Lloyd Alexander (1924 - 2007)

His Life:

He discovered books and says. "I learned to read quite young and have been an avid reader ever since, even though my parents and relatives were not great readers. I was more or less left to my own devices and interests, which, after all, may not be such a bad idea."

Alexander became very fond of Greek and Celtic mythologies, in addition to the Welsh tales and legends contained in the Mabinogion. He also discovered the novels of Charles Dickens.

At fifteen, he tols his parents that he wanted to become a poet--. As he recalled later, my father warned me that writing was no practical career and "I would do well to forget it." His mother, however, helped him to get his father to agree that Alexander could pursue poetry--granted he also found practical work.

"For my part, I had no idea how to find any sort of work--" He was able to find work as a messenger boy in a bank, a job which, although low-paying and one he found miserable, allowed him to continue writing. He then decided that "adventure . . . was the best way to learn about writing," and he enlisted in the army. The year was 1943 and the United States was already fighting in World War II He was assigned to military intelligence. His unit was sent to Wales and he found "Wales was an enchanted world. The Welsh language fascinated me, as did English spoken with a Welsh lilt, more song than speech. . . . It seemed I recognized faces from all the hero tales of my childhood. .... Not until years afterwards did I realize I had been given, without my knowing, a glimpse of another enchanted kingdom."

When the war ended in 1945, he was sent to work with a counter-intelligence unit in Paris, and, as he wrote that he "fell in love with the city at first sight and sound." He requested a discharge from the army to resume his education, and received a scholarship from the French Foreign Ministry, with which he attended the Sorbonne, University of Paris. Paris is where he met his future wife, a young Parisian named Janine Denni, and the two were married three months later in January of 1946.

Feeling, however, that he needed to be closer to his roots if he were to succeed as a writer, Alexander returned to the United States with his wife and her small daughter Madeleine, whom he had adopted. The three initially lived with Alexander's parents, until they moved into their own home, an old farmhouse in Drexel Hill, just outside of Philadelphia.

Alexander began writing novels, the first three of which were promptly rejected by publishers. Between 1948 and 1955, he worked at a variety of jobs to support his family, including being a cartoonist, advertising writer, layout artist, and an associate editor for an industrial magazine. He also translated several works from French.

Finally, his fourth novel, And Let the Credit Go, was published. This book was based on his experiences as a struggling writer. I was writing out of my own life and experience. But nearly ten years passed before I learned a writer could know and love a fantasy world as much as his real one."

Lloyd stood apart from the crowd both in the way he wrote and in the way he lived his life. Lloyd Alexander entered his office (affectionately called "The Box") every night at 3:00 am to begin his writing day. Long ago, he had discovered that the muse visited him during these early morning hours, and rising daily in the darkness had become a way of life. He wrote seven days a week during his entire career. He wrote using a manual typewriter, replacing it with an identical machine when it wore out and buying yet another for a spare.

Outside his writing time, Lloyd lived a simple and eccentric life. He wrote the first draft of his grocery shopping list on Sunday, refining it on Monday and Tuesday, so it was polished by the time he arrived at Fresh Supermarket each Wednesday, promptly at 9 a.m. He owned three cars during his lifetime, the last a 1972 Chevy Nova he purchased new. It's still in his garage with just over 47,000 miles on the odometer--an average of fewer than 1,400 miles per year.

As a teenager, he began reading four hours each day, and before his one and only semester at college, he had finished the entire works of Freud, Jung, and Adler. He knew Shakespeare and Dickens, the Lake poets, and major writers in Europe and Asia. He worked the London Times crossword every morning--in ink!--and allowed himself two mistakes, but often had none.

Always interested in music, he knew hundreds of music pieces by heart and played the violin as an adult. He practiced daily and played with a small group of dedicated musicians. Mozart was his favorite composer. In spite of his taste for the classics in literature and music, he also read crime novels and watched every episode of Xena the Warrior Princess.

When asked to describe Lloyd's greatest trait, a friend replied unhesitatingly, "kindness." Here is additional evidence: he never charged for a speech. Although he received a steady stream of fan mail, he answered every letter the day it arrived. He prepared breakfast for his wife, Janine, every morning and delivered it to her in bed. Lloyd knew the name of the pest exterminator, the yardman, the service station attendant, the supermarket checker, and the woman at the UPS Store-- and their children, who received autographed copies of his books.

In a moment of heartfelt candor, Lloyd once told an interviewer that were he given the choice of writing one more book and then having to die or never writing again and living out his natural lifespan, he would choose to write one more book.

As a result of his dedication, Lloyd produced some of the most elegant and powerful prose in the history of modern children's literature.

Lloyd Alexander died on May 17, 2007, in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, of cancer. He was 83.

