Louise Fitzhugh

[Michelle Koh]

Marijane Meaker was dear friends with author Louise Fitzhugh of Harriet the Spy fame. When Marijane Meaker was experiencing success as a true crime and suspense writer, Louise Fitzhugh was experiencing success as a YA writer. They each wanted to write in the other genre. Louise Fitzhugh had full confidence that Marijane Meaker could write a YA book telling her she already wrote about young adults in her adult novels. They joked about trading typewriters to see if it would help. M. E. Kerr wrote her first YA novel Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack and the rest is history. Another tidbit is that Marijane Meaker told her friend about being inspired by her mother’s affinity and talent for gathering and sharing the town gossip. As a child, Marijane Meaker snuck around the neighborhood spying on people to gather intel about their secrets. This image was in part an inspiration for Harriet the Spy!

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