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Back to Featured Interviews >> MEET RUTH LERCHER BORNSTEIN
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| Ruth Lercher Bornstein |
As a child I loved to draw. I wrote some poems, but visual art has been my focus for much of my life.
When you were a child did you ever have a moment when you decided that you were going to be a writer or illustrator when you grew up?
When I was seven I had the ambition to paint the world's most beautiful picture of a sunset. By age 11 I realized this might not be possible. As a teen I thought maybe illustrating fairy tales would be good, but I always wanted to be a fine artist first of all. No art was offered in my small Wisconsin town so I attended art school in Milwaukee for two summers during high school.
When you went to college, were you already thinking of a career as an Illustrator?
I majored in art education at the University of Wisconsin. I took a writing class my last year and was encouraged by the professor, but as a career, I didn't give writing and illustration a thought. Fine art was my life. I graduated in 1948. I taught art at a settlement house in New York City after graduation.
If you didn’t write as a child, then when did you start writing and illustrating and what inspired you to start? Was your first book accepted immediately or did you experience a number of rejections?
In 1971, the youngest of my four children was already 11 years old. I grew a beautiful vegetable garden in Pacific Palisades. In November, as the plants began to die, I was so inspired by the whole cycle of life and death that I began to write . . . madly. I filled up many sketchbooks with poems and drawings. When I had ten that I thought expressed my feelings (mostly about the miracles of nature), I shipped the sketchbooks to a clerk in a book store and she took them to a local publisher. One was accepted - INDIAN BUNNY. The book is now titled BRAVE BUNNY. I then had to learn the mechanics of making a book - color separation, etc. INDIAN BUNNY was published in 1973.
Do you do other types of writing?
So far, I think seven of my poems have been published by the CRICKET MAGAZINE GROUP.
What kind of things inspire you to write?
Still the miracle of life on earth and also the power of love and dedication. My first novel, BUTTERFLIES AND LIZARD, BERYL AND ME, was published in 2002. The book follows both themes.
Where do you get your ideas?
My ideas come from within - feelings I need to express. Examples of this are THE DANCING MAN, RABBIT'S GOOD NEWS, and THAT'S HOW IT IS WHEN WE DRAW.
What gave you the idea for LITTLE GORILLA?
It took me two years to finally put down what LITTLE GORILLA is really about. It's like the process of painting - stripping away the non-essentials.
Have any of your books received special recognition?
I received the Southern California Illustration award twice. LITTLE GORILLA was on the 1997, 1998, 1999 Elementary California Collections; THAT’S HOW IT IS WHEN YOU DRAW was on the 2000, 2001, 2002 Elementary California Collections.
Do you work on more than one book at a time?
I work on several projects at the same time, including painting and preparing for art exhibits, balancing my time, and also leaving time for other interests such as folk dancing.
What are you working on now?
I am working on a novel which may be a crossover book. It takes place in 2006 and 1943. I am also polishing three picture book stories.
For more information on Ruth Lercher Bornstein, look in Volume 107 in SOMETHING ABOUT THE AUTHOR. It covers her life as an author and illustrator up to 1999.