His Books:

Taran dreams of adventure, but nothing exciting ever happens to an Assistant Pig-Keeper--until his pig runs away. A chase through the woods leads Taran far from home and into great danger, for evil prowls the land of Prydain. With a collection of strange and wonderful friends whom he meets on his journey, Taran finds himself fighting so that good may triumph over evil--and so that his beloved home will not fall to a diabolical fiend.

In the imaginary Land of Prydain, where "evil is never distant," it has become imperative that the Black Cauldron, chief implement of the diabolical Arawn, be destroyed. In this cauldron Arawn has created his terrible army of deathless warriors from the stolen bodies of the slain. For each of those chosen to journey to Arawn's domain, the quest has a special meaning, and to Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper, the adventure becomes a glorious opportunity to wear his first sword and prove himself a man among men.

Newbery Honor Book, American Library Association (ALA), 1965

In the imaginary kingdom of Prydain, Princess Eilonwy must leave her friends to go to the Isle of Mona for training as a proper princess. Because Eilonwy has magical powers, she is sought by Achren, the most evil enchantress in the land. Shortly after her arrival on the Isle of Mona, something sinister and secret befalls her. Eilonwy's loyal friends--Taran, the Assistant Pig-Keeper; Flewddur, the bard; and Prince Rhun, her intended husband--realize her peril and set out on an exciting and terrifying mission to rescue her. They encounter great forces of enil as well as private--sometimes painful--revelations in the course of their journey.

Taran, the assistant pig-keeper who wants to be a hero, goes questing for knowledge of his parentage, hoping that his journey will ennoble him in the eyes of Eilonwy, the princess with the red-gold hair. Accompanied by several loyal friends, Taran begins his search when three wily enchantresses of the Marshes of Morva send him to consult the Mirror of Llunet for the answers he is seeking, cryptically promising that "the finding takes no more than the looking." During his adventures he meets Craddoc, the shepherd, and the common people of Prydain, whom he comes to respect and admire. With their help, he continues his mission to learn the secret of the Mirror and the truth about himself.

When the sword of dyrnwyn, the most powerful weapon inthe kingdom of Prydain, falls into the hands of Arawn-Death-Lord, Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper, and Prince Gwydion raise an army to march against Arawn's terrible cohorts. After a winter expedition filled with danger, Taran's army arrives at Mount Dragon, Arawn's stronghold. There, in a thrilling confrontation with Arawn and the evil enchantress Achren, Taran is forced to make the most crucial decision of his life.

American Book Award nomination, 1980 - Newbery Medal, ALA, 1969.

Westmark takes us into the beginning of a trilogy that follows the adventures of Theo, a young man who was content to serve as a printer’s devil until the tragic night when the soldiers of a corrupt Chief Minister killed his master and set Theo on the run for his life. There is no one for Theo to turn to for help but the duo of flim-flam artists whose playbill was the very printing job that started the trouble. Along the way, they are joined by a mysterious street girl who is more than she seems.

American Book Award, 1982.

Theo is traveling Westmark, learning about the country of which he will soon be Prince Consort. He is not surprised to find great poverty-Mickle (now known as Princess Augusta) could have told him that from her years on the street. His friend Florian could have told him about the aristocracy's graft and corruption. But neither could have foreseen a loaded pistol in the practiced hand of the assassin Skeit. The echoes of that shot ring from the muskets and cannons of a Westmark suddenly at war-a war that turns simple, honest men into cold-blooded killers, Mickle into a military commander, and Theo himself into a stranger.

Parents' Choice Awards, 1982.

Mickle, once a common street urchin, now rules Westmark as the wise Queen Augusta. Yet the kingdom is strangely restless. Ghosts of the past lurk everywhere, whispering of future war. Justin and his revolutionaries denounce the monarchy--even the benevolent Mickle. Cabbarus, banished from Westmark, plots to seize the throne and install a Reign of Terror.

Theo, the famed Colonel Kestrel, remembers it all--the bloody battles, and the fight for his own soul. The past has retumed to haunt the present, and Theo, once again, must join in the struggle. Who will at last command the fate of Westmark?

Parents' Choice Awards, 1984.

Vesper Holly's fascination with an ancient legend leads her into exciting adventure in the tiny country of Illyria. She and her guardian set out to search for a legendary treasure. But Illyria is in a dangerous state of rebellion, and someone wants Vesper out of the way . . . for good.

Parents' Choice Awards, 1986.

Vesper has just learned that she owns a volcano in the tiny republic of El Dorado-and Vesper being Vesper, she and her guardian respond to the mysterious telegram by sailing to Central America. Almost as soon as they've arrived, Vesper and Brinnie are thrust into danger. Someone wants her property, and they will stop at nothing to get it-even if that means destroying an entire tribe of Chirica Indians and Vesper herself!

