Lois Lowry: Author and Friend
... of books is most likely one of the biggest influence on her adult life. Lowry’s adult life was just as interesting as her younger years, with much traveling. She married young, as many people did at the time, to a naval officer, this caused her to maintain her traveling lifestyle, but in 1977 her marriage ended (Lowry). After her divorce she began college at Brown University, with her four children, but she finally completed her degree at the University of Southern Maine, and finally moved to Cambridge, with her companion, Martin Small, and her dog bandit (Lois Lowry: How I write, 74). Lowry studied photography in school, after she got her degree, she photographed children professionally, but at the same time she wrote short, non-fiction stories (Lodge, 29). Lowry’s son, Grey, died in an air force plane crash in 1995 (Lodge, 29). Lowry said “I think it is my grown children, all of them grown now, who have caused me to expand my view.” (Lowry) This is what caused Lowry to write the way she does. Lowry writes many different styles, and has an interesting way of doing it. When Lowry was asked why and how she writes, she answered: “I used to work as a photographer, and I’m looking at a photo I took years ago of my two oldest children… what’s interesting to me is the way the light falls on these children for me writing is a very visual thing. I think part of the process is deciding what to illuminate, what to make the light fall on, and what to blur.” (Lois Lowry: How I write, 74) When Lowry writes, she writes from inspiration. Lowry once said, “If I read a brilliant paragraph I want to rush out and write brilliant paragraphs.” (Lodge, 29) She starts each day by reading a poem, when asked about it she said, “That works so well for me because poetry, although I don’t write it, it reminds me of how precise and evocative a good selection of words can be how words can be transcendent.” (Lois Lowry: How I write, 74) She gets her ideas from everything, whether it is a stranger walking or lighting on an object (Lowry). She uses these inspirations to write wonderful books. Lowry writes these books to help understanding amongst people. She writes to help young people answer their greatest questions, and identify themselves, among the masses, as an individual (Lois Lowry: How I write, 74). This understanding is what makes her books get the compliments they do, from editors. Some people really enjoy her books, others don’t. Three editors wrote what they had to say about Lowry’s books. One editor, Walter Lorraine wrote in The Horn Book Magazine: “In one sense her writing becomes more complete with the reader’s participation, a true Gastalt in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Often provocative contradictions result, sometimes to the extent that the protagonist dies or lives happily ever, each reader being convinced of a different interpretation.” (423) Another Editor wrote, “Most surprising of all is the leap forward Lowry has made in mastering the creation of a subtext by innuendo, foreshadowing, and resonance.” (Campbell, 717) Finally an editor, by the name of Anita Silvey...