FREE ESSAY ON KAREN HESSE; AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

KAREN HESSE; AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

A Look at the Life of Karen Hesse
As children, we all had magnificent dreams and aspirations. Whether they were to walk on
the moon or to discover a new plant species, dreams were the things that kept us going;
kept us striving towards obtaining what we wanted. For Karen Hesse, many dreams came and
went throughout her life, but the idea of becoming a published author was always
instilled in her mind. 
Karen Hesse was born August 29, 1952 and was raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Not much is
mentioned about her childhood or her family, but one source states that Hesse basically
enjoyed participating in normal childhood activities such as catching lightning bugs,
taking part in talent shows, and swimming (Wilson 1). Meanwhile, Karen always had a
passion for writing. She'd sit in her small closet and write poetry for hours. In regard
to her family, Hesse stated they were always supportive of her passion and encouraged
creativity (Wilson 2). This is one source of her inspiration. Mainly, however, it was
Karen's fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Datnoff, who truly encouraged her to follow her dream
and really believed in her (Scholastic 1). 
Hesse attended college at Towson State and later transferred to the University of
Maryland, from which she graduated in 1975. She majored in theater, anthropology,
psychology, and even English (Wilson 1,2). She earned a BA in English with double minors
in psychology and anthropology. During college, Hesse found herself to be quite "good
with words" and began writing a lot more (Scholastic 1). After graduating, Hesse took a
trip across country with her future husband on which she visited many national parks and
became very in touch with nature and learned how much she loved life and loved meeting
people (Wilson 1). 
Before becoming an author, Karen had many, many jobs. Many of these jobs helped to enrich
her chances of making it as a successful author. The rest, however, helped Karen to find
herself and earn wages while being an aspiring writer. A few jobs which helped to enrich
her future career were as a proofreader, typesetter, librarian, and a book reviewer. Her
other jobs were as an advertising secretary, actress, waitress, nanny, personnel officer,
agricultural laborer, mental-health care provider, substitute teacher, and a member of
the school board. As a child, Hesse hoped to become an archeologist, an ambassador, or an
actress (Scholastic 1,2 ; Conant 1).
Throughout her writing career, Karen Hesse has won many awards. She won the Newberry
Medal and Scott O'Dell Award for Out of the Dust. She was honored by the ALA for the best
book for young adults and has won the Christopher Award as well (Scholastic 1,2). Many
organizations and periodicals have honored her for her excellent writing for young
adults. Hesse says she basically writes based on memories, experiences, people or things
she's met or encountered, and relationships (Conant 1).
Hesse currently resides in Brattleboro, Vermont with her husband and her two daughters.
She studies, reads, and observes as much as she can on a daily basis. Karen enjoys public
radio, public television, and learning and absorbing as much new information as possible
(Wilson 1,2). 
These dreams we have all surely had can sometimes appear to be so very unobtainable,
however they are always worth following and can be very rewarding. Karen Hesse found this
to be true and to be the story of her life. Obviously, the most satisfaction will come
from doing what one truly wants. Karen Hesse is one to be admired for her persistence in
obtaining her goal of becoming a writer, which she stubbornly held onto for 30 years.
With a little hard work and determination, succeeding in what one wants to do is a much
less trying task, as proven by Hesse.
Bibliography
Conant Audrey. "Author Questionnaire." January 30, 2001. 
http://www.umcs.maine.edu/~orono/collaborative/rifka.html 
"Meet Karen Hesse." Scholastic. January 20, 2001.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/authorsandbooks/authors/hess/bio.html
Wilson, HW. "Hesse,Karen."January26,2001
http://www.edupaperback.org/authorbios/Hesse_Karen.html