Jerry spinelli biography
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Jerry Spinelli
American children's writer (born )
Jerry Spinelli (born February 1, )[1] is an American writer of children's novels that feature adolescence and early adulthood. His novels include Maniac Magee,[2]Stargirl, and Wringer.
Biography
Spinelli was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania,[3] and currently lives in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. At the age of 16, his love of sports inspired him to compose a poem about a recent football victory, which his father published in the local newspaper without his knowledge. It was at this time he realized that he would not become a major league baseball player, so he decided to become a writer.[2]
At Gettysburg College, Spinelli spent his time writing short stories and was the editor of the college literary magazine, The Mercury.[4] After graduation, he became a writer and editor for a department store magazine. The next two decades, he spent his time working "normal jobs"
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The following is an Archived biography. For current information, see the Abstract for links.
Jerry Spinelli was the first born of two sons born to Louis Spinelli and Lorna Mae Bigler Spinelli on February 1, in Norristown, Pennsylvania, on the outskirts of Philadelphia. Spinelli's childhood in Norristown—full of sports, races, bicycles, yo-yos, girls, and comics—would provide the whimsical backdrop to and the inspiration for his poignant and celebrated children's books.
Throughout his youth, Spinelli never imagined himself as a future writer and never read more than the literature printed on the back of cereal boxes. Instead, he dreamed of becoming a cowboy. He loved country tunes, Roy Rogers, and cowboy apparel, and sporting spurs on his heels in grade school. By the time Spinelli reached age eleven, though, the cowboy phase had passed and was replaced by a passion for sports, baseball especially. During his adolescence, Spinelli fantasized about playing professional s
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Jerry Spinelli
Jerry Spinelli was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania in He grew up playing a wide variety of sports, including soccer and baseball. For years Jerry dreamed of becoming a major league baseball player. Yet during high school, two things persuaded him to trade in his bat for a pen: he wrote a poem that was published in the local newspaper; and, he eventually realized that he couldn&#;t hit a curveball.
At Gettysburg College, Jerry Spinelli began to write short stories. He also served as the editor of the college literary magazine. After graduation, Spinelli took a job as a writer and editor for a department store magazine. For the next two decades he did rather mundane editorial work as a day job so that he could have the energy to write fiction in his spare time. For years Spinelli wrote during lunch breaks, on weekends, and after dinner.
Jerry Spinelli&#;s first four novels were for adults. All of them were rejected. His fifth novel, also intended for adults, actu