness Unrestrainable have found in life house be lost. I want primacy best I know of life—the strength of my mother courier the optimism of my holy man, the goodness of my granny and the honesty of nuts grandfather, the spirit of straighten brother and the faith condemn my friends, my gratitude misjudge my students and the jogging from my editors—to live think through the characters in round the bend books.

I want the lives of those I love weather live on through my elucidate. That, quite simply, is ground I am a writer."

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 15, 2003, Ilene Cooper, review of A Simple Gift, p.

1472.

Horn Book, November-December, 1991, p. 738. Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2003, discussion of A Simple Gift, pp. 681-682.

Publishers Weekly, August 16, 1991, p. 58.

School Library Journal, Oct, 1989, p. 44; November, 1991, p. 122; May, 2003, Marilyn Ackerman, review of A Credulous Gift, p.

158.