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MEET GINGER WADSWORTH
by Bonnie O'Brian

What did you most like to do when you were a child?

Ginger Wadsworth

We didn't have television, and I loved to read everything I could check out of the library . . . horse and dog stories were my favorites.  But I am most remembered in my family for running away from home, usually about 1-2 times a week, right after school.  With my dog, I explored the canyons and open spaces (now gone), surrounding my house in Southern California. These “explores” kindled my lifelong interest in nature, I’m sure.  And I always ended up at a girl friend's house, and my father always showed up in the car at dinnertime to bring me and my dog back home.

What books influenced you most when you were growing up?

I grew up in a wonderful family.  My parents read to me and my brothers every night.  My mother took us to our small, local public library and we always brought home a large sack of books to read and share with one another.  Our independent bookstore, John Cole's Bookstore in La Jolla, California (now gone, unfortunately), was another spot we visited frequently.  My grandmother bought me horse and dog stories. She took me to book signings, too, and the one I remember best is when I met Dr. Suess, who happened to live in my town. I also read everything by Louisa May Alcott, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Agatha Christie as well. 

Did you write stories when you were growing up? at school? Or at home as a hobby? As a young child, or as a teenager, or both?

I've always written stories, which originated on Sunday mornings as a kid.  One of my brothers had a garret-style bedroom, and we gathered there quietly each Sunday morning with paper, crayons, and ideas.  We created all kinds of stories and made little books.  My favorites were illustrated by me with stories about horses, which I still have.  And my parents got to sleep in on Sunday mornings. 

What audience did you have in mind for your career as a writer - adult or children?

I have never wanted to write for adults.  Guess I'm just a child at heart.  Ironically, since I write biographies, I am always asked by adults when I am going to write biographies for adults, especially since I have put in so much time and research.  I find that answer somewhat insulting.  Of course, I am going to do my very best research and writing for my young readers.  Why wouldn't I? And I love visiting schools and having children meet the person behind the biographies they read.

How soon after that was your first book published?

My first book was published seven years after I started to write, and after I had completed a writing for children class in my community.  I had (and still have) a supportive husband, who let me dream and write while he was the primary breadwinner.  I worked part-time, and I wrote while our sons were in elementary school.  My first published book was JULIA MORGAN, ARCHITECT OF DREAMS/Lerner Publications, and it has been re-published at least a half-dozen times People call me about their houses, wanting to know if it was possibly designed by Julia Morgan.  I am not an architect, so I don't always know for sure.  But I love finding Julia Morgan houses for sale and going to the Open Houses. And girls send me pictures of themselves, dressed like Julia Morgan for an oral book report.

When was it published?

1990

Have any of your books earned special recognition?

I am particularly proud of WORDS WEST, VOICES OF YOUNG PIONEERS/Clarion Books.  It was a true labor of love, and it is about the young people who traveled west between 1840 & 1880, coming west with family or alone.  The book is filled with their original words, written on the trail, or afterwards, for their children or grandchildren.  The book has earned several awards.  My favorite is the 2004 Spur Award for best Juvenile Nonfiction from the Western Writers of America.  My father, an early member of WW of A, and also a writer, was not alive when I received my Spur (now hanging up in my office), but I know he was there in spirit during the writing of the book and during the actual ceremony. Four of my books have been selected for the California Collections over the years: GIANT SEQUOIA TREES, JOHN MUIR, LAURA INGALLS WILDER, AND THE WRIGHT BROTHERS, which is in the 2008 California Collection.

Do you work on more than one book at a time?

Always!  That's the fun of being a nonfiction writer, I think.  I might be researching one idea (like coyotes), while actually writing about spiders or working on a biography.  It requires that I stay very organized, which I don't always accomplish, but I try!  Thank goodness for cardboard boxes, which become my file cabinets for each project.  I have them scattered all over my office, and I can reel them in when I'm looking something up . . . or add some special tidbit of information I've just uncovered.

When is your next book going to be in book stores?

I have 3 books coming in 2009.  One is a story, THE PRESIDENT GOES CAMPING, with Calkins Creek Press. It is about a camping trip in 1903 in Yosemite National Park, when President Theodore Roosevelt and naturalist, John Muir camped in 3 different spots. No one knows exactly what happened or what they said to one another, since President Roosevelt dismissed the press and the Secret Service. It wouldn’t happen today!  Only 4 helpers stayed with them, and one, in charge, left a very dry, military-style report, and it is the only primary source. The camping trip is a true story!  Later, the President set aside more lands for parks and/or refuges, including Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees, which finally became part of Yosemite National Park. This story envisions the conversations these two leaders had around the campfire. Wish I’d been there!!

What do you most want the students to get out of your school visits?

I love my early science books about animals (UP, UP, AND AWAY, about Spiders, coming out with Charlesbridge in 2009) and habitats (DESERT DISCOVERIES/Charlesbridge). It has taken me a long time to realize how few children in elementary schools have visited the desert, tundra, or even Yosemite National Park. Or even gone on a nature walk in a local park. Their world is still so small compared to mine, and I hope that children will encourage their parents to take them to a sequoia grove after reading my book, GIANT SEQUOIA TREES/Lerner Publications, visit a river and look for wildlife after reading RIVER DISCOVERIES/Charlesbridge, or that older readers might consider a career as a marine biologist after reading RACHEL CARSON, VOICE FOR THE EARTH/Lerner Publications. Our earth is in serious trouble, and I hope that something in my books (any of them!) sparks a child to go out and make difference on behalf of Mother Nature.

Is there anything about yourself that you’d like to share - hobbies, where you were born, special talents other than writing/illustrating,

I’d like to share that I am a third generation writer in my family, but the first female author. Both my father and grandfather (Hal G. Evarts Jr. and Sr.) wrote about the west. They were published in many magazines, often called the Big Slicks (Saturday Evening Post, and others) and wrote numerous books, mainly for adults. My grandfather wrote about animals as well, and my father also wrote some juvenile biographies and adventure stories. My other grandfather, Clinton G. Abbott, was an ornithologist and the director of the San Diego Natural History Museum, as well as a published author. I think they helped “pave” the way! And one of my brothers is a small press publisher in California (Cachuma Press) and my other brother is a photographer, with an emphasis on landscape photography, specifically in Baja California. They are both writers, too. We have several young people coming along in my family who love to write. It is fascinating to watch their writing skills take wing.