The Places You Will Go

R.I.P: Margaret Lim, 23rd June 1947 – 8th May 2011

23 June 1947 - 8 May 2011

On May 8, 2011, Margaret Lim has passed away peacefully in the arms of her loving husband and children. She had lost the fight against cancer and ended her journey on earth, leaving behind lovely memories in our hearts.

Margaret’s work of passion will live on at this blog and, soon, some of her unpublished work will be posted, as well.

We would like to share the following dedication by Margaret’s sister Aileen:

“Maggie passed away on Sunday, 8 May 2011, in Germany.  It is a very significant day that is so representative of her life.  God could not have granted her a better gift as it was Mother’s Day, and as a creative writer, she would have appreciated the symbol very much.  She also only left towards the end of the day, a mother to the last.

Looking back, I realise that she had that special touch of a mother in the way she played her roles in life: as a friend or as a family member – aunt, cousin, niece, sister, wife, and of course mother.  

She was always generous, considerate and well-intentioned.  She was full of mirth, amidst her seriousness.  She never spoke ill of anyone.  When an appropriate occasion arose, she always spoke proudly of her immediate family – Wolfhart, SuJen, Einhard, Ken.

I  am certain that where she is now, she is shining among the angels, and is so very happy.  And why not?  In her relatively short life, she has done a lot, achieved a lot, and in no small way as a children’s writer.  In this world of children, she was always in touch with God.  

Although she and I were supposed to make several small journeys together, and she was supposed to travel to see her relatives and friends, she has gone on a greater Journey, after fulfilling her life’s purpose.  

If we celebrate the fulfilled life of this wonderful soul, and be happy with her, our hearts will be healed.  And we will remember her in our thoughts as if she has not left us.

Like her paternal grandmother and father who went before, whom she deeply loved, and to whom she dedicated two of her books, she was full of a Mother’s Love.”

- Aileen Lim

via margaretlim.wordpress.com

Posted via email from daphnelee's posterous

R.I.P. Diana Wynne Jones (16 August 1934 – 26 March 2011)

This calls for a massive re-read of all Diana Wynne Jones's books.

Her books started me reading fantasy fiction and she remains my favourite creator of stories in that genre.

Read The Guardian obituary here.

R.I.P: Margaret K. McElderry, Children’s Book Publisher, Dies at 98

Margaret K. McElderry, a book editor who employed shrewd intuition, critical acumen and a nurturing way with authors to help shepherd children’s literature from a prewar cottage industry to today’s billion-dollar business, died on Monday at her home in Manhattan. She was 98.

Her death was confirmed by Emma Dryden, who for many years worked at Ms. McElderry’s side as an editor at Margaret McElderry Books, the first children’s imprint named for an editor.

Ms. McElderry came to be called the grande dame of children’s publishing, having transcended the typical anonymity of book editors by riding the crest of the postwar baby boom, helping to provide it with a new breed of engaging, nonpatronizing literature.

She recruited authors with a newer sensibility, ventured into controversial subjects, like the ravages of war, and led the way in publishing foreign works.

Her faith in her taste was the cornerstone of her success. She trusted her first impressions of a work, saying the good ones almost compel readers to ask a single question: “What happens next?” In a 1996 profile, Library Trends, a professional journal, praised her “empathetic curiosity.”

R.I.P.: Brian Jacques 1931-2011

Brian Jacques was born on June 15 1939 in the Kirkdale area of Liverpool, and grew up in the city’s docklands. His father, a truck driver of French descent, was widely-read, instilling in his son a love of storytelling and in particular the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson and Edgar Rice Burroughs.

R.I.P: Babe creator Dick King-Smith dies aged 88 | Books | guardian.co.uk

Children's author Dick King-Smith, whose much-loved tale The Sheep-Pig was adapted into the hit film Babe, has died at the age of 88, at home in his sleep.

After fighting in Italy with the Grenadier Guards in the second world war, King-Smith was a farmer for 20 years before turning to teaching and came to writing late in life. His first book, The Fox Busters, was published in 1978 when he was in his 50s. He went on to write more than 100 books, most of which drew on his knowledge of farms and animals because "I like them, I've always kept a lot of pets, and because it's fun putting words in their mouths". King-Smith called this genre of speaking-animal stories "farmyard fantasy" and often wrote about pigs, his favourite animals. One of his early popular books, Saddlebottom, featured a porcine hero, much scorned for the unusual white saddle-shaped patch on his bottom, who runs away on adventures with a cat.

Children's author Eva Ibbotson dies aged 85 | Books | guardian.co.uk

Eva Ibbotson at home in Newcastle in 2004. Photograph: Ben Cawthra/North News & Pictures, Newcastle

via guardian.co.uk

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The children's author Eva Ibbotson died on Wednesday at the age of 85 at her home in Newcastle, it has been confirmed. She was best known for the Amazon adventure tale Journey to the River Sea, winner of the Nestlé children's gold award and shortlisted for the Carnegie medal, and for her funny, magical stories for younger children, including The Secret of Platform 13 and The Great Ghost Rescue.

Beryl Bainbridge dies, aged 75 | Books | guardian.co.uk

Grande dame of British literature ... Beryl Bainbridge. Photograph: David Levenson/Getty Images

Maverick, unique and horribly funny, according to her fellow authors: the world of British literature felt an emptier place today following the death of Beryl Bainbridge, aged 75.

She was admitted to hospital last week following a recurrence of cancer, and died suddenly in the early hours of this morning.

Lara Jones obituary | Books | The Guardian

Lara Jones was best known for the Poppy Cat series

via guardian.co.uk

Posted via web from daphnelee's posterous

My daughter the children's author and illustrator Lara Jones, who has died of malignant melanoma, aged 34, was best known for her Poppy Cat series of books. She produced other characters (Lola and Binky, and Davy the Dinosaur) and illustrated books by other authors (I Want a Mini Tiger by Joyce Dunbar being her final work), but Poppy Cat was her most successful endeavour, selling millions of copies worldwide. It is currently in production for television, to be screened on the Nick Jr channel in the autumn.

The Associated Press: Australian author Patricia Wrightson dies at 88

via google.com

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Australian author Patricia Wrightson dies at 88

By ROD McGUIRK (AP) – 3 days ago

CANBERRA, Australia — Patricia Wrightson, the internationally acclaimed Australian children's author who attracted praise — and then criticism — for entwining Aboriginal mythology into her writing, has died at age 88.

In 1986, Wrightson was awarded the biennial Hans Christian Andersen Medal — the highest accolade for a writer of children's fiction — given by the Swiss-based International Board on Books for Young People for an author's body of work.

She died of natural causes on March 15 in northern New South Wales state several days after being hospitalized, her son Peter Wrightson said Thursday.

RIP: J. D. Salinger, Enigmatic Author of ‘The Catcher in the Rye,’ Dies at 91 - Obituary (Obit)

via nytimes.com

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J. D. Salinger, who was thought at one time to be the most important American writer to emerge since World War II but who then turned his back on success and adulation, becoming the Garbo of letters, famous for not wanting to be famous, died Wednesday at his home in Cornish, N.H., where he had lived in seclusion for more than 50 years. He was 91.

Evening Standard/Getty Images (left)

Mr. Salinger’s literary representative, Harold Ober Associates, announced the death, saying it was of natural causes. “Despite having broken his hip in May,” the agency said, “his health had been excellent until a rather sudden decline after the new year. He was not in any pain before or at the time of his death.”