In her latest bout with villainy, Vesper Holly is accompanied by her legal guardians Professor Brinton and his wife Mary to Drackenberg to attend the Diamond Jubilee of the Grand Duchess. Immediately upon their arrival, Vesper and her companions become involved in Drackenberg's struggle to remain independent from neighboring Carpatia. The appearance of Vesper's archenemy, the dastardly Dr. Helvitius, is a sure sign that trouble is soon to follow. In the course of their stay, Vesper and Brinnie travel with a band of gypsies in order to rescue Mary from kidnappers, recover a lost masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci, discover a way to revive Drackenberg's economy and foil (for the time being, anyway) the evil machinations of Dr. Helvitius.

This time our always - intrepid heroine must return an overdue library book--a rare, valuable, very overdue library book--to the famed library at Bel-Saaba, in the North African country of Jedera. There's something here for everyone: a mysterious desert chieftain, a forbidden love, even an early flying machine. Following his formula in his own pleasant way, Alexander sees Vesper and her guardian Brinnie through encounters with slave traders, desert wars, and the evil Dr. Helvitius, Vesper's arch rival. As in the previous titles, Alexander does a nice job in giving a sense of reality to foreign (and fantastic) locations, filling them with "local" color.Returning a library book is simple--unless the library is in North Africa and the book is Vesper Holly's!

Vesper Holly has foiled murderers, crossed mountains, and narrowly escaped earthquakes. Now she's home in Philadelphia, where she can relax-until President Ulysses S. Grant asks for her help. The Centennial Exposition of 1876 is about to begin, and luminaries from around the world will be there. But so will Vesper's arch-nemesis, the evil Doctor Helvetius. There's only one person who can thwart his evil plans-Vesper Holly!

Lloyd Alexander's beloved Indiana Jones-style heroine, Vesper Holly, is back for one last adventure. Delving into the mystery of the origins of Western civilization, Vesper and her friends set out for the site of the legendary Troy, only to fall into a trap laid by the despicable Dr. Helvitius. Helvitius imprisons the companions in the palace he calls Xanadu, and Vesper will need all her intellectual cunning to engineer an escape. Lloyd Alexander's clever storytelling is as polished and delightful as ever, and his many fans will thrill to the return of his most brilliant leading lady.

Gareth, a black cat with a white crux ansata on his chest, has 9 lives -- we all know that! -- except Gareth's 9 lives occur each at a different time in history. this is a cat that can speak to a young boy named Jason and take him along on a cross-time trip to his other lives.

Together Gareth and Jason visit ancient Egypt, follow Caesar's legions to Britain, hobnob with a young Saint Patrick, turn a 10th century Japanese boy-emperor into a man, catalyze Leonardo DaVinci's foray into art, help out a reluctant conquistador who'd rather be an anthropologist, witness the coming of the Manx cat to the Isle of Man, escape witch hunters in the Germany of 1600 and meet some of the heroes of the American revolution.

When fourth fiddler Sebastian loses his place in the Baron's orchestra, he has to leave the only home he knows--which turns out to be the least of his troubles. He rescues a stray cat from a group of tormentors, who then smash his precious violin; and the troubled young boy he tries to help turns out to be the Crown Princess, on the run from an arranged marriage. Sebastian, Princess Isabel, and Presto the cat soon find themselves fleeing stuffy officials, hired assassins, furious guardsmen and sentries--and, in their journey, find out what is truly important in life. The action and humor never stop.

National Book Award, 1971.

As a man-who-used-to-be-a-cat, Lionel can't help but twitch his nose at the sight of a plump partridge and is able to leap with acrobatic skill across Brightford Bridge. It is there that he comes face to face with Mayor Pursewig who exacts a toll from all townsfolk, thus squeezing from them their hard earned money. And so Lionel, having been transformed into human form through the power of wizardry, discovers the least desirable traits of human nature: greed, tyranny, and political opportunism. But when he meets the spirited Mistress Gillian, the town's innkeeper, he is introduced to the far more ennobling qualities of love and courage. How Lionel and Gillian confront Pursewig and his unscrupulous cohorts provides the many twists and turns of this adventurous fantasy.

Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book in fiction, 1973.

Mallory notices there's something funny about an old oak tree, takes a closer look, and before she knows it, she's broken a magical spell. Arbican the wizard has been trapped in the oak for thousands of years, and his powers are gone. Will he get them back in time to save Mallory's village from greedy Squire Scrupner? Deft storytelling.[Full of] quotable bits of wisdom about the real nature of magic.

American Book Award nomination, 1982.

Lukas is in the town square, watching a seedy-looking magician--and the next thing he knows, he's drowning in a far-distant sea. When he comes ashore, the first people he meets hail him as king of Abadan. Being king is fine with Lukas; that is, it would be fine if everyone wasn't trying to murder him! A fantasy so original, told in such imaginative English, that it may be considered [Alexander's] peak performance.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Award nomination, 1975; National Book Award nomination, 1979, Silver Pencil Award, 1981, and Austrian Children's Book Award, 1984.