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adderbolt - Jack posted an update Thursday, Oct 27, 2011, 2:16am EDT, 14 years ago
Florence Parry Heide
Prolific children’s book author Florence Parry Heide, whose work was illustrated by such notable artists as Edward Gorey, Jules Feiffer and Lane Smith, has died at her Kenosha, WI, home at age 92. Heide died in her sleep Sunday night; she was in good health, and her death was unexpected. Daughter Roxanne Pierce said, “It came as a huge shock to me this morning. We had such a wonderful evening last night together. We watched a movie, made popcorn, laughed our heads off. It was very, very good, cozy and comfy. It made me feel good.”
Gilliland said her mother was the author of more than 100 children’s books. Heide’s works include mostly children’s books, lyrics and poems She also wrote under the pseudonyms Alex B. Allen and Jamie McDonald. Her most critically acclaimed work was The Shrinking of Treehorn in 1971, which was illustrated by Edward Gorey. The New York Times named it one of the best illustrated children’s books of 1971.
Carthage College professor Marilyn Ward recalls times that she brought her entire class to the author’s house. “She was everybody’s favorite, and she was such a fun person, always enthusiastic; she had a real zest for everything she did.” Heide was well known for the Fourth of July parade she organized each year: hundreds of children with their bikes decorated would gather outside her home and ride twice around her block to the beat of a drum
Biography
Florence Parry Heide was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on February 27, 1919. Her father was David W. Parry, a banker, and her mother was Florence Fisher, a columnist and actress. In 1943, she married Captain Donald C. Heide, a lawyer, with whom she had five children: Christen, Roxanne, Judith, David, and Parry.
Florence Parry was educated at the Ellis School in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood before attending Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Two years later, she transferred to the University of California at Los Angeles in 1939, where she earned her B.A. in English. After graduation, Heide moved to New York City with hopes of finding a job. In the years prior to World War II, she worked at R.K.O. in New York, as well as at various advertising and public relations agencies. She later returned to her hometown and worked as the public relations director of the Pittsburgh Playhouse.
Children’s stories, mysteries, poetry, and lyrics are all represented in Heide’s bibliography, though she did not start writing until all five of her children were in school. Heide has been praised for her whimsical sense of humor and her keen insight into the lives of children. While her lighthearted children’s stories have garnered her the most renown and critical acclaim, Heide is also known for her ability to accurately portray the emotions of young girls facing the difficult transition into adolescence in such books as When the Sad One Comes to Stay, Growing Anyway Up, and Secret Dreamer, Secret Dreams. Heide co-wrote many of her books with Sylvia van Clief and continued co-authoring books with her own daughter, Roxanne, after van Clief died. She also co-wrote books with her brother David Fisher Parry as well as another daughter, Judith, and her son David.
Heide has received numerous awards for many of her works. Her most critically acclaimed work was The Shrinking of Treehorn, named by the New York Times as the Best Illustrated Children’s Book of 1971 and winner for the Best Children’s Book in Germany six years later. The Day of Ahmed’s Secret received the Editors’ Choice Award from Booklist in 1991, a prize also awarded to Sami and the Time of the Troubles in 1992. Other honors for her books include several Notable Book citations from the American Library Association and Best Book citations from The School Library Journal. She was awarded an honorary doctorate of literature by Carthage College in Wisconsin in 1979.
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