Influential children’s author continued writing into her 90s
When Stella Pevsner reflected on the 18 children’s books she has written over her long career, she realized her later books always seemed to feature a girl around 10 years old — sassy but charming in her own way.
When she mentioned that to her son Charles, he said, “Well, in one guise or another, they’re really all you.”
Ms. Pevsner, an award-winning author who’d been a longtime Chicago-area resident, died peacefully Thursday at her home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at 98.
Colleagues recalled her as a writer dedicated to her craft who also had an impish sense of humor.
“She was an elegant woman and a great writer,” said teacher and Chicago author Craig Sautter. “She had a great spirit and a great sense of humor. She had some really important books.”
Ms. Pevsner, a former president of the Society of Midland Authors, began writing children’s books after a career in advertising and freelance writing because her son Stuart said his favorite author, Beverly Cleary, “didn’t write fast enough.” So Ms. Pevsner said she would write books for him.
She went on to win numerous awards and was named the Illinois children’s book author of the year in 1987.
“She was a pioneer in children’s writing, and I have heard many children’s authors say she favorably influenced their work,” said author Richard Lindberg. “She radiated positivity and will be deeply missed by all whose lives she deeply touched.”
Among her best-known works were “And You Give Me a Pain, Elaine,” for which she won a Golden Kite Award from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, “And a Smart Kid Like You,” “Would My Fortune Cookie Lie,” which won the Midland Authors’ 1987 Children’s Fiction award, “Cute Is a Four Letter Word,” for which she won the 1980 Carl Sandburg Award from the Friends of the Chicago Public Library, and “How Could You Do It, Diane?”
“If you’re really a writer, you write,” Ms. Pevsner said in a 2018 interview with Literary License, the Midland Authors’ newsletter. “All the time. … You’ll probably meet people who say to you, ‘Someday, I’d like to write a novel.’ Just smile. You know they never will.”
Born Oct. 4, 1921, in downstate Lincoln, Ms. Pevsner attended classes at Illinois State University for two years.
In 1953, she married Leo Pevsner, a violinist-turned-surgeon. They raised four children in Palatine.
Her first book, “Break a Leg!” was published in 1969.
Charles Pevsner said his favorite of his mother’s books was the ghost story “Footsteps on the Stairs,” in part because the writing was the cleverest — and also because the main character was modeled on him.
After she moved to Chicago, Ms. Pevsner was well known for hosting impromptu gatherings of authors in her condo overlooking Rush Street.
Ms. Pevsner continued to write books into her 90s, though she needed help reading and editing because her eyesight was failing. She dictated her last book, “Bubblegum Angel,” published in 2018.
“The great thing about being a writer is the fact that I’m never lonely,” she once said. “How can I be, with all these characters romping around in my mind?”
Ms. Pevsner also is survived by a daughter, Marian Meyer. A fourth child, Barbara Pevsner, died in 1984.
A memorial service in Albuquerque will be held sometime in the fall or winter, when it’s appropriate to ask people to travel.