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About Bill Morris Bill had the ability to understand not only which books on a particular list were good and would be loved by children, but which librarians would respond to which titles. In addition to his feeling for the art of children's literature, he had a knack for its politics, being keenly aware (all without seeming to) exactly who did what where --- who was most influential, who controlled the budgets of those states likeliest to purchase large quantities of books, who served on which committees. His knowledge became encyclopedic over time. While his persona is wry and sardonic, its core is informed by the deepest and most respectful love of, and joy in, good writing. (Bill is pictured above left). Naturally he and Charlotte hit it off. They met in the late '70's, and began to work closely together "in 1979 or so," Bill remembers. "I remember first meeting Charlotte as an author, at an International Reading Association conference. Then, certainly from '81 on, when she became head of the department, we worked closely together." They have remained good friends, long after Charlotte's retirement from HarperCollins, talking to each other on the phone daily. Bill Morris on Charlotte, his friend and colleague "Even before Charlotte Zolotow became a Harper Vice President and Associate Publisher of Harper Junior Books, she was a joy to work with - both as a children's book author and as an editor with a devoted stable of authors and illustrators. "When, in 1981, she became our leader, she was equally wonderful. With the same empathy she had shown for children in her books and in working with authors and artists she edited, she now blossomed into an unparalleled leader of a large group of workers who, to say the least, were a disparate lot. She could be forceful, but all who worked under her leadership rarely, if ever, noticed the iron fist hidden under her velvet glove.
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