Marjorie Weinman Sharmat (11/12/28 - 03/12/19)

Marjorie Weinman,the author of more than 130 children's books.  The series she is know best for is 'Nate the Great' (illustrated by the late Marc Simont). My mother was also born in 1928.  I was 21 years old when my mother died. Before my mother passed, she gave me the greatest gift she could – she inspired me to be creative.  She taught me to draw as soon as I could hold a pencil and coached me from stick figures to sketches to pencil, charcoal and ink.  She taught me that every piece of art held stories and storytelling was one of our favorite things to do. 
 
I don’t know if Marjorie was guided in her art by her mother as I was, but I do know that Marjorie was also inspired at an early age.  She wanted to be an author or detective.  I wanted to be an artist and to explore.  By the age of 8, Marjorie Weinman wrote her very on spy newspaper, The Snooper’s Gazette, featuring news crafted from eavesdropping on adults.  By the age of 10, I was a pretty decent portrait artist and had my first work of art stolen under the pretense of an artist contest and fraudulently passed off for re-sale. (But that’s a story for another time.)
 
There were thousands of children inspired by the work of Margorie as a children’s author, and those children will continue to share her work with their children, lettering her talent and curiosity inspire another generation.  Honor Marjorie Weiman and her illustrator Marc Simont this month.  Go to the library and get a "Nate the Great" book to read to your kids or your grandkids.