M. E. Kerr
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
M. E. Kerr (pen name of Marijane Meaker, born May 27, 1927), is an American author, primarily of young adult fiction. Meaker also published 20 novels under the name "Vin Packer," most notably the groundbreaking pulp fiction title Spring Fire.
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[edit] As M. E. Kerr
According to her autobiographical young adult book ME ME ME ME: Not a Novel (1984), Meaker began her professional writing career by posing as a literary agent, whose "clients" consisted of her own pen names.
Her first book as M. E. Kerr, Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!, was published in 1972. Her honors include the American Library Association’s Notable Children’s Books list (Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!, 1972; Is That You, Miss Blue?, 1975; Little Little, 1981) and Best Books for Young Adults list (Is That You, Miss Blue?, 1975; Gentlehands, 1978; Little Little, 1981; I Stay Near You, 1985; Fell, 1987; Deliver Us From Evie, 1987), School Library Journal’s Best Children’s Books list (Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!, 1972; The Son of Someone Famous, 1975; I’ll Love You When You’re More Like Me, 1977; Gentlehands, 1978) and Best Books list (Little Little, 1981; What I Really Think of You, 1982; Deliver Us From Evie, 1994), and The New York Times’ list of Outstanding Children’s Books (Is That You, Miss Blue?, 1975) and Best Children’s Books (Gentlehands, 1978).[1]
[edit] Other pen names and writings
Early writings were published under the pen names Vin Packer, Ann Aldrich, and M. J. Meaker. The Packer and Aldrich pen names were used for works in the lesbian pulp fiction genre. These novels were required by the publisher to have "happy endings" -- endings in which the protagonist either discovers she is not lesbian or "converts" to heterosexuality -- in order to avoid having book shipments thrown away by the Postal Service as obscene or indecent literature. (Writer Ann Bannon has credited her beginnings as an author of lesbian fiction to discovering the Vin Packer novels in the 1950s.[2]) However, Michelle Koh notes that after Spring Fire -- identified by various sources as the first American novel with lesbian themes -- all Packer books were suspense novels, and only two had gay characters. Koh cites Meaker's reasoning for switching to suspense as being that "she wanted to be reviewed and knew that paperback mysteries were reviewed along with the hardcover titles."[3]
In the 1990s, Meaker added the pen name Mary James for a series of novels aimed at younger readers than the Kerr readership; it was not until 1994, after the publication of the third Mary James novel, that the covers indicated that the author was also known as M. E. Kerr.[4] Mary James books include Shoebag, The Shuteyes, Frankenlouse and Shoebag Returns.
[edit] Personal life
Meaker also was a companion of author Patricia Highsmith for many years. She wrote about this relationship in the 2003 non-fiction memoir Highsmith: A Romance of the 1950's and discussed it and her own pulp-fiction novels in interviews around the time of the book's release.
As of 2006, Meaker was living in East Hampton, New York, where she taught writing classes at the Ashawagh Hall Writers' Workshop. Her workshop experiences led to the nonfiction instructional book, Blood on the Forehead: What I Know About Writing (1998).
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://www.mekerr.com/ Awards and Honors, The M. E. Kerr and Mary James site
- ^ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1407161 NPR "Fresh Air" interview with Ann Bannon, first aired Dec. 8, 1999 (aired again in 2003 in tandem with Meaker interview)
- ^ http://www.thesis.mekerr.com/popbooks.html The Pop Culture Addict's Guide to Finishing a Dissertation - Books
- ^ http://www.balkinbuddies.com/kerr/index.html Balkin Buddies profile of M. E. Kerr
[edit] Further reading
- "Fresh Air" interview with Marijane Meaker, June 19, 2003
- The book that sparked the fire, Joy Parks Review of the re-release of Spring Fire, a 1952 Vin Packer novel
