Judith Viorst

{{Infobox writer

| name = Judith Viorst

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| caption = Viorst in 2014

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| birth_name = Judith Stahl

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1931|2|2}}

| birth_place = Newark, New Jersey, U.S.

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| nationality = American

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| alma_mater = Rutgers University

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| notableworks = Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
The Tenth Good Thing About Barney

| spouse = Milton Viorst

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| children = 3

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| awards = 2011 Foremother Award

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Judith Viorst ({{IPAc-en|v|i|ˈ|ɔːr|s|t}} {{respell|vee|ORST}};{{cite web|last=Viorst|first=Judith|url=https://www.teachingbooks.net/pronounce.cgi?pid=39|title=Audio Name Pronunciation|access-date=September 17, 2022}} {{née|Stahl}};Aarons, Leroy. [http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20075845,00.html "Judith Viorst Wrote 'Sometimes I Hate My Husband,' but to Author Hubby Milton, That's Poetic License"], People (magazine), February 18, 1980 Vol. 13 No. 7. Accessed August 4, 2016. "Born in Maplewood, N.J., the daughter of an accountant and a mother 'who was a reader and a bridge player,' Judith Stahl started writing poetry at age 7." born February 2, 1931) is an American writer, newspaper journalist, and psychoanalysis researcher.{{Cite web |url= http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Judith+Viorst&dblist=638&fq=ap%3A%22viorst%2C+judith%22+%3E+dt%3Abks&qt=facet_dt%3A|title=Judith Viorst |access-date=March 30, 2010 |publisher= WorldCat.org}}

She is known for her humorous observational poetry and for her children's literature. This includes The Tenth Good Thing About Barney (about the death of a pet) and the Alexander series of short picture books, which includes Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (1972), which has sold over two million copies.{{cite web |title=The Author, Judith Viorst |url=http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/family/alexander/author.html |publisher=The Kennedy Center }}

Viorst is a 1952 graduate of the Newark College of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. In 1968, she signed the "Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War."Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" January 30, 1968 New York Post In the latter part of the 1970s, after two decades of writing for children and adults, Viorst turned to the study of Freudian psychology. In 1981, she became a research graduate at Washington Psychoanalytic Institute after six years of study.

Early life

A native of Newark, New Jersey,{{cite book|title=New Jersey Trivia|date=1993|publisher=Rutledge Hill Press|isbn=1-55853-223-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/newjerseytrivia00alme/page/113 113]|url=https://archive.org/details/newjerseytrivia00alme/page/113}} Viorst was raised in Maplewood, New Jersey, and attended Columbia High School. A graduate of the class of 1948, she was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 1990.[http://www.somsd.k12.nj.us/Page/448 Hall of Fame] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807095136/http://www.somsd.k12.nj.us/Page/448 |date=August 7, 2016 }}, Columbia High School (New Jersey), updated July 16, 2012. Accessed August 4, 2016. "1990 JUDITH VIORST WRITER 1948"

Writing

=Writing for children=

Among Viorst's books for children is the "Alexander" series (including Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day), whose narrator is a young boy who lives with his parents and two brothers, Anthony and Nick, who are named after Viorst's own three sons.

Viorst's book Sad Underwear (published in 1995) is a collection of poems that examines a wide variety of feelings and experiences from a child's point of view. Her verses are accompanied by black and white illustrations by Richard Hull.{{Cite book |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/judith-viorst/sad-underwear-and-other-complications/ |title=SAD UNDERWEAR AND OTHER COMPLICATIONS {{!}} Kirkus Reviews |language=en}}

=Writing for adults=

Viorst's books for adults include nonfiction psychology books such as Grown-up Marriage, Imperfect Control, and Necessary Losses. She has written nine books of poetry including Unexpectedly Eighty and Other Adaptations, When Did I Stop Being Twenty and Other Injustices: Selected Poems from Single to Mid-Life, and People and other Aggravations. Viorst is also a newspaper columnist and has written frequently for The New York Times and The Washington Post, and has been a contributing editor to Redbook magazine.

Viorst also penned the musical Love & Shrimp with Shelly Markam. The Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati hosted a performance of Love & Shrimp, starring Deb Girdler, Pamela Myers and Shelley Bamberger, in the spring of 1999.

Personal life

Viorst lives in Washington, D.C. Her late husband, political writer Milton Viorst, died of COVID-19 in 2022. They have three grown sons: Anthony, Nicholas, and Alexander; and seven grandchildren.{{Cite news |last=Roberts |first=Sam |date=2022-12-17 |title=Milton Viorst, Writer Who Chronicled the Middle East, Dies at 92 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/17/us/milton-viorst-dead.html |access-date=2024-07-11 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Viorst received the 2011 Foremother Award for Lifetime Achievement from the National Research Center for Women & Families.{{Cite web |date=May 7, 2018 |title=Foremother and Health Policy Hero Awards Luncheons |url=https://www.center4research.org/foremother-health-policy-hero-awards/ |access-date=May 24, 2023 |website=National Center for Health Research}}

