Well, I’d have to say my own parents. Watching how they worked, and seeing them go from zero to great heights has been a wonderful experience.
Walter Dean Myers is a hero, as well as the late Jim Haskins. I’ve been lucky enough in my life to have met and talked with them. Their books, approaches to writing, and life experiences have had a great influence on my life. Four favorite books from grade school/high school that I still reread are The Pushcart War (Jean Merrill), The Chocolate War (Robert Cormier), The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams), and 1984 (George Orwell). Two books that I’ve read in the last two years that really intrigued me were The Road (Cormac McCarthy) and Erasure: A Novel (Percival Everett).
