Wednesday, August 27, 2003
|
Wednesday, August 27, 2003 |
|
Getting to know Robert Burch By MICHAEL
BOYLAN Though the world of children's books is still on its ear because of a boy wizard and the rags-to-riches story of the author of said books, citizens of Fayette County have their own author of books for children and young adults living among them. Robert Burch is a native Fayette Countian who has written 19 books that have been popular with readers of all ages as well as critics. He is also the namesake for Robert Burch Elementary School in Tyrone. Fayetteville was a different place as he was growing up, more rural. It wasn't until his early high school years that Fayetteville got its first paved road, Ga. Highway 54 from Jonesboro to the Fayetteville city limits. In 1942, Burch graduated from Fayette County High School, which only went up to the 11th grade. "There were 48 or 50 people in my class," said Burch, who explained that he was an average student. When asked what his favorite class was during high school, Burch responded by saying, "My least favorite was math. In fact, I almost quit school in the fourth grade over long division." Burch was born in Inman but soon moved to Fayetteville with his rather large family. He is one of eight children and is the second youngest of all of the Burch children. Though they did not have many material possessions, the Burch family had a lot of fun, spending time with each other and taking care of their farm animals which were treated as pets by the children. After high school, Burch went to Dahlonega for a year of college but within a year he was in the Army and in the service until after World War II. His duties in the war involved radio and cable and took him to the South Pacific and eventually Brisbane, Australia. "Sometimes I would feel guilty for enjoying Australia," said Burch. "The war ended before I was to be sent to Manila." Burch returned to the states and entered the University of Georgia on the GI Bill. He majored in agriculture and horticulture and learned soon that he would have to change his major to be happy as well as to make money. He worked in some greenhouses in Rome, Ga., but eventually quit to take a desk job, though Burch still describes himself as a "frustrated horticulturist." Burch left his desk job for two years of work in Japan and after his contract ended in Japan, he took a freighter to Europe, where he spent the summer with his sister and her family. After Germany, he was ready to head home but decided to stop off in New York City. "I wanted to stop in New York to see the sights," said Burch. "This took me eight years." Though Burch returned to Georgia for periods of time during the summer and Christmas, Burch called New York City home for quite a while. He got an office job and started taking adult education courses in creative writing at City College. "I drifted to a children's writing course and I enjoyed it very much," said Burch, who credits his professor and the professors wife for encouraging him and the other students in the class. "It was they who encouraged me to write about growing up in the rural south during the Depression." That would come later, though. Burch's first book was "The Traveling Bird," which was published in 1959. The company that published it folded within a year, but that one published book paved the way for Burch to go to Viking Press and to continue writing books. His next book was called "A Funny Place to Live," and it enjoyed more success than "The Traveling Bird," because it was a selection for the Junior Literary Guild. It was then that Burch quit his day job to pursue writing as a full time career. He eventually had to go back to work, but Burch had decided to take his professor's advice and write about what he knew. "Tyler, Wilkin and Skee" was published in 1963 and Burch quit his job once more and moved back to Fayette County. "I had to decide whether I wanted to work or write," said Burch. "I figured that I could starve longer in Georgia than I could in New York." Though he has not written a book since "Christmas With Ida Early" was published in 1983, Burch is still passionate about the written word. Though Burch swears that none of his books are autobiographical, he admits that the area in which "Tyler, Wilkin and Skee" is set was Fayette County, though he never called it that. The book focuses on the fun that the three brothers have and the way the entertained themselves without a wealth of material possessions. "There are so many things more important than material possessions," said Burch. "The characters in my books had a good time without wealth because they had their health and their family and friends." Burch followed up "Tyler, Wilkin and Skee,' with a number of books, including "Queenie Peavy," "DJ's Worst Enemy," it's sort-of sequel "Renfroe's Christmas," and "Skinny," which won the 1969 Georgia Children's Book Award. "Skinny" is about an orphaned boy who lives in a hotel until the orphanage has space for him. He meets a number of interesting characters, tries to prove his worth to the hotel owner and also learns to read. "Skinny" was also the first book by Burch that got the attention of the entertainment industry. Disney had its weekly program on television and they called Burch asking if he would like to sell the rights to have "Skinny" made into a movie for television. "I was a little anti-Disney at the moment, feeling that they were taking advantage of authors and not giving them enough credit. I asked if I could co-write the screenplay for 'Skinny' and when they said, 'No,' I declined." "Queenie Peavy" has also found tremendous success, in fact, it is one of a very few Burch books that is still in publication. In 1966, it won the National Child Study Association Award and the next year it won the Jane Adams Award. Perhaps the most important award that "Queenie Peavy" won was the Phoenix Award in 1986. The Phoenix Award is presented to a book 20 years after its publication for standing the test of time. Burch wrote 19 books in all, and perhaps the books that found the most success with readers were "Ida Early Comes Over The Mountain" and "Christmas With Ida Early." They, along with "Queenie Peavy," can still be found on bookshelves and all three have been translated into several languages including German and Japanese. "Ida Early" was also purchased by NBC for a television movie in 1987. This, unfortunately, was a disappointment. "The Incredible Ida Early," was presented on NBC in 1987 and starred Ed Begley Jr. and Jackee'. Instead of setting the story in the North Georgia mountains during the depression it was set in modern day New Jersey. "If they hadn't called Jackee's character Ida Early, there would have been no connection to my stories," said Burch. "Christmas with Ida Early" would be Burch's last book, though he never intended it to be that way. He was in the midst of writing another Ida Early book, when, as he put it, he "ran out of steam and enthusiasm. If I wasn't interested in the book, how could I expect readers to be?" Burch returned the advance for the book and started reading all of the books for adults that he missed reading during his writing career. Burch also spent a lot of the time since then taking care of his parents, his siblings and himself as they encountered some health problems. Today, Burch spends his time reading, watching movies, spending time with his dog, George, gardening a bit from time to time and feeding the koi (like goldfish) in the koi pond in his backyard. He has spent time on four of the seven continents during his lifetime and has interesting artwork and souvenirs from his travels around his house. Summing up his life and work, Burch stated that "some books found more readers than others." Though the Ida Early books and "Queenie Peavy" are the only books still in publication, all of Burch's other books can be tracked down either at the local libraries or through the use of the Internet. His words will be available to readers of all ages forever and that is perhaps the greatest gift that Burch could give.
|