Selected works

The Wonderful World of Science, edited by Shirley Moore and Viorst (Bantam Books, 1961) — science experiments and recreations[http://lccn.loc.gov/61019397 "Wonderful world of science"]{{dead link|date=April 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Library of Congress Catalog Record (LCC). Retrieved March 8, 2014.
Projects: Space (Washington Square Books, 1962) [http://lccn.loc.gov/62003094]
150 Science Experiments Step-by-step, illus. Dennis Telesford (Bantam, 1963) [http://lccn.loc.gov/63015235]
The Natural World: A guide to North American wildlife (Bantam, 1965) [http://lccn.loc.gov/65024950]
The Village Square, illus. Tom Ballenger (Coward-McCann, 1966) [http://lccn.loc.gov/66026525]
The Changing Earth, illus. Feodor Rimsky (Bantam, 1967) [http://lccn.loc.gov/67016074]
Sunday Morning: a story, illus. Hilary Knight (Harper & Row, 1968)

=For children=

I'll Fix Anthony, illus. Arnold Lobel (1969), Harper & Row, {{ISBN|0-06-026306-7}}
Try It Again, Sam: Safety When You Walk, illus. Paul Galdone (1970)
My Mama Says there Aren't any Zombies, Ghosts, Vampires, Creatures, Demons, Monsters, Fiends, Goblins, or Things, illus. Kay Chorao (1973)
The Tenth Good Thing About Barney, illus. Erik Blegvad (1987)
The Good-bye Book, illus. Kay Chorao (1988)
Super-Completely and Totally the Messiest, illus. Robin Preiss Glasser (2001)
Just in Case, illus. Diana Cain Bluthenthal (2006)
And Two Boys Booed, illus. Sophie Blackall (2014)

==''Poems for Children and Their Parents''==

If I Were in Charge of the World and Other Worries: Poems for Children and their Parents, illus. Lynne Cherry (1981)
Sad Underwear and Other Complications: More Poems for Children and Their Parents, illus. Richard Hull (1995)

==''Alexander'' ==

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, illustrated by Ray Cruz (1972), New York: Atheneum Books, {{ISBN|0-689-70428-3}}
Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday illus. Ray Cruz (1977), Atheneum, {{ISBN|978-0-689-30602-0}}
Alexander, Who Is Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move illus. Robin Preiss Glasser "in the style of Ray Cruz" (1995), Atheneum, {{ISBN|0-689-31958-4}}
Alexander, Who's Trying His Best to Be the Best Boy Ever illus. Isidre Monés "in the style of Ray Cruz" (2014), Atheneum, {{ISBN|978-1-48142353-3}}

Omnibus edition: Absolutely, Positively Alexander: The Complete Stories

;Related titles

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day: A Musical
Alexander and the Wonderful, Marvelous, Excellent, Terrific Ninety Days: An Almost Completely Honest Account of What Happened to Our Family When Our Youngest came to Live with Us for Three Months (2007) — an adult memoir of Judith Viorst and her real son, Alexander

==''Lulu'' ==

Lulu and the Brontosaurus, illus. Lane Smith (2010), Atheneum, {{ISBN|978-1-4169-9961-4}}
Lulu Walks the Dogs, illus. Lane Smith (2012), Atheneum, {{ISBN|978-1-4424-3579-7}}
Lulu's Mysterious Mission, illus. Kevin Cornell (2014), Atheneum, {{ISBN|978-1-4424-9746-7}}
Lulu Is Getting a Sister, illus. Kevin Cornell (2018), Atheneum, {{ISBN|9781481471909}}

=For adults=

People and Other Aggravations (1971)
Yes, Married: A Saga of Love and Complaint (1972)
A Visit from St. Nicholas to a Liberated Household illustrated by Norman Green (1977)
Love and Guilt and the Meaning of Life, Etc. illustrated by John Alcorn (1979)
Necessary Losses: The Loves, Illusions, Dependencies, and Impossible Expectations That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Grow (1987)
Murdering Mr. Monti: A Merry Little Tale of Sex and Violence (1994)
Imperfect Control: Our Lifelong Struggles With Power and Surrender (1998)
You're Officially a Grown-up: The Graduate's Guide to Freedom, Responsibility, Happiness, and Personal Hygiene (1999)
Grown-Up Marriage: What We Know, Wish We Had Known, and Still Need to Know About Being Married (2003)

Dramatic adaptations

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, a stage adaptation of the book, was performed at the B Street Theatre in 2004.[http://bstreettheatre.org/ B Street Theatre]
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, live-action film by Walt Disney Pictures, 2014. http://movies.disney.com/alexander-and-the-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-day/

References

External links

[http://eolit.hrw.com/hlla/authorbios/index2.jsp?author=6judithviorst Holt Books: Author biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110712232917/http://eolit.hrw.com/hlla/authorbios/index2.jsp?author=6judithviorst |date=July 12, 2011 }}
[http://www.persephonebooks.co.uk/it-s-hard-to-be-hip-over-thirty.html It's Hard to Be Hip Over Thirty] profile at Persephone Books
{{YouTube|fl1QyjLHKH8|Interview with Viorst}} on her education at Rutgers University and her subsequent career
{{LCAuth|n78093724|Judith Viorst|75|}}
[https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/04/style/judith-viorst-poems.html How to Stay Happily Married]
{{C-SPAN|55125}}

Category:1931 births

Category:Living people

Category:American children's writers

Category:American psychology writers

Category:American tax resisters

Category:Primetime Emmy Award winners

Category:Writers from Washington, D.C.

Category:American columnists

Category:Rutgers University alumni

Category:American women columnists

Category:American women children's writers

Category:American women science writers