A Conversation with BILL BEVERLY

Author of DODGERS
And his mother, Martha Beverly
A high school LIBRARIAN!
Crown / April 5, 2016
Q. Tell us about your career as a librarian and why you chose it.
A. (Martha) Quite frankly, I didnt realize that library work would become my
future. I stayed home with Bill and his younger brother until they entered
school. We read and played phonics games every day. Once the boys were in
school, I completed my degree as an English major, heading for teaching. But
the schools were laying off teachers, so my husband suggested that library
school might be a good idea. It was a brilliant idea! My organizational mind and
love of reading made that a better career match. My first library job was a twoyear stint as a bookmobile librarian and driver. Then I was hired into a public
school system where I served as elementary librarian and, later, high school
librarian.
Q. Did you see Bill as a writer early on?
A. (Martha) Bills love for language is no surprise. He read constantly as a
young kid, and we read together as a family every night. We bought desks for
the boys when Bill was six. Every day, even if there was no school homework,
the boys spent twenty or thirty minutes at their desks, reading, writing or
drawing. We felt that a quiet time for study was an important habit to develop.
At dinnertime every night the dictionary or Warriners grammar book made an
appearance as we discussed and debated grammar, usage, and vocabulary.
When the grandparents visited, the discussions grew livelier. We all love to play
with language and never fail to discover ways to tickle each other with reports
of billboard language, puns, weird words, and creativity.
Q. Bill, we hear your first job was at a library. What was that like?

A. Yes I shelved books at the Kalamazoo Public Library: first the 600 section
was mine, then fiction, science fiction, and mystery we observed the old
schisms. It was a good job to have. I alphabetize well: even today, most of my
house is alphabetized. And, there were always bookish girls working there. And
as long as your section was in reasonably good order and the reading areas
were picked up, you could get some reading done back in the office. Most of my
jobs, come to think of it, have been jobs that allowed me to get some reading
done.
Q. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
A. (Bill) Oh, fourth or fifth grade. Maybe earlier. But it took me a long time to
do anything about it. Im not sure why, but I wasnt brave about the arts, about
making things. In college, it amazed me to hear my friends who were musicians
and see my friends who were artists and writers, creating, making things.
Making noise. It took me a long time to imagine myself as one of them.
Q. How has your moms career inspired and influenced you?
A. (Bill) My mom was and is a great librarian she took over a moribund high
school library and, in a couple of years, transformed it. She ditched much of
the old, unused collection and restocked it with paperbacks shed bring home
from book sales. She made the place bright and comfortable. She applied for
grants, got computers handed down from the university in town, had the
internet in the library before almost anyone. She was relentless in listening to
what students wanted and trying to make it available. And thats always been
an inspiration to me as Ive taught. I dont know that I always live up to it or
could. She still has more energy than anybody else I know.

She and my father, a German teacher, filled the house with books. My brother
and I grew up seeing our parents read. So we read. There was never a shortage

of books about. And we were never hassled about what we read, or chose not to
read. That activity always seemed to be protected, to be blessed.

Q. What is it like to have your son publish a novel? Did you get to read
drafts or provide sage advice?
A. (Martha) His dad and I were blown away by the power of his writing. As a
librarian and his mom, Ive jumped for joy when the starred reviews were
announced!

Q. What do you both like to read?

A. (Martha) Ive always preferred non-fiction. As a kid I read every childrens
biography in my towns library. I like poetry, plays, history, travel, and lately
have been focusing on African American literature, some of it fiction. Im in two
book groups that read fiction to stretch myself in that direction. Recently I led a
discussion of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichies Americanah.

A. (Bill) In my day job, I'm an English professor, so I get to read on the job all
the time. My favorite author in the classroom is James Baldwin. But I read
whatever I can get I graze poetry, fiction, reviews of music and film and
books. My mom's aunt, who lived in Lower Manhattan, bought me a New
Yorker subscription every year beginning when I was about 14 an amazing
gift for a kid who reads. And my daughter helps me revisit Madeleine L'Engle,
Roald Dahl, William Steig. Right now we're reading Treasure Island together. I
recommend